by Zhang Yisheng, Nurul Fitri Ramadhani
JAKARTA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The complementarity between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is structural, according to a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) official.
"China's unique role may be first, as a market, as its demand can pull ASEAN producers into higher-value niches," Marco Kamiya, UNIDO representative for Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and the Philippines, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of an event jointly organized by UNIDO and the Asian Development Bank.
"Then, second, China acts as an investor that transfers not just factories but can increasingly improve capabilities, co-locating R&D and skills," he said, adding that as one of the partners in green manufacturing, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and digital infrastructure, China may help align and lower costs across the whole region.
Kamiya's observations are consistent with the findings of the Industrial Development Report 2026 released by UNIDO, which stressed that "the world is changing at an unprecedented pace as several megatrends are reshaping the global economy -- changes which present challenges, but also unprecedented opportunities for development."
The report identified five transformative megatrends that will unfold in a new wave of industrialization: the energy and green transition, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalization, the reconfiguration of global value chains, demographic shifts, and the transformation of food systems.
The report said that "it is not too late to change course," and that "manufacturing must be placed at the heart of this transformation."
"The most critical bottleneck for ASEAN countries is not capital or technology; it is absorptive capacity," said Kamiya, noting that while Southeast Asia can import machines and attract foreign direct investment, the ability to adopt, adapt, and eventually generate technology depends on skills, industrial institutions, and firm-level capabilities.
He expressed confidence that closer China-ASEAN as well as global cooperation can help Southeast Asia strengthen its industrial capabilities and seize opportunities arising from the green and digital transitions.
China has scale, mature manufacturing ecosystems, and increasingly the technological frontier in areas like EVs, solar, and batteries, while ASEAN has demographics, resource endowments, market growth, and rising demand, he explained.
He noted that building more resilient supply chains would require both sides to move beyond measuring trade by gross export values and focus instead on value-added production. "UNIDO works on exactly this kind of industrial statistics, tracking manufacturing value added and industrial indexes."
He identified three essential priorities for the region: investing in technical and industrial engineering skills, strengthening collaboration between public and private sectors, and leveraging ASEAN's integrated market of around 700 million people to foster high-tech manufacturing.
Looking ahead, Kamiya emphasized that cooperation in emerging industries such as green technologies, AI, EVs, and digital infrastructure must remain open and inclusive because these sectors are fundamentally interconnected.
As global economic uncertainties persist, Kamiya noted that global solidarity and coordinated action are vital to building fairer and more sustainable supply chains.
"Openness is an engineering requirement," he said, explaining that EVs rely on interoperable charging networks, AI depends on accessible data and computing resources, and green hydrogen requires common standards to become commercially viable across borders. ■