F ID I AS SO C I ATI O NS What to expect in Thailand one of the jewels of Southeast Asia As the 2023 FIDI Conference heads for Bangkok in March, Eric Lim, of FIDI Asia, gives us the lowdown on the country and the highlights of its bustling capital city O Eric Lim, Board member of FIDI Asia verall, the moving industry in Asia is fairly healthy considering the overall uncertainty that prevails in the wider global economy. Volumes are generally up on last year, with customer demand for relocation high the global shipping crisis has eased a bit, too. The mood in the business seems to be improving, which is a good sign, so Im cautiously optimistic. COVID upheaval Of course, COVID has had the biggest impact of all the challenges of the past two years. The pandemic caused many clients to consider a move back to their home country sooner than they would otherwise have done. In addition, the industry has had to contend with the crisis in global container shipping. The enormous price increases across the board have shocked the market and caused an acute shortage of containers at any price. We are still facing container shortages to certain key markets, making it more difficult to satisfy customers expectations. There have also been critical bottlenecks at major ports such as Long Beach (California), Felixstowe (UK) and Amsterdam. Its been a difficult two years. There remains great uncertainty about the world economy, especially with rising inflation and interest rates. In the longer term, we face labour shortages, material cost inflation, and changing attitudes towards international assignments, and even changes brought about by working from home. Asian challenges The major challenges in Greater China (Mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong) have been the very strict zero COVID measures implemented against the spread of COVID. These caused many employees to reconsider where they want to live and many to decide to move closer to their home countries. The rest of Asia has taken a less drastic approach to COVID so the impact on operations has been less severe. Companies across Asia had their own packers, but many resorted to layoffs as they could not carry out moves. I know many businesses laid off operational and administrative staff to cut costs and stay afloat. At the same time, cost increases in materials, transport, and other items required changes in the way movers operate their businesses. The uncertainty of COVID is a concern for us going forward. Will it stay with us for good? Will it disappear completely? Or will there be something in the middle? We have no idea what corporate customer policies will emerge, while new technologies and work structures are impacting the moving business. We are still finding out exactly what those effects will be. Movers have had to become lean and agile to survive. The 2023 FIDI Conference I was delighted when Jesse van Sas called me to say that FlDl would like to come to Asia in 2O23. FlDl was planning to go to Osaka in 2020 which would have been a great conference and the first we had 58 FF308 Dec-Jan 23 pp58-59 Associations.indd 58 06/12/2022 11:21