THE Covid-19 pandemic revealed the risks of a globalised supply-chain system focused on low costs that depends heavily on Asian (especially Chinese) manufacturers.
China’s stringent pandemic controls added to the tremendous supply-chain pressure and uncertainties caused by Covid-19.
On the geopolitical front, heightened tensions between the US and China have also increased the incentives for companies to reduce their dependence on China and to distribute production across multiple suppliers and regions.
Consequently, the trend towards supply-chain regionalisation – a process that involves reorganising manufacturing into smaller, more localised blocks – has likely accelerated. The shift to...