Southeast Asia and the mainland entice firms with their low production costs and their market potential. In addition, about 70 % of the economic strength of the region is concentrated in the hands of Chinese business people who, in turn, are closely tied to Taiwanese business people. This drew many Taiwanese to the region more than 10 years ago, making them some of Southeast Asia's earliest foreign investors.
廉價的生產成本、誘人的市場潛力，加上當地約七成經濟勢力都掌控在華商手中，與台商脈絡相連，因此早在十多年前，台商就絡繹於途，是東南亞最早的外資來源國之一。