Fortune Magazine has released the inaugural rankings of the 500 Largest Companies in Southeast Asia, known as the Fortune Southeast Asia 500 for 2024. This ranking categorizes companies based on their revenue for the fiscal year 2023.
The list includes companies from seven Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia.
Indonesia leads the list with 110 companies, followed closely by Thailand with 107 companies. Malaysia, with 89 companies, surpasses Singapore, which has 84 companies. Vietnam has 70 companies on the list, the Philippines has 38 companies, and Cambodia has two companies.
In terms of revenue, the Singapore-based commodity trading company Trafigura ranks number one, dominating with sales of USD 244 billion. This private commodities trader in minerals, metals, and energy also has the fewest employees among the top ten companies by revenue and is the second most profitable among them.
Overall, revenue and profit have shrunk over the past year for the 500 Largest Companies in Southeast Asia. However, this change, driven by a weak energy market, overshadows impressive growth stories across various industries. Rapidly growing companies include Indonesian miners Harita Nickel and Merdeka Battery Materials, travel companies like Thai Airways, and various insurance and banking companies.
Clay Chandler, the Asia Executive Editor, explained that the Fortune list of the 500 Largest Companies in Southeast Asia reflects a dynamic and fast-changing region, with core economies growing much faster than those in Europe or the United States.
“This is partly because Southeast Asia is taking on a much more significant role in the global economy, not least because a number of Global 500 multinationals have shifted more of their supply chains to Southeast Asian countries,” he said in a written statement on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
