Malaysia has retained pole position in global real estate adviser Cushman & Wakefield's 2015 ‘Where in the World? Manufacturing Index'. The report reveals how the region is benefitting from a lower cost business environment which is proving attractive to manufacturers.  The result also underpins the dominance of the ‘APAC powerhouse' with the region this year securing seven places out of the top 10 within the main index.

Along with Venezuela and Argentina, India is re-ranked significantly, moving up the Index by seven places or more, offering a cheaper manufacturing alternative, the report says.

Richard Middleton, head of occupier services in EMEA and Asia Pacific, commented: "The markets of Asia Pacific continue to remain particularly attractive to manufacturers and this shows in our latest index rankings. Malaysia has retained top place in our main index for the second year running and Vietnam tops our growth index and is maturing as a manufacturing destination.

"From a broader perspective, there remains some volatility at play. While China remains the world leader in terms of manufacturing output and benefits from the scale of its immediate marketplace, rising labour costs have caused a shift in strategy for some manufacturers. This has not only benefitted the APAC regions of Malaysia and Vietnam but has also added to a re-shoring trend with a number of manufacturers moving their plant and facilities back to Western markets. This has strengthened the prospects of certain European locations, notably Turkey which has positioned itself at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, Russia and Africa."

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