Which Southeast Asian market should you enter first? Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines compared, and why begin with the Philippines

Short answer: For a first Southeast Asian market, we recommend the Philippines. It is not the largest; it is the most suitable for a first-time, small-budget test that you can stop after completing. English works, and NT$10,000–20,000 lets you first confirm whether anyone will buy.

Scenario: a food-business owner has three Southeast Asia reports on the desk

You make snacks that have sold in Taiwan for many years. Distribution is stable, but there has been no growth over the past two years. This year, you attended two information sessions, and now three reports are on your desk: one about Vietnam's middle class, one about Indonesia's population, and one about Thailand's tourists. Each says "great potential," and each has a curve rising toward the upper right.

You have read them three times, but still cannot answer the question that actually matters: Which country should receive the first expenditure? Not millions, but a small initial amount to see whether local people will pay; if they will not, you need to be able to stop without being trapped in a contract already signed.

What the reports do not tell you is where the first step will get stuck: what language the contract uses, whose name holds the product registration, and whether labels need to be reprinted. These can all be checked before you enter the market, and they determine the size of your first expenditure. We use these points below to compare the four countries.

Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, or the Philippines? Compare the Barrier and Regulatory questions

We use the five-question assessment to decide whether to go: market, barrier, competition, profitability, and regulatory. The Market and Competition questions need a Market Test that puts the product in front of local people before they have real scores; but the Barrier and Regulatory questions can be compared from public regulations before you enter the market. For a first overseas expansion, these are the two questions we examine: which country has the lowest barrier for the first step, and whose regulations are least likely to stop you before you begin.

The table below includes only verified regulatory facts, not market-size figures. Those figures come from different sources and do not tell you how to take the first step.

For the three reports on your desk, this table answers the following:

1. The Philippines is the only one of the four markets where you can work entirely in English. Panel interviews, importer contracts, FDA documents, and e-commerce backends do not first require a translator. For a brand's first overseas expansion, what this saves is not only translation cost; it is being able to understand what the other party is saying. If you can read the contract, you can sign the first expenditure with more certainty.
2. All four countries require a locally licensed importer. The Philippines is neither better nor worse on this point. The difference is the language used to communicate with that importer and whether you can read the contract.
3. Indonesia gains another hard barrier after October 2026: halal certification. Food, health supplements, and cosmetics cannot enter without certification; products with non-halal ingredients may still be imported if labeled non-halal ¹². This does not mean Indonesia cannot be done; it means it is not suitable as a market for a first, small-budget validation.
4. The Philippines is not at a tariff disadvantage. Taiwan has no FTA with any of the four countries, so all use MFN rates. Use TradePilot or the Philippine Tariff Commission's Tariff Finder to check the rate ¹⁰. We do not publish numbers in the article that will become outdated.

When we do not recommend starting with the Philippines

To be candid, the Philippines is not necessarily the first market for the following brands:

• Food or beauty products aimed at Muslim markets. Halal certification in Indonesia and Malaysia is a barrier, but it is also where your selling point lies. The Philippines has a far lower proportion of Muslim residents, so validation results there will not help you enter Indonesia.
• High-priced products sold on a "premium feel". The Philippine price range is sensitive, and a Market Test is likely to return the answer, "They like it but will not buy." That answer is useful, but if you already plan to use high-end channels, reactions in Thailand or Singapore may be closer to your target customers.
• Products that need cold chain or have a short shelf life. All four countries are difficult, but the Philippines is an archipelago, so inter-island distribution is more complicated than in countries connected by land. For these products, we first ask whether you can produce locally.
• You already have an order or agent in another country. Follow the lead; you do not need to detour through the Philippines.

In addition, the Philippine FDA system continued to be revised in 2025–2026: its fee rules were suspended, and food registration moved to a new system ⁶. This does not affect doing a Market Test first, but it affects how long and how much the certificate in the third month will take. In the first discussion, we will describe the position on the verification date, rather than cite old numbers.

Frequently asked questions

Is Vietnam not the larger market? Why not start there? We do not recommend the "largest market"; we recommend the market that is easiest to confirm first. Vietnam requires Vietnamese food labels and filings by a Vietnamese enterprise ³⁷. In the Philippines, you can spend NT$10,000–20,000 in the first year to validate, then stop if it does not work.

My product already has an agent approaching us in Vietnam or Thailand. Should I still start with the Philippines? No. This article answers where to test first when you have no leads at all.

Does Taiwan have a free trade agreement with the Philippines? Will tariffs be higher than in other countries? Within ASEAN, Taiwan has an FTA only with Singapore (ASTEP); it has none with the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, or Indonesia ⁹. All four countries use MFN rates, so the Philippines is not at a special disadvantage.

One small next step

First spend NT$10,000–20,000 on a Market Test: send three products to Manila, let local teachers, parents, and other salaried consumers who pay for their own purchases pick them up and look at them, and receive a one-page report telling you who will buy, what price they will pay, and why they will not buy. If it does not pass, the story stops here; if it does, the Market Test fee is credited toward the Consignment package.

This article is rewritten from the March 2026 article, "Vietnam market-entry guide." Its old URL now redirects here. Last verified: October 1, 2026. Regulations change, so review them again each quarter.