Building the Future: Strategic Sports at the 2025 Hong Kong ASEAN Summit

Strategic Sports CEO Norman Cheng recently participated as a speaker at the 2025 Hong Kong ASEAN Summit, where government leaders and business executives exchanged ideas on ASEAN’s role in global trade.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an inter-governmental international organization, comprising Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee described the city as a “super conductor” between China and ASEAN, for capital, people and ideas. The Filipino Undersecretary for Industry challenged participants to envision a future where Hong Kong-engineered products are produced in the Philippines, delivered duty-free within ASEAN, and purchased via fintech platforms developed in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Minister of Transport positioned Selangor as a regional hub connected by air, sea, and land. These perspectives were framed by a broader theme: as trade tensions with the United States persist, ASEAN nations increasingly recognize that strength comes through unity.

Cheng shared Strategic Sports’ extensive experience navigating these dynamics.

“We first explored ASEAN opportunities in 2008, when RMB appreciation and rising labor costs pushed us to consider alternatives. At that time, however, supply chains and infrastructure in the countries we visited weren’t yet viable. In 2013, we instead chose Portugal — not to chase cheaper labor, but to be closer to our clients,” Cheng explained.

The conversation turned again in 2016, when new U.S. tariffs added urgency to ASEAN expansion. Strategic Sports selected Vietnam, where industrial capacity had grown rapidly thanks to the relocation of garment and footwear industries. Land purchases and construction soon followed, and helmet production and exports from Vietnam ramped up quickly.

Cheng noted that hopes for tariff relief under the Biden administration never materialized, confirming that tariffs had become a fixed part of U.S. foreign policy. “So we went full speed ahead,” he said. Yet even as “Trump 2.0” raised expectations for stronger U.S. demand, post-COVID oversupply and what Cheng called “tariff hesitancy” led to weaker American orders, with demand dropping by 30% from 2024 to 2025.

This prompted a new pivot: ASEAN not only as a production base, but as a market in its own right. With nearly 700 million people and a combined GDP of $3.8 trillion, ASEAN represents a growing consumer base for cycling, motorcycle, and EV helmets. Vietnam’s free trade agreement with India which now boasts a middle class fueling a $4.19 trillion GDP, will further expand these opportunities.

Looking ahead, Cheng sees a compelling vision:

“I imagine a future where a helmet is engineered in Hong Kong, produced in Vietnam, shipped tariff-free within ASEAN, and purchased using a fintech app developed in Hong Kong. For Strategic Sports, ASEAN is more than a strategy of resilience…it is an engine of future growth and innovation.”