SINGAPORE: To create luxury ambient scents for his perfume products, Singaporean entrepreneur and perfumer Jason Lee sources ingredients and materials from different countries. 

Orchids are sourced from Thailand, along with delicate longjing and da hong pao teas from China. He gets heady ylang ylang flowers from Malaysia, earthy patchouli from Indonesia and exotic agarwood through Laos and Cambodia.

High-quality packaging like glass bottles and atomisers - imported from China - completes the product, with the nozzles designed to blend air and liquid into a fine mist.  

This painstaking process for his brand Scent by SIX has shown Lee just how “interdependent” markets across the region truly are. 

“It isn’t just about cost. It’s (also) about access to each country’s specialities and capabilities,” Lee told CNA. 

“And it made me realise that China and Southeast Asian countries aren’t just markets or locations, but truly vital partners for creation.”

The recently concluded negotiations for the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0 upgrade - slated for signing in October 2025 - could be a game changer for businesses like his, said observers, citing how the updated agreement will focus on the digital and green economies, as well as supply chain cooperation. 

“ACFTA 3.0 will modernise the agreement and open new doors in the digital economy, green economy and supply chain connectivity. It will redefine ASEAN-China economic relations through innovation and competitiveness,” said ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, s...