Companies in SEA countries, reluctant to hire a person from Europe?

Yeah, my question is simple, for I live in Finland and over the past 5 years, I must have sent thousands of applications to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines?
I am a 54 year old Mechanical Engineer who worked as a Senior Contract Manager for Rolls-Royce Oy in Finland for 15 years, working for Marine department and Handling Deck Machinery projects for shipyards in Asia and Europe. That was delivering mooring and anchoring winches, that were designed in Finland but manufactured in Poland, Shanghai and Pusan in South-Korea. I have been looking for Contract/Project Managers jobs.
From Philippines I know, they have practically blocked the working possibilities for foreigners, cause a foreigner must travel to Philippines and apply for a working permit from the Philippines and that may take six weeks, so no company wants to wait for a new worker to be able to start, only after 6+ weeks. But other Countries, what is the situation?
All advice is highly appreciated.
-@Palerock

Are you responding to advertised announcements of job openings or are you making cold contacts?

Have you communicated with any professional agencies?

Here on this website there is a "Vietnam Jobs" section (link) that has a few job offerings.

Another well-respected website often recommended by long-time forum members is:

vietnamworksDOTcom/en

I'm not sure it will be productive for you to focus on perceptions you have of anti-European bias.

Instead, search for job openings that local citizens cannot fill for various reasons.

Anyone attempting to compete head-to-head with local citizens anywhere in Southeast Asia is setting themselves up for failure, especially considering local laws which restrict or prohibit the hiring of foreigners (of any nationality) if local citizens are capable of filling those job openings.

Certainly in Vietnam & Thailand it's the laws that are keeping employers uninterested in your inquiries.

I'm not meaning to suggest this of you, but many job seekers have had a rude awakening when realizing that many people in Asia are just as capable (and sometimes more so) of fulfilling the requirements for myriad types of employment.

Good luck with your job search!

@Palerock Hi, great to read your comments. One issue is that of languages/communications. If you only speak Finnish and English, (what others?) how are you going to manage the subordinates? Where is your value-add? Contract/project managers are rather senior positions .

In Asia, broadly, such positions usually are filled by internal staff, rising up the ranks. It's rare that someone gets catapulted from elsewhere externally..

Exceptions could be CEOs or GMs. Again, not so much in highly technical but sales (hot jobs). Suggest try look if local Finnish firm seeks to expand business to Asia, and to send you there; might be a better bet... all the best. .

Yeah, my question is simple, for I live in Finland and over the past 5 years, I must have sent thousands of applications to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines?
I am a 54 year old Mechanical Engineer who worked as a Senior Contract Manager for Rolls-Royce Oy in Finland for 15 years, working for Marine department and Handling Deck Machinery projects for shipyards in Asia and Europe. That was delivering mooring and anchoring winches, that were designed in Finland but manufactured in Poland, Shanghai and Pusan in South-Korea. I have been looking for Contract/Project Managers jobs.
From Philippines I know, they have practically blocked the working possibilities for foreigners, cause a foreigner must travel to Philippines and apply for a working permit from the Philippines and that may take six weeks, so no company wants to wait for a new worker to be able to start, only after 6+ weeks. But other Countries, what is the situation?
All advice is highly appreciated.
-@Palerock

If you are on Linkedin & you have what they want companies will find you & make contact. A couple of months back my mate landed a top job (International Sales Manager) from a Vietnamese Logistics company here in HCMC based on his CV on Linkedin.

I don't know what the impact on hiring would be but I believe that all or almost all shipmakers in Vietnam are State Owned Enterprises.  Did you make any contacts when dealing with shipyards in Pusan, Korea?