Asia’s Chief Executive Perspectives

The Asia Business Council’s twelfth annual survey of members was conducted in July 2017. With an overall response rate of 85%, the majority of members (55%) are expecting business conditions to remain about the same in the next 12 months.

Additional highlights:

• Optimism is at its highest level in three years, with only 5% of members expecting business conditions to worsen, and 40% of members expecting them to improve.
• The most commonly-cited economic problems for Asia cited were geopolitical tensions in East Asia, especially surrounding the Korean Peninsula, as well as protectionism and economic nationalism.
• Views on China’s economy were mixed; respondents showed optimism over the economies of Japan and India.
• The U.S. remained the top investment destination over the past year, while China tops the list for planned investments over the next 1-3 years. Investment enthusiasm toward ASEAN was noticeably lackluster, especially the emerging economies there.
• Geopolitical issues were most frequently chosen as “very important” for business in Asia, with 56% of respondents selecting this category, compared to just 35% five years ago.
• Finance and business issues were of most concern to members’ own businesses, with disruptive technologies and business models, regulatory complexity, and talent search and retention mentioned as common concerns.

For an executive summary of the survey results, please download the report.