The global operating environment for businesses in Asia has grown more complex, where cost-efficiency must be balanced with other key concerns including supply chain resilience amid intensifying geopolitical uncertainties. In this landscape, dominance in three critical strategic domains—artificial intelligence (AI), new energy, and digital finance—are increasingly defining national advantage.
The Asia Business Council conducted its annual survey of members in July and August 2026, gathering perspectives from CEOs and Chairmen of predominantly Asian businesses. Business sentiment across Asia was cautiously optimistic, with inflation emerging as a major economic concern. The U.S. remained the leading destination for new or increased investment, followed by India, while investment interest in Europe and Singapore increased relative to the previous year.
Global consumption growth is shifting decisively toward Asia, driven not only by scale but by the rise of Gen Zs and Millennials, whose expanding numbers, income growth, and influence position them as a dominant force in global demand. This briefing examines the drivers behind Asia’s new consumer economy and the defining characteristics of its rising generations. Rather than revisiting the well-documented Millennial story, we spotlight Gen Z, the cohort now driving the fastest shifts in digital culture, consumption patterns, and brand expectations across Asia. Their distinct behaviors and fast-moving preferences will shape global consumption and redefine what it will take for businesses to succeed in this new environment.
Geopolitics and domestic politics were seen as a key source of volatility among CEOs and Chairmen around Asia and beyond. Trade deals with the U.S. were widely perceived as more favorable to the U.S., while tariffs were seen as lose-lose, leaving both Asian economies and the U.S. worse off in the long term.
Advanced Asia is undergoing a critical transformation as aging populations, fiscal constraints, and slowing productivity converge with technological disruption and trade fragmentation. Traditional growth models built on industrialization and global integration are being tested, requiring policymakers and business leaders to rethink strategies. This briefing explores the structural risks to employment, public finance, and inequality, proposing reforms focused on industrial renewal, labor market redesign, fiscal innovation, and leveraging technology as a tool for inclusive and sustainable growth.
A collaborative article by the Asia Business Council and McKinsey delved into the perspectives of business leaders in Asia as they navigate an emerging and potentially more turbulent era, in terms of world order, technology, demographics, resource and energy systems, and financial capitalization. Overall, they believe the region can sustain its growth but will need strategic adjustments to address disruptions and volatility in a multipolar world.
If India is to successfully double the size of its economy by 2030, the only viable path is raising the number of women in the workforce
Cooperation among nations in the Global South has enabled developing economies to help each other through knowledge and technology transfers. Using this approach to address the digital infrastructure gap and build a highly skilled workforce can keep emerging countries from falling further behind.
The Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, and Thailand have benefited from global supply chain diversification and are poised to capitalize on their large labor pool and potential consumer market to reach the next level of development
A decade ago, Asia’s millennials were optimistic the region would set aside conflicts and become more united to meet global challenges such as climate change. Today’s Generation Z, who grew up amid rising geopolitical tensions and major economic disruptions, are no longer so hopeful.
