TAG: Asia
Following a difficult climatic year that saw severe floods and drought weigh on growth, C-suite executives surveyed in OBG’s Business Barometer: Sri Lanka CEO Survey appear to be generally optimistic that clearer skies are ahead. Three-quarters of CEOs had positive or very positive expectations about local business conditions for 2018, with 56% forecasting GDP expansion to range 4-5%, which is broadly in line with the central bank’s estimates of 5-5.5%. However, if Sri Lanka is to reach the Vision 2025 target of becoming a knowledge-based economy, the ongoing “brain drain” will have to be addressed, with CEOs naming a variety of skills in need.
With the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) now firmly enshrined in the Chinese Communist Party constitution, it is safe to assume that this flagship project of President Xi Jinping will continue long after the country’s most powerful leader since Chairman Mao Zedong officially steps down, whether that happens in 2023 or not.
Some 20 years after the Asian financial crisis brought many Southeast Asian nations to their knees, business sentiment is buoyant in a region that now functions as one of the primary engines of globa growth, according to the results of our inaugural Business Barometer: OBG in ASEAN CEO Survey.