TAG: Asia
Some 20 years after the Asian financial crisis brought many South-east Asian nations to their knees, business sentiment is buoyant in a region that now functions as the primary engine of global growth, according to the results of our inaugural Business Barometer: OBG in ASEAN CEO Survey. This is the first time we have collated our proprietary data from individual ASEAN markets covered by OBG into a collective sample, allowing us to provide commentary on regional investor sentiment, as well as observe differing national perceptions within the bloc.
Against a backdrop of China’s rebalancing towards consumption-driven growth and the looming threat of global trade war, executives who participated in the inaugural Business Barometer: OBG in ASEAN CEO survey were resolutely positive about the regional prospects for expansion and investment in the near future.
Underpinning President Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 campaign was a pledge to pursue constitutional change in the form of a federal political system. This issue is quite divisive, and it remains unclear whether lawmakers will enact constitutional change. However, a plurality (43%) of CEOs who participated in the latest OBG Business Barometer: Philippines CEO Survey say a switch to a federal system or the empowerment of local government units would be advantageous or very advantageous to the country’s economic development, against 40% who think this would be disadvantageous or very disadvantageous.