Standard Chartered (SC) participated as the presenting sponsor of the ‘Spotlight on ASEAN Business: Charting New Frontiers’ forum by Bloomberg in Singapore yesterday, where they joined industry leaders and policymakers to discuss ASEAN’s future and potential.
The forum kicked off with a welcome address by SC President, International Benjamin Hung who highlighted ASEAN as a bright spot in the world economy and his excitement around the continued rise of the region’s prospects.
He said, “Around the world, you don’t see a bloc or region as exciting and as dynamic as ASEAN. You have around a 700-million population – they’re young, and it’s going through what I describe as a middle-income growth path, and with it comes a rise in consumption, in investment, in wealth creation.
“We expect this region to be growing (in terms of gross domestic product, in percentage) at the high fours this year, and north of five next year. That’s very, very exciting, in a world which is quite anaemic around growth. The rise in protectionism, the rise in fragmentation, is really seeing one of the world’s biggest rewiring of supply chains.
“I do think ASEAN will be the biggest beneficiary of this rewiring, whether you talk about China plus one, China plus two – most of these will start off in ASEAN,” he added.
The forum commenced with a fireside chat on ASEAN’s competitiveness as a trade hub, how the region’s demographics are shaping demand and how innovation and digitalisation are reshaping ASEAN’s economic landscape. The speakers included Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, SGX Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Loh Boon Chye, Kickstart Ventures Inc President Anna Irmina ‘Minette’ B Navarrete; and SC Group CEO Bill Winters.
Bill Winters shared on the investment landscape in ASEAN, “There’s just a tremendous confluence of trends which is making ASEAN an extremely attractive place to invest. In the bigger markets, you’ve got excellent underlying policy reform and policy platforms.
“There are the benefits of China plus one, an extremely experienced and still relatively low-cost workforce, and political stability. We’re absolutely delighted to be present in all of the ASEAN markets,” he added.
On investment prospects and fundraising in the region, Loh Boon Chye said that ASEAN markets, being in different stages of growth, offers a full value chain of countries for investors.
He added that such a cycle across ASEAN will be favourable for capital raising.
Anna Irmina ‘Minette’ B Navarrete expounded on the acceleration of digital adoption, and the economic underpinnings for the region.
She shared that 10 years ago in the Philippines, one per cent of all transactions were digital. Last year, more than 50 per cent of all monetary transactions there were conducted digitally. This means a greater impact for both the larger ecosystem as well as the smaller companies that operate in that space.
Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz commented that as companies realign their global supply chains to increase their resilience and security, Malaysia looks to continue moving up the value chain, including by looking at green energy to support the semiconductor industry.
He also spoke on the need for governments and the private sector to ensure that the advancement of artificial intelligence creates digital inclusion.
