The View | How businesses still upbeat on Asia can adapt to uncertainty as the new normal
- China’s growth trajectory, the impact of global economic conditions, geopolitical tensions and ambiguity on the energy transition are all risks
- But businesses can prepare by boosting in-house intelligence and diversity – both in recruitment and operations
Businesses like certainty. So why are they bullish on the business environment in Asia, as a new survey has found, even as uncertainty is on the rise?
In a world of overlapping crises, uncertainty has become the new normal, forcing business leaders to put adaptability at the core of their strategy. Increasingly, executives must think about how to stay relevant in a rapidly changing environment and use diversity to their advantage to build more resilient and adaptable businesses.
The International Monetary Fund’s World Uncertainty Index, updated to the second quarter this year, indicated that global uncertainty has reached its highest level since the first quarter of 2020 – when Covid-19 was first declared a global pandemic. The index tracks the frequency of the word “uncertainty” in country reports produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Big jumps in uncertainty often predict a decline in gross domestic product, because they mean it is riskier to commit to long-term plans, such as investing in factories or employing new workers.
Still, business leaders in Asia are relatively optimistic, according to the coming results of a survey of CEOs and chairmen by the Asia Business Council. Almost half of those polled expect conditions to improve over the coming year, up from just one-quarter last year – even though anecdotally, they point to more downside than upside risks.
Those polled also point to plans to invest and employ more over the next 12 months than they did last year. That suggests that uncertainty is becoming the new normal.
