A global pulse survey conducted by YPO in July 2016 shows that Asian CEOs are the most confident in the world.
There has been a positive upswing from 60 points to 62.9 points in regards to their business/economic outlook of Asia. This positive outlook was mostly inspired by India, which is the fastest growing economy in the world and went from 66.4 to 68 points.
The majority of Asian business leaders (72 percent in 2Q 2016 vs 59 percent last quarter) are projecting higher sales. Over the next 12 months, they are also predicting an increase in fixed investments. Not only are they anticipating sales to increase, 38 percent of them are planning on hiring new employees.
In looking at Southeast Asia, the confidence in increasing sales and jobs increased from 56.9 points to 60.5. This score is the highest it has been since Q1 of 2015. Even though it’s not as high as the overall score for Asia, it still shows the optimism of those in the area.
In terms of some country specifics, Malaysia’s confidence score went from 51.4 to 59.8, Hong Kong’s went from 45.9 to 54.5 and Singapore’s jumped just slightly from 54.5 to 54.9.
Despite the slowdown in China’s economy, the confidence score only dipped from 64 to 62.2.
According to YPO founder and CEO, Shiyin Cai, even though there have been issues with the short-term stability of the global economy, the confidence in China and India remains strong. This is very important as those are the two most important economies in Asia. As long as these two stay strong, Asia as a whole will continue to flourish.