Singapore businesses lead ASEAN confidence in expansion plans

Singapore businesses have more confidence in their expansion plans than neighboring countries in ASEAN.

The latest survey from HSBC found that 94% of businesses in Singapore are confident of successfully expanding their business.

In general, other regional businesses are just a little behind the leader on the list. Thailand occupies the second spot with 91%, trailed by Vietnam at 87%, Indonesia at 86%, Malaysia at 84% and the Philippines at 80%.

The survey results were based on 600 responses from companies with annual revenues of at least US$150 million across the six largest markets in Southeast Asia.

74% of companies surveyed intend to invest more in the ASEAN region itself, while 61% plan to expand beyond Southeast Asia.

Yet, a significant number of ASEAN businesses perceive macroeconomic uncertainty as the primary challenge to expansion (34%). Following closely, local technological capabilities (30%) emerge as the second most formidable barrier, trailed by competition (28%) and the swiftly evolving landscape of regulations and policies (25%).

HSBC noted on March 28 that “digitalizing operations” ranks as the foremost business priority among surveyed companies, with 42%. Following closely is “growth in Southeast Asia” at 40% and “research and development” at 37%.

65% of businesses say they plan to increase their investments in digitalization, which will help achieve “growth in the booming digital economy.”

Last week, HSBC introduced the ASEAN Growth Fund worth US$1 billion to facilitate the expansion of digital platform enterprises in the region. The region’s digital economy is expected to grow to US$600 billion by the end of the decade, making it one of the fastest growing in the world.

According to the Head of Commercial Banking for South and Southeast Asia at HSBC, with an expanding working population that is digitally native, ASEN has enormous growth potential.