ASEAN CEOs concerned over global economic slowdown

BANGKOK, February 21 (TNA) - Most chief executive officers (CEOs) in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) have become less confidence in their business prospect, caused by their concerns over a possible global economic slowdown this year. Sira Intarakumthornchai, CEO and partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Thailand Ltd., told journalists on Thursday this year's Global CEO Survey, the 22nd of its kind, conducted last September but released at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland's Davos Town, found that about 46 per cent ASEAN CEOs, out of a total of 1,378 from 91 economies worldwide who were questioned, viewed the global economy should face a slowdown in 2019, a considerable increase from only 10 per cent in the previous survey. Sira said only 33 per cent of the surveyed ASEAN CEOs, thus, expressed their confidence in their growing corporate revenues over the next 12 months, lower from 44 per cent in the previous survey. Sira revealed that most of the ASEAN CEOs cited five risk factors against their businesses this year, including the ongoing trade war between major economies (83 per cent of them), followed by the uncertain international political situation (81 per cent of them), uncertain international policies (78 per cent of them), strict rules and regulations (77 per cent of them) and the uncertain global economic condition (73 per cent of them). According to the PwC Thailand CEO, most of the ASEAN CEOs, or about 82 per cent of them, also cited their companies' shortages of skilled workers as additional risk factor, together with feared cyber threats (81 per cent of them) and impacts from the world's fast changing technologies (72 per cent of them), especially the apparently-inevitable adoption of the artificial intelligence (AI) in the business sector in the foreseeable future. Besides, most of the ASEAN CEOs viewed China as their most favorite overseas investment destination, followed by Indonesia, the United States, Vietnam, India, Myanmar and Malaysia, while they viewed Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand as their 8th favorite overseas investment destinations, followed by Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong and South Korea, the trio last of which were cited as their 10th favorite overseas investment destinations. (TNA)