Apac CEOs prioritise regional partnerships as global outlook dims: survey
72% of leaders indicate that they see global prosperity prospects declining or stagnating
[SINGAPORE] As a majority of global chief executives see prospects for global prosperity stagnating, leaders in the Asia-Pacific region are responding with an increasingly confident strategy: they are turning to their neighbours.
Based on a survey released by leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder on Friday (Oct 24), Apac leaders are prioritising regional partnerships as their new engine for growth. When asked where they see the most promise for business partnerships, 51 per cent identified their own Apac region and 50 per cent identified India as the key hub for investment and trade.
This regional pivot comes with a challenging global backdrop, where 72 per cent of leaders indicated that they see global prosperity prospects declining or stagnating.
However, the study, which surveyed 1,235 CEOs globally including 132 leaders from Apac, found that Apac leaders feel measurably more prepared to navigate that reality than in the past.
The percentage of Apac leaders who indicated that they felt “moderately unprepared” dropped from 24 per cent in 2024 to 17 per cent this year.
“Faced with global headwinds, Apac leaders are not waiting for the world to stabilise; they are actively building a more resilient future from within the region,” said Ang Wan May, Singapore managing partner at Egon Zehnder.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 8.30 am
Asean Business
Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.
“Their response is built on a clear strategy: strengthen regional alliances, invest in technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and ground it all in a deep personal commitment to adaptability for themselves and their teams.”
To power this regional vision, the survey revealed that Apac leaders are prioritising allocating resources to new strategic alliances and partnerships (46 per cent) and investing in AI (45 per cent). This is just behind innovation, which remains their top investment priority (53 per cent).
The survey also revealed that this strategy is grounded in a more human-centric approach than that of their global peers.
In identifying their top challenges, Apac leaders indicated a greater concern for talent acquisition and development (42 per cent, compared to 38 per cent globally) and the health and safety of the workforce (35 per cent, compared to 20 per cent globally). They are also more concerned with changing consumer behaviour (36 per cent, compared to 25 per cent globally).
This focus is reflected in the skills they are prioritising, with Apac leaders placing a higher importance on honing their ability to listen and inclusion in the workforce. 35 per cent of Apac leaders indicated listening to be “extremely important”, whereas only 29 per cent indicated the same globally. Similarly, 27 per cent of Apac leaders viewed inclusion as “extremely important”, and only 19 per cent of global leaders had the same response.
Despite the dimming global prospects, 97 per cent of all CEOs still desire to contribute positively to global prosperity. The study revealed that Apac leaders feel a stronger mandate to act on this desire, with 48 per cent believing that they have a responsibility to engage outside their business, compared to 40 per cent of their global counterparts.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
