Asian Business Opportunities besides China
With numerous business opportunities, the Asian market is growing rapidly in the recent years. As the market in Asia is continuing to develop, and gaining more influence on a global platform, Southeast Asian countries are considered to be prominent players in enhancing strategic market growth in various fields. Today, several MNCs and investors want to gain a strong foothold in Asia, especially Southeast Asia, as the region has been resilient through the global financial crisis and has been successful in achieving consistent average annual GDP growth rates in the range of 5% to 8%. A raft of health care Private Equity (PE) activity is demonstrating the increasing importance of the SEA health care sector, with Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand top geographies for recent deals. Hospital-based businesses (general medical and surgical facilities) were the main focus of deal activity, accounting for 60 percent of transactions in past ten years.
Besides China and India with a population exceeding 1 billion each, it is often forgotten that SEA with 620 million people represents the 3rd biggest population in Asia.
Another factor that has facilitated booming Asian business opportunity is the youngest and the largest workforce, representing 52% of the global workforce. Though Asian countries like India and China are considered as leading tiger economies, Singapore and Vietnam too have been playing a prominent role as a regional hub and gateway into Asia by providing an attractive launch pad for those multinational firms seeking proximity to the region for a commercially sophisticated base. Asian Business consultants are also playing a prominent role in planning and managing the businesses which has further promoted the business opportunities Southeast Asia.
Southeast Asian countries, especially Singapore, are known for pro-business environment. Unlike western countries, it takes only a few days to set up a company here. In addition, protection of Intellectual Property (IP) is seriously considered and also has very strong copyright laws. Besides, the stable and orderly government that enacts laws decides priorities and sets regulations which are undoubtedly a tremendous support to the business communities. Singapore’s education system belongs to the best and it is well represented among the top 100 Universities in the world with Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore. All this factors helped to drive GDP/capita level to 56,286 US$ (compared to 54,629 US$ in the USA).
Correspondingly, Philippines has also started an upward growth in the last five years. The government has placed an emphasis on improving regulatory efficiency, liberalizing the banking sector, and enhancing regional competitiveness. This has been achieved by addressing structural weaknesses and improving overall economic competitiveness. Philippines is successful in demonstrating high level of resilience to global financial crisis by recording an average growth rate exceeding 5% over the last 5 years. Another country that is enormous potential of Southeast Asia is Indonesia. So far, Indonesia has not developed with the same pace as other Asian countries mainly because of trade and business limitations with regard to foreign invested companies. However, the government has addressed such concerns and applied a more liberal approach in recent years.
Modernizations in agriculture, investment in infrastructure, reduced logistic costs, supported by professional trade and consulting services have given a boost in the region.
About the Author:
Urs Eller, Co-Founder and President of ETAC Consulting. A company run by professional experts, providing management consulting and financial services. The company is based in Switzerland and with local presence in Singapore and Shanghai.
