Asian business not expecting return to normal

WELLINGTON: Businesses in Asia are expecting permanent change after Covid19, with more focus on domestic manufacturing than exports, a new survey suggests.

The AsiaNew Zealand Foundation questioned a range of small, mediumsized and large businesses in 15 countries across Asia about how the economic impacts from the pandemic would affect trade.

The foundation sought the views of 100 businesses and received responses from 88 from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, TimorLeste and Vietnam.

The survey was designed to provide a snapshot of what is happening on the ground in Asia and how they plan to cope economically with Covid19 and its aftermath.

Foundation executive director Simon Draper said one clear message was that there would be a permanent change to the way people in Asia did business.

‘‘We thought it was useful to hear what they had to say and think it gives us a useful baseline for the coming weeks and months as Covid19 plays out,’’ he said.

‘‘A large majority talked about the move from offline to online and the need for different ways of doing their own business, and changes to the supply chain, including air transport.

‘‘What came through this was they don’t expect to go back to business as usual.’’

The survey found that while business sentiment was pessimistic, some operators were encouraged about the ability for businesses to innovate and find new opportunities.

Mr Draper said one clear message coming out of the survey was there would be a permanent change in the way Asia did business.

‘‘One of the things is that their focus will be on manufacturing for the domestic market as opposed to manufacturing for export and so there is going to be some risks for us around supply chains but there is also going to be some opportunities.

The message for New Zealand businesses was to be well abreast of what was happening in Asia.

‘‘Given the importance of the relationship, given our geography isn’t going to change, given that going into this seven out of 10 of our largest trading partners are in Asia, knowing what is going on there is going to be important.’’ — RNZ