Business leaders and investors should adopt a "Never Normal" mindset that enables them to harness disruptive forces when facing a perfect economic storm, according to regional business leaders speaking at today's Bangkok Bank-PermataBank "Gearing up - Getting ready for challenges in 2023" joint webinar.
The panel comprised Mr. Tony Fernandes, Chief Executive Officer of Capital A, Mrs. Somruedee Chaimongkol, Chief Executive Officer Banpu, and Mr. Pandu Patria Sjahrir, Founding Partner of AC Ventures and Commissioner of Indonesia Stock Exchange, and was moderated by Dr. Kobsak Pootrakool, Senior Executive Vice President and Director at Bangkok Bank. The panelists explored how ASEAN's diverse and resilient economies can provide a safe harbor from the perfect storm of a global economic slowdown, high interest rates, soaring inflation, and disrupted global energy and supply chains.
The panelists advised businesses to focus on financial prudence and good governance, identify emerging regional opportunities such as logistics and advanced manufacturing, and suggested they could turn crisis into opportunity.
"We are in the era of 'Never Normal'," said Mrs. Somruedee, who is leading the energy transition of Banpu, the Thailand-based energy giant. "To thrive in the long-term, companies must integrate the Never Normal paradigm into their business strategies so they can harness disruptive forces to their advantage."
"ASEAN has become an international hub for manufacturing, driven by a steady increase in investments and GDP growth," she said. "The region is upgrading its production processes to Industry 4.0 technologies such as robotics, 3D printing, and the broader digitalization of industries. This provides an opportunity for companies to expand their business, diversify their supply chains and build networks in Southeast Asian markets. Diversification is central to a company's resilience and risk mitigation strategy."
Mr. Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, said, "At Capital A, we are navigating these challenges by managing costs; essentially, we are maximizing the top line and minimizing costs. At AirAsia, we are doing this through fares and ancillary income and ensuring we are cashflow positive."
"I see two major areas of opportunity for Capital A," he said. "Firstly, there is logistics as e-commerce represents a wonderful opportunity for our Teleport business and our airline AirAsia. Secondly, the bubble has burst for many tech companies, which means costs are coming down. Most importantly, businesses which had run with no business logic are now having to be sustainable and run optimally, with sensible valuations, and this is good for Capital A's digital companies that were dealing with irrational competition caused by large inflows of capital provided by venture capitalists."
Mr. Pandu Patria Sjahrir, Founding Partner AC Ventures and Commissioner of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead for tech companies and emphasized the need for good governance. "The digital economy is an integral part of Indonesia's economy," he said. "While 2023 will be a challenging year for tech companies, there are still opportunities for those who focus on their core business, build teams and foster a culture of good governance."
"Bangkok Bank believes ASEAN provides a safe harbor from a perfect economic storm of a global economic slowdown, rising interest rates, high inflation, disrupted supply chains and geopolitics," said Dr. Kobsak Pootrakool, Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Bangkok Bank. "While the region will be affected to some extent by the global economic turbulence, it is recovering and growing faster than other parts of the world, including most developed economies. Southeast Asia's key economies Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are back on a sustainable growth path and ASEAN remains on track to become the world's 4th largest economy within 2030 supported by diverse markets, positive demographics, digitalization, strong companies and growing foreign investment."
Bangkok Bank, ASEAN's 6th largest regional bank and Thailand's most international bank by assets, joined with PermataBank, its Indonesian subsidiary and one of Indonesia's 10 largest banks, to host the "Gearing up - Getting ready for challenges in 2023" webinar on December 13, 2022.
This was the first in a series of webinars which will draw on Bangkok Bank Group's regional banking expertise and network to bring together business and thought leaders to provide insights into ASEAN trends and how to manage challenges and create opportunities in an uncertain economic environment.
A recoding of the Bangkok Bank-PermataBank "Gearing up - Getting ready for challenges in 2023" joint webinar can be viewed at https://youtu.be/3q_ra5DNJQk.
Source: Bangkok Bank
