Asian CEOs more confident than global peers

Asian leaders continue to be confident about business, with many maintaining a positive outlook for the next six months.

According to the Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO) Global Pulse Confidence Index for Asia, regional business leaders’ confidence slipped just 0.1 points to 64.2 in April this year.

ASEAN leaders were also found to be more confident than the rest of the region, with their confidence level edging up 0.9 points to 68.6.

Terry O’Connor, regional chief executive officer of Courts Asia and chair of the YPO Singapore Chapter, said concerns over the sustainability of China’s economic expansion eased earlier this year, but analysts are still cautious and expect the current economic rebound to remain “fragile”.

“At the same time, new economic stimulus measures in Japan and continued strength in the ASEAN economies are keeping overall Asian confidence at a robust level,” O’Connor said.

Overall, businesses in Asia are faring better than their global counterparts. The report found the confidence index for Asia was 5.7 points higher than the global average of 66.3.

At 59.5, the regional employment confidence was slightly higher than the global average of 58.2. Asia’s fixed investment confidence, at 65.5, was also higher than the global average of 59.7.