Fewer Singaporean CEOs plan to raise cross border investments

Nearly 7 in 10 are wary over stringent regulations.

With a muted economic outlook, this year’s APEC CEO Survey by PwC results show that business leaders will be more stringent with cross-border investment in the year to come.

In Singapore, fewer CEOs plan to increase cross border investments over the next 12 months seeing a 22 point drop from 69% in 2015 to 47% in 2016 (53% in APEC 2016, 66% in ASEAN 2016), with 12% indicating intent to decrease cross border investments (10% in APEC, 5% in ASEAN).

On a positive note, majority (60%) informed that they are ‘somewhat confident’ in the year to come; coupled with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) holding off on easing measures despite receding growth, this may be indicative of the robustness of the Singapore market.

Gone are the days when fast growing markets were enough to entice investors to make big bets. Regulation emerged as the biggest influence on investment decisions, above skills, tax, and legal issues. Over half (58% in APEC, 71% in ASEAN, 66% in Singapore) expect its impact to increase again within 3-5 years.

Yeoh Oon Jin, Executive Chairman, PwC Singapore, comments:

“As Singapore is largely swayed by global economic conditions and has a relatively small domestic market, it is logical for businesses here to be outward-oriented for growth. Emerging markets such as the other ASEAN economies bring a promise of hope. Singapore is well-placed to reach out to the ASEAN markets and should leverage on the rising tide in ASEAN to secure long-term sustainable growth or risk losing their market share.”

PwC surveyed over 1,100 CEOs in 21 APEC economies, in the run up to the APEC Business Summit in Lima, Peru (17-19 November).

A mere 7% of business leaders in Singapore surveyed by PwC are ‘very confident’ about revenue growth over the next 12 months (28% in APEC, 40% in ASEAN). It’s the second year in a row CEOs have had a subdued outlook for revenue growth.