JAKARTA, Indonesia January 27, 2016 – Despite headwinds from the global economy, Asia-Pacific will continue to be the leader for global growth in 2016, confirms John Vijayarangam, Chair of the Asia-Pacific Region for Cornerstone International Group.
The Regional Outlook Report, published today, is the first of an annual series of regional and national business outlooks prepared by member offices of the global executive search network. Cornerstone International Group has 65 offices in 29 countries around the world, including 18 in the Asia-Pacific region.
After decades of double digit growth from China, growth in the emerging Asia (Southeast Asia, China and India) is projected to moderate gradually to an average of 6.2% annually.
China is slowing to a more sustainable pace and this will affect the growth prospects of the rest of the region as export demand drops and investment flows decline. Japan is expected to see growth pick up following a year of stagnation.
ASEAN Economic Community Launched
“A much anticipated step at the very end of 2015 was the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community,” says Vijayarangam. “If this succeeds as a barrier-free common market among 10 countries, it would have a combined GDP of $2.4 trillion.”
The widening difference in economic performance between Asia’s two giants is expected to be increasingly evident in 2016 with India’s economic expansion continuing to outpace that of China. India’s output is expected to grow by 7.6% this year, among the highest in the region, compared with China’s 6.4%, but India is a much more recent contender with GDP roughly one fifth that of China.
Indonesia and Malaysia, being exporters of non-oil commodities (prices have fallen sharply), will be affected by the trade swing. India, on the other hand, is expected to pick up to one of the highest levels in the region. Among the ASEAN-5 and the CLM (Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar) countries, growth in the Philippines and Vietnam will lead with 5.2%.
As Asia becomes the vanguard of economic development, Cornerstone with its strong network will be at the forefront of global Executive Search and HR consulting, providing strong support to multinationals and local business in Asia.
Details of the 2016 Regional report can be found here on the Cornerstone International Group global website.
National business outlooks have also been published for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Hong Kong
The softening Chinese economy and a decrease in Chinese tourist arrivals is expected to adversely affect Hong Kong in 2016. Read more…..
Taiwan
The weakening Chinese economy (Taiwan’s largest trading and investment partner), and the impact of the newly signed China-South Korean FTA is expected to soften Taiwan’s macroeconomic environment to 2% – 2.6%. Read more…
China
The economic transition facing China is expected to be choppy as the government responds to both a slowing global economy and internal structural problems, especially shrinking labor force supplies, rigid currency and financial infrastructure and overstocked property markets. Read more……
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