2019 Asia Pacific Outlook: STRONG GROWTH OF 6%

Trade tension will remain a key source of uncertainty and, in particular, how the US-China trade dispute will emerge continues to be a major risk factor.  Despite this, the 2019 Asia Pacific outlook remains robust.

Based on the Goldman Sachs real GDP Growth forecast for 2019, the whole Asia region (ex-Japan) will still grow moderately and at a very healthy rate of 6% (2018 was 6.2%.).  Growth forecast for Japan calls for 1.1% in 2019, compared to 1.0 % in 2018.

Business and growth opportunities remain strong across the board in Asia.

The main themes for 2019 in the talent management field in Asia, in our view are as follows

• Asia is still the can-do region, and many experienced Asia Presidents and Business Leaders in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region will be promoted to larger, cross-region or global roles.
• For countries such as China, Japan and Korea, there will be continuous change from the traditional elements of mass production and wealth creation — capital, labor and raw materials – to new opportunities such as eCommerce, Life Science, AI and Technology.
• Large local companies in Asia will become more global and will be hiring more executives capable of being a bridge between headquarters in the East and West.
• The head of HR will become more than the HR Business Partner and will accelerate the competitive capabilities of the current workforce so the whole company becomes more AGILE by learning, unlearning and relearning continuously.

Cornerstone International Group provides business consulting services throughout the region with offices in India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia and five in China.

The fast-changing 2019 Asia Pacific outlook has resulted in growth-conscious CEOs are working with talent acquisition partners such as Cornerstone as trusted advisors to attract executives that are Game Changers to the business.

Get in touch if you have questions about business consulting services in the Asia Pacific Region

Note: At this time of year we publish national and regional outlooks by our members in many of the 34 countries where we do business. This blog post by Chairman Simon Wan summarizes the ongoing globalization in the Asia-Pacific region.