INTERGEST APAC CONFERENCE ON 17 MARCH IN KUALA LUMPUR
When it comes to finding out how things really are in a region and how the markets are likely to develop further, you have to get on a plane in order to find out personally and talk to the local people. As you know, this is my job for the InterGest network and I am very happy to fulfil it. That's why I was excited to travel to Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore in March to find out exactly that about the Asia region:
Our InterGest Malaysia invited us to a conference on 17 March at their offices in Kuala Lumpur and we were able to exchange ideas with our InterGest partners from Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
First of all, we were concerned with the question of how the situation is today - after the pandemic - in the individual countries. What stood out was that as differently as the coronavirus had been handled in the individual countries, the situation is now very similar at the end of the pandemic. No matter how hard the lockdown was or how much freedom was left to the people, it does not really make a remarkable difference today, on the contrary: the virus has had the same effect everywhere, namely a shortage of skilled workers, the migration of people from the cities and a negative impact on the economy.
Will this teach us a lesson in the next pandemic?
Our conference then focused on the role of Southeast Asia, especially with regard to the current developments in China. Although none of those present doubted the future importance of China, it was and is of course clear that companies that produce in China for the world market - and not for China itself - are thinking about alternative production sites.
Of course, we want and have to take this development into account in our network, so that an increased presence in the region, especially in Vietnam and Indonesia, was decided by the participants of the conference.
In addition, our Indian InterGest partner Vinayak Hajare was extremely confident about the development of the Asian subcontinent: India is now the fifth largest economy in the world and currently has a growth rate of around 6.1%. This makes the region increasingly interesting for foreign investors and also allows InterGest South Asia to look quite optimistically into the future.
At the end of the day, all partners drew a thoroughly positive balance and agreed that it is worthwhile to further expand InterGest's presence in the region around the Gulf of Thailand.
Speaking of "presence": After the conference the participants were served was well-tapped and wonderfully cold beer, and everyone was very much in agreement that no TEAMS or ZOOM meeting can ever replace a meeting in person.
If you have any questions about individual countries or our next steps in the region, I am, as always, very happy to help.
Sincerely yours,
Prof. Peter Anterist
