Asia has been hit the hardest by inflation and higher prices since last year, even though their economy is still slowing down and the cost of getting money is going up. More than 4,000 companies in Asia and China were asked about the effects of high inflation, and more than 30% of them said that they were felt.
Over 30% of them also said that higher running costs hurt them, and over 20% said that rising labor costs were the main reason why they were hurt. Even so, four of the ten businesses said they were still “very positive” about the business climate. People said that the best shops were in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Businesses also talked about how they planned to deal with problems in the future, such as by cutting costs, getting new customers, and going digital. More than eighty percent of them said they would be interested in expanding their business abroad to make it more profitable and bring in more money.
That being said, more than half of them said that they wanted to grow into Southeast Asia, and about 30% said they wanted to grow into the Chinese market. For growth in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand were at the top of the list.
They found that companies in Vietnam and Indonesia were most eager to grow, and companies that work with technology, engineering, or media were most eager to reach new customers.
Companies find it hard to grow into new areas because they have trouble finding local partners, having enough employees, and having enough money.