KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is a favoured expansion destination for Asean companies looking for growth opportunities in the 10-nation bloc, according to a survey by Standard Chartered (StanChart).
Forty-nine per cent of survey respondents selected Malaysia as one of the countries offering the best expansion opportunities in Asean over the next 12 months, StanChart said, based on its
"Borderless Business: Intra-Asean Corridor" report.
It is a strategic report that explores high-potential opportunities for cross-border growth within the region.
"While Covid-19 has somewhat dampened foreign direct investment sentiment globally, Malaysia remains a well-placed destination for companies looking for opportunities to diversify their supply chain and operations in Asean," Standard Chartered Malaysia managing director and chief executive officer Abrar A. Anwar said.
He named electrical and electronics, healthcare, automotive and e-commerce as the key growth sectors on StanChart's watchlist for Malaysia.
StanChart said the country had started making headway in developing capabilities to spur growth both in the electric vehicles segment and data centre supply.
"Malaysia is also seen as a leading medical device manufacturing hub and a regional market leader in medical tourism," StanChart added.
Overall, the report said the majority of Asean companies focusing on intra-regional opportunities had expected robust business growth in the region over the next 12 months (99 per cent of respondents expect growth in production and 96 per cent anticipate growth in revenue).
Access to the large and growing Asean consumer market (69 per cent), access to a global market enabled by a network of Free Trade Agreements (59 per cent) and availability of abundant and skilled workforce (49 per cent) were among the most important drivers2 for expansion across the region according to the senior executives of the surveyed Asean companies.
In addition, with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership expected to attract more investments into Asean, all respondents said that they are planning to increase their investments over the next three to five years.
"Within Asean, Malaysia is a major hub for investments, being the third largest source for intra-Asean FDI in 2019," StanChart said.
The suvey was commissioned in April targeting senior executives at 83 companies based in Asean and focusing on the intra-Asean corridor.