Despite challenging economic conditions, many Southeast Asian countries are looking ahead with optimism and planning actively for recovery.
While dire news about Southeast Asian economies has dominated newsfeeds in recent months, many analysts remain confident about the regional outlook. As global production lines resume operations, multiple sources predict that countries across the region will rebound in the coming months.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry reports that various sectors stayed adaptable and resilient even as they navigated the economic downturn. Manufacturing output dipped by 0.7%, yet precision engineering, electronics, and biomedical manufacturing expanded by 4.5%, 5.6%, and 11% respectively. Machinery and systems, retail, and finance and insurance sectors also recorded a notable uptick.
Euler Hermes identifies Singapore’s role as a regional and global trade hub as a key strength. Its strong business environment and resilient banking sector add further support to a positive recovery outlook. The insurance giant predicts Singapore’s GDP will contract in 2020 before rebounding 4.5% in 2021.
In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo struck an equally forward-looking tone: “We must not let the crisis bring about setbacks. In fact, we must capitalise on the crisis as a momentum to make a big leap.” He backed this position with an ambitious budget proposal and a confident recovery forecast.
Indonesian industries such as manufacturing and construction saw broad-based decline in the first half of 2020. Knowledge-intensive sectors, however, told a different story – education, digital, and healthcare all recorded growth during the same period. Supported by abundant natural resources and a strong banking industry, the World Bank predicts Indonesian real GDP growth will reach 4.8% the following year.
As Southeast Asia begins to stabilise, recovery is expected across the region. Progress, however, will occur gradually.
As the Southeast Asian economy looks to gradually revamp and progress, Mitigram provides an avenue for quicker and more efficient financial assistance to support growing and fluctuating demand. Adopted by more than 100 financial institutions, Mitigram allows corporates to reach out to both existing and new financial counterparties to request availability and pricing for all Trade Finance products. The platform enables a much quicker communication flow with banks as compared to using e-mail and phone.
Across Mitigram’s clients, an increase in activity on the platform has been evident. Namely, there has been an increase in the need to cover risk on obligors and for markets where it was not previously the case. And using Mitigram, the process of connecting with new financial institutions is just a click away.
Mitigram is used as a catalyst for trade businesses by offering robust support functionalities for corporates and traders – so that they can quickly gather insights and recognize what is possible in their markets. As Mitigram is completely web-based, new clients are up and running within 24 hours after signing up. All banks are available at a click of a button.
