Let’s go East!

Just last week, Niche Corporate Communications, the PR company I founded over 15 years ago, at a time when PR was relatively new, became a part of GO Communications, one of Asia’s largest independent PR networks. Having worked alongside my colleagues based in Malaysia, who maintain a dynamic presence throughout Southeast Asia, I have come to realize that Asia is a whole lot more beyond the kind of development and progress we have seen on the surface. Asia is awakening and Asia is ready for growth.

Looking east is emerging as a new norm for most companies, concerned as they are with a stagnant market in the west – combine that with the Euro crisis and the American downturn and you have Asia’s moment in history defined. Most companies, multinational or otherwise, are doing their homework and realizing that there is more than what meets the eye in Asia.

Wall Street Journal quoted a portfolio manager at Palisades Hudson Financial based in New York with an asset management base of around US $ 1.1 billion, saying that investors are indeed looking at being bullish in Southeast Asia as opposed to only in China.

The chief investment strategist at Signature, yet another large wealth management company based in US with assets valued at over US $ 2.5 billion says that most Southeast Asian countries have bounced back from the global financial meltdown and are offering opportunities for growth.

Regional emphasis

According to Signature, countries such as the Philippines are encouraging infrastructural development to fuel economic activity; the iShares MSC Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (EPHE) has gained over 40% last year alone. Cumberland Advisors based in Florida recently rebalanced their global stock ETF portfolio with emphasis on the Asia Pacific region. Their favourite markets for 2013 included Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia.

Closer home, countries such as Malaysia and South Korea are ideal destinations for Sri Lanka to promote tourism in. No wonder then that Australia is aggressively promoting tourism in Malaysia. Yet Sri Lanka is much closer and packs more value in terms of a holiday destination for Malaysians looking to travel. Whether in Malaysia or rest of the region, global brands are targeting a bigger and a better presence in the region.

It is not only Southeast Asia but also our part of the world that is looking ripe for growth opportunities to companies doing business across the globe. India is a major market and heads the push for such opportunities in South Asia.

Financial analysts point out that Asian markets are growing rapidly with China expected to become the world’s largest economy by 2020 and India expected to rank fourth on the global economic scale by 2025.

Combine that with the fact that more than half of the world’s current population reside in Asia and offer power packed purchasing power of consumers in the region. Looking East suddenly makes more sense than before.

Going East is no longer a vision that drives mere business opportunities. It is also a choice for other areas such as education. Geographically, the Asian region is connected closer than Europe or Americas and can offer multi dimensional educational prospects.

Most companies, multinational or otherwise, are doing their homework and realizing that there is more than what meets the eye in Asia

Changing times

It is also a sign of changing times. Just as once upon a time the wealthy, high spending tourists came from the west, the status quo has changed in the tourism industry. Now, analysts say that Asian tourists spend more and tend to choose luxurious locations. Compared with most of today’s travellers from Europe who live in challenging economic times and prefer to choose budget or low priced hotels and tours, the Asian region it seems, offers better value for money.

It comes as no surprise then that more and more European companies such as Siemens of Germany are looking at a steady presence in Asia. Companies such as German based Infineon is looking at a higher growth – over 40% - coming from Asia in the years to come.

What can we in Sri Lanka learn from the Look East trend – it is closer home and markets that we can easily enter, with least resistance. Asian markets are dynamic and may offer new insights ; it means changing perceptions that have traditionally held that the West must take the lead. While Western markets are not exactly dead and continue to beckon, looking East may enable us here in Sri Lanka to enhance what we can offer, thus creating new markets and driving bigger and better prospects.

(Nayomini, a senior journalist, writer and a PR professional, can be contacted at nay

ominiweerasooriya@gmail.com)