CEOs bullish on APEC's economic growth

Business leaders in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region showed their strongest optimistic expectation on revenue growth in two years, despite the uncertain trade and foreign investment environment, believing that the regional economies are becoming more cohesive, according to a PwC survey released on Wednesday.

The study showed that 37 percent of 1,412 chief executive officers, who are doing business in the APEC region, are "very confident" about generating more revenue in the next 12 months, up by 9 percentage points from a year earlier.

As most of them believe that the region's economic growth will continue to outpace the global rate, 63 percent plan to expand their global business during the next three years, said the PwC's annual APEC CEO Survey, which was released at the APEC CEO Summit in the coastal city Da Nang of Vietnam.

Nearly half of the APEC-based companies increased global investments, up from 43 percent last year, the survey said, and 71 percent of these CEOs are planning to increase investment in APEC economies.

A more restrictive international trade environment, whether in terms of higher barriers to employing foreign labor or in moving goods across borders, worries the CEOs in the coming year.

To limit headwinds from the changing global trade environment, which is more because of the rising inward-looking policies, the CEOs showed their efforts on changing trade policy, especially on "increasing business activity in economies with established bilateral ties or conduct more value added activities domestically".

It is the eighth annual APEC CEO survey carried out by PwC, with responses generated from each of the 21 APEC economies.

Discussion topics among the APEC CEOs during the 2017 APEC Economic Leader's Week, which started on Nov 6, all have an overarching theme of "Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future".

The summit this year has four priorities: promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening small- and medium-sized enterprises' competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.