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The survey provides a snapshot of Australian business sentiment in South-East Asia as companies shift investment away from China. The Albanese government is also encouraging Australian companies to focus their attention on fast-growing ASEAN economies following years of tensions with China where economic growth is slowing.
Some companies, including two of Australia’s big four banks – National Australia Bank and Westpac – have exited Hong Kong over concerns about the city’s national security laws as part of a broader crackdown on freedoms by Beijing.
Some 45 per cent of companies surveyed said the situation in Hong Kong, which endured three years of strict COVID-19 controls, had both helped and hurt their Singapore operations. They said while more talent was available as people left Hong Kong, the city-state had become a lot more expensive for staff.
Singapore has benefited from a surge in family office trusts and more regional trade shifting to the city since the pandemic. That partly reflects the flow of more Chinese capital into the city, which offers tax breaks and discretion for private investors, as well as rising wealth in countries like India.
AustCham conducted the survey of 68 organisations, many with more than 200 employees, with the Centre of International Trade and Business in Asia.
Out of the respondents looking to expand in the region, 41 per cent said they were looking at Indonesia, 34 per cent India, 31 per cent each at Malaysia and Vietnam. The e were followed by the Philippines, China, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Myanmar, and Laos.
It also found 53 per cent of respondents wanted to increase the number of employees in Singapore in the next 12 months, but many reported problems with changes in the city’s work visas for foreigners, known as an Employment Pass.
Some 65 per cent of respondents believe obtaining the pass, which now requires a higher qualifying salary, had become more difficult.
Some Australia companies have been quietly building up staff numbers in Singapore while reducing them in Hong Kong in the last three years.
Fed up with tight border controls and worried about Beijing’s security clampdowns, some expatriates left Hong Kong during the pandemic for Singapore. However, some have since returned after borders opened, with some complaining about Singapore’s soaring costs.
Still, the survey’s results were a contrast to those from Australian chambers in Hong Kong and mainland China which showed investment appetite there was waning.
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