About 83 percent of the nation’s chief executive officers expect a global recession and diminished consumer confidence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan showed.
The survey conducted from June 1 to 15 found that 59 percent of the respondents believed that COVID-19-related disruptions have exposed corporate inadequacy in risk management, decisionmaking and cross-region coordination, PwC said.
Hence, 48 percent of respondents said that economic uncertainty would be the biggest challenge ahead, followed by worries about protectionism and trade frictions at 42 percent, contagious diseases and other health hazards at 41 percent, and geopolitical conflicts at 37 percent, the survey showed.
However, nearly 60 percent of respondents were confident that their company could return to normal operations within three months of the survey, while 29 percent believed in a recovery within a month, the survey found.
“Taiwanese firms are known for their flexibility, and swiftness to change and adapt. This explains why they have relocated production bases to cope with US-China trade tensions and gain market shares amid the virus crisis,” PwC Taiwan chairman Joseph Chou (周建宏) said on Thursday last week.
About 50 percent of local companies would opt to increase spending on research and development to remain competitive, expand overseas markets and pursue growth opportunities through collaborations with young innovative entrepreneurs, Chou said.
For 56 percent of the respondents, China is the most important foreign market, followed by the US (51 percent), Vietnam (27 percent), Germany (24 percent), Japan (21 percent) and Indonesia (14 percent), the survey showed.
Vietnam overtook Japan and Germany to become the third-most important market for Taiwanese firms due to supply chain realignment, PwC said.
The survey found that 15 percent of CEOs would seek to boost company revenues by cooperating with young entrepreneurs, unfazed by the pandemic.
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