KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — The majority of Malaysian companies surveyed are feeling positive about business, with close to half of them feeling more optimistic than last year, HSBC’s latest survey has shown.
In the HSBC survey “Navigator: Made for the Future” released today, 80 per cent of the 200 Malaysian companies surveyed have a positive outlook for the near future and expect to grow in the next one to two years, which is in line with the global situation with 79 per cent of companies surveyed feeling the same.
HSBC Malaysia’s CEO Stuart Milne said he believed Malaysian companies were more buoyant about their future prospects than the rest of the world due to the vibrancy of Malaysia’s economy.
“With rising urbanisation, a growing middle class as well as rising investment and trade activity, it’s no surprise businesses are seeing more opportunities than threats on the horizon,” he said.
In the survey, more Malaysian firms saw more opportunities at 50 per cent, compared to those who saw more threats at 16 per cent, while one third or 34 per cent felt that opportunities and threats were equally balanced.
Malaysian businesses surveyed saw the three biggest opportunities over the next two years as growing the market for their products and services at 27 per cent, adoption of new technologies and entering new markets both at 25 per cent.
The three biggest threats viewed were new competitors or competitor performance at 32 per cent, uncertain or declining end customer demand and exchange rates both at 26 per cent.
The survey also found that 48 per cent of the Malaysian companies surveyed were “more optimistic” about their business outlook compared to a year ago, while 33 per cent expected things to stay the same, 17 per cent were more pessimistic about growth and the remaining expected business to shrink.
These figures are relatively close to the findings on global sentiments, with 53 per cent “more optimistic”, 36 per cent for things staying the same, and nine per cent who were more pessimistic.
The HSBC survey was conducted in May 2019, which means that the period being compared is May 2018, which was when the Barisan Nasional was voted out of power and Pakatan Harapan became the new government.
The survey also showed almost all or 98 per cent of Malaysian businesses feeling that innovation is important, which matches the global findings.
Of the Malaysian companies surveyed, 41 per cent sees innovation as a growth engine, while 36 per cent view it as necessary for their survival, as compared to 22 per cent which said innovation was important but not their main focus.
Three key barriers to innovation as viewed by the Malaysian businesses are cost at 53 per cent, skill shortage at 34 per cent and uncertain return on investment at 32 per cent.
This is relatively higher to the global situation in perceived barriers to innovation at cost (40 per cent), skills shortage (28 per cent) and uncertain return on investment (25 per cent).
“Companies across Malaysia are attuned to disruption, and know innovation is fundamental to future success. By improving productivity and integrating new technologies into their business models, companies in Malaysia can improve the quality of their goods and services and better meet the needs and expectations of their evolving customer base,” Milne said.
According to the survey, the top investment priorities of the Malaysian businesses surveyed was research, innovation and technology (59 per cent), upskilling of their workforce (57 per cent), and their customer and user experience (56 per cent).
The three skills that Malaysian businesses will be looking for in the next one to two years are innovation (34 per cent), digital marketing (33 per cent), and research and development (30 per cent).
The survey found that 34 per cent of Malaysian companies surveyed felt technical innovation was required for future success, while the others that they felt required for such success are the bringing in of new skills and experience into the business (26 per cent), being more agile and responsive to change (25 per cent), and investing in the skills of the workforce at 24 per cent.
The HSBC-commissioned survey that was conducted by Kantar saw 2,559 companies with turnover of US$5 million (RM20.7 million) or above being surveyed, including 200 from Malaysia and the rest from 13 other markets namely Australia, Canada, mainland China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore, UAE, UK and the US.
