MANILA (Sputnik) — The report surveyed over 800 APEC business leaders.
"Volatility in the financial markets this summer took a toll on CEO confidence with just 28% of business leaders are now 'very confident' their organisation will see revenue growth over the next 12 months. That is down from 46% a year ago, and it is the lowest level since PWC started tracking 12-months confidence for Asia Pacific CEO in 2012," the PWC news release says.
At the same time the concerns of the CEOs go beyond economics, with cyber security, exposure to natural disaster risks and regional geopolitical tensions threatening business investment and growth.
"In short term and medium term the CEO confidence level in business dropped firmly. The reason for that is that when the US federal reserves raised their interest rates, there was a slowdown in the Chinese economy, this led us to the perception that the revenue will slow down as well the following year," Alexander Cabrera, Alexander Cabrera, PwC Philippines Chairman and Senior Partner, told reporters.
Findings of the fifth annual APEC CEO Survey were presented on Monday morning, at the start of the APEC CEO Summit in Manila. The summit will be followed by the annual Economic Leaders meeting of the 21 economies of APEC on Thursday and Friday.
China, Japan, US Businesses Lose Optimism for Growth in Asia-Pacific
CEOs from China, Japan and the United States are the least optimistic among other Asia Pacific businesses about their prospects of growth in the next 12 months, the PwC found out.
"China, Japan and the US have had the largest drop in optimism," Alexander Cabrera, PwC Philippines Chairman and Senior Partner, told reporters.
The reasons behind the drop of optimism are the slowdown in the Chinese economy, which generates perception that business growth will slow down as well; volatility in the financial markets; geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea, and cyber security threats.
Mid-size businesses had some drop in optimism as well, because they are familiar with their domestic economies, but less familiar with new markets," Cabrera said.
