On August 13th 2020, in celebration of Singapore's 55th National Day and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Singapore, APEC Institute of Business launched the first APEC Experts Forum - A Better You in the Post-Pandemic World, a webinar jointly organized by APEC Institute of Business and Singapore Eye. It was successfully launched on Tencent Meeting with over 200 participants.
We gathered well-known academic experts to share with us on the changes and opportunities COVID-19 has brought about, and analyze current hot topics: Professor Zheng Yongnian, a well-known international relations expert and former director of NUS Institute of East Asian Studies; Professor Yang Siqun of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, and Professor Kimmis Pun, Director of the Financial Planning Standards Board.
The Forum was hosted by President of APEC Institute of Business Ms. Joanna Jiao and Managing Director of Singapore Eye Dr Koh Chin Yee.
Hosted by President of APEC Institute of Business Ms. Joanna Jiao and Managing Director of Singapore Eye Dr Koh Chin Yee, the two organizations collaborated in organizing the webinar in hopes that in these times of uncertainty, the public and the audience readers, would gain the ability to accurately observe and judge the current complex situations, to face up to the challenges, and find new opportunities.
Professor Zheng Yongnian: Hyper-globalization has
led to hyper-nationalism
Professor Zheng brought up the theory of hyper-globalization – a phenomenon that has occurred since the 1980s, where it created an effective allocation of production in the world, greatly improving labour productivity, and creating huge amounts of wealth. China has successfully taken advantage of this wave of globalization to become the world's second largest economy.
At the same time, hyper-globalization has led to the widening of income and wealth disparities in Western societies, the shrinking of the middle class and the loss of national economic sovereignty. As a result, hyper-globalization has also led to the rise of American hyper-nationalism. The geopolitical crisis and the resulting economic activities of all countries are facing great challenges. Entrepreneurs have benefited from this wave of hyper-globalization, but have been negatively affected by the rise of hyper-nationalism. Professor Zheng also stated that hyper-nationalism will determine the future of businesses.
Professor Yang Siqun: Investing in Chinese stocks
is a good choice to make
During Professor Yang’s address, he shared that the impact of the pandemic will not lead to a crisis comparable to the Great Depression, but U.S. response policies will greatly affect the status of US dollars currency reserves. The U.S. and China conflicts will bring about huge uncertainties and losses to the economies of both countries, as such, how does one determine short- and medium-term investment strategies in such context?
Professor Yang then expressed his preliminary judgment that since consumption is still going on in China, especially in new economies (e.g. mobile payments, e-commerce, 5G applications) and urbanization, which can lead to sustained consumption growth, therefore investing in China's stock market is currently a good choice to make.
Professor Kimmis Pun: Redistribution of
wealth is necessary
Professor Pun analysed that in the post-epidemic times, the global risk environment will change, resulting in exposure of risks and vulnerabilities of enterprises and regions. Companies need to be more agile and open to exploration, maintain a keen sense on changing environments, and swiftly adjust their strategies to ensure that future business models are sustainable. Geopolitical factors and industry dynamics are also research worthy for entrepreneurs.
In post-epidemic times, she suggested that there is a need for redistribution of wealth to achieve financial security for both individuals, families, and businesses. As the Asia Pacific region provides a young and tech-savvy population and a driving demand for digital products and services, Professor Pun also suggested placing a focus on redistributing wealth in the Asia-Pacific region.
As the webinar drew close to an end, the two hours session has proven to be fruitful for our audience, where various pressing and concerning topics about the future in lieu of geopolitical conflicts, short- and long-term financial plans, and personal and corporate financial security were widely discussed. The audience also participated actively in the Q&A session, where they learned more in depth from our experts on the related topics.
Stay tuned to our next APEC Experts Forum, where we look forward to exploring more topics relating to issues in post-pandemic times.