European firms’ sentiments about prospects in Asean have rebounded to pre-Covid levels, after having weakened somewhat last year, said the latest business sentiment survey by the EU-Asean Business Council (EU-ABC) has found. For instance, 82 per cent of respondents expect to expand their levels of trade and investment in the region in the next five years, up from 73 per cent in 2020. The latest figure is close to the 2019 figure of 84 per cent.
The survey was conducted between April and July among 389 respondents across the 10 Asean member states, with the respondents coming from various services or manufacturing industries. The share of respondents who see Asean as the world region offering the best economic opportunity rebounded to 63 per cent, up from 53 per cent in 2020 and comparable to 2019’s figure.
