Singapore Post-Covid | Ingwer Consulting

Singapore Post-Covid Economy Shift

The Post-Covid world is a complete toss-up of everything we’ve come to know about economic rules. The US and China are at odds in the trade market, all other Asian countries fell on the list of economic position. Singapore National Development Minister Desmond Lee and PSA International group chief executive offer Tan Chong Meng identified six major shifts from which opportunities could emerge.

Shift Towards the East

The two officers explained that there is a massive change in the global order. As geopolitics shift toward Asia, intra-regional trade flows could grow and change the entire line-up of who is next in the hierarchy of the international economy.

Asia has seen a drop in rank on economic scale but a potential huge setup for the next year, considering China is, in a way, stepped aside for other powers to show through. This will be a major shift in the entire world because previously, China was basically a world-wide barrier to entry.

Supply Chains

Drawbacks of supply chains pursuing efficiency at the cost of resilience, as companies with no buffers to overcome global disruptions. The rebalancing between "efficiency" and "resilience" in supply chains, which may result in shorter supply chains with production bases located closer to consumer markets, and stockpiling of essential materials for production. Supply chains have been a huge conversation in the past year because of the inherent failures within the systems across the globe in 2020.

Online Platform

People forced to stay at home to stem the spread of the virus, consumers turned to ecommerce and technologies to keep in touch with family and even co-workers. Businesses to speed up digital transformation and innovation, permanently altered the way business is conducted. The world will forever be a more online platform.

Consumer Preferences

Consumer preferences will not return to pre-pandemic norms. Demand for e-commerce, e-services and digital channels will increase, and there will be a growing emphasis on services that affect individual health and wellness. Everything from air purifiers to actual physical health aspects, there will be all sorts of things involved with the health and wellness world that affect the future of the industry.

Private Companies

With significant pressure on businesses, industry consolidation and churn will also speed up. The task force said large private companies will reinforce their market dominance, and those with available capital can acquire distressed assets, leading to industry consolidation. There may also be more caution in investments owing to higher debts and greater uncertainty.

It will be incredibly interesting to see the approach and position Singapore takes on within the next year. With so many shifts and changes, there is so much opportunity to change the international market – for the better.

Covid-19 has also intensified focus on environmental, economic and social sustainability, which could result in new business opportunities like in the green economy. The Green Economy is an emerging market that we will see come to fruition in the coming years. Sustainability is not only a huge focus of most companies now, but it’s also created a market for some new products, services and regulations, resulting in a new enterprise opportunity.