Friday, 17 September 2021 Reading time : 3 minutes

Pacific: Good resistance in the crisis
Compared internationally the pacific region shows relatively good resistance to the crisis, but is also affected by the general uncertainty (primarily by the euro crisis) and by the weakening of the global economy. The individual countries though do not show the same picture.

Countries’ specifics
The country group Pacific includes the following five heterogeneous countries: Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. In Japan the state reconstructions after last year’s catastrophe will stimulate GDP growth in 2012. For the first time in 30 years Japan’s trade balance showed a deficit in 2011 primarily due to higher energy imports caused by the shutdown of almost all of the 54 nuclear plants that produced close to one third of Japan’s electricity. Thanks to reconstruction and private investments especially in equipment and real estate growth prospects are good. Australia’s situation is completely different: The country made it relatively save through the financial crisis, the real estate market is in good state and the commodity export is booming due to rising demand from emerging markets. The Australian financial sector makes up a substantial part of the index and banks are defensively positioned with their focus on the national market. The real estate sector shows less signs of overheating than other regions. Hong Kong, the gate to main land china, has different core areas. Within the last 20 years the city state has converted to a services economy: Finance, services, logistics, consulting services, trade and tourism are the main industries. Singapore, known as the Asian Switzerland, is already very developed. The country focuses on research and development as well as firstclass products, but highly depends on exports. New Zealand’s main activities lie in agricultural products such as milk, meat and woollen products. In respect to growth in the Pacific Area, the country plays only a small role however.

Creating added value through sustainable companies
Before the earth quake and the tsunami which lead to the atomic catastrophe in Fukushima the Japanese government was planning to increase the percentage of nuclear energy to 30% to 50%. The current aim though is the reduction of nuclear energy in favour of alternative energy. Besides the reorganisation of the energy supply, the Japanese industry is in hard competition with other Asian countries and has to solve governance problems in companies. Japanese companies are considered leading in ecological aspects (i.e. energy efficiency or renewable energies) and thus could profit in the global market. The commodity boom in Australia has social and ecological consequences that have to be observed closely. From a sustainable perspective better is the defensive finance sector that also offers various opportunities and has a high standard in the integration of sustainability in the Pacific Area. For Hong Kong’s companies the main challenges lie in governance from a sustainable perspective. 

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