Emerging Giants in Asia Pacific - KPMG

China will remain Asia Pacific’s dominant new economy force, but its importance will be rivalled by India as a source of digital innovation, while Southeast Asia, thanks to the expected growth of its middle classes, will establish itself as the region’s other major digital market.

Consumer-facing companies and fintechs will continue to attract the largest share of investment as e-commerce, payment, delivery and personal finance platforms – often combined as “super-apps” – are rolled out to serve the region’s emerging markets. But as markets mature, attention will turn more and more to higher-value-adding B2B start-ups in areas such as enterprise productivity, education, healthcare and clean-tech. Australia is pointing the way forward in many of these areas.

The continuing growth of Asia’s middle classes, and especially the emergence of Gen Z consumers will be the biggest single factor driving digital economies across the region. But though societies with younger demographics and larger populations will be the forefront of change, as Japan is showing with its “Society 5.0” model, Asia’s more prosperous, ageing societies, too will also be rich sources of innovation.

The region’s many distinctive societies, economies and politics will lead to proliferation of localized business models. Malaysia, for example, is set to enhance its already strong position in Islamic finance, while in Indonesia, a host of social commerce start-ups are using local knowledge to grow their businesses across the country’s many underserved islands, echoing China’s Pinduoduo which built its e-commerce empire by concentrating on lower-tier cities.

Robotics and automation are transforming factories. Rapid prototyping is allowing companies to develop new goods faster and at lower cost. Blockchain and tracking technologies are facilitating efficiency, traceability and transparency along industry supply chains. The region’s manufacturing and exporting strengths, especially those of East Asia, will be further enhanced by new digital technologies.

As the region moves to address climate change, opportunities to expand the reach of new economy businesses will arise as entire economies embrace the need to track and analyze carbon emissions, install and operate smart renewable energy systems, replace fossil-fuel powered transport networks with electric ones and put in place green finance solutions to pay.