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Most chief executives in the Middle East are optimistic about the economic environment and are looking to apply the lessons of the pandemic and come out stronger, according to a new survey.
Among the region’s business leaders polled by PwC, 72 percent believe that global economic growth will improve in 2021, while 52 percent are “very confident” about their company’s revenue growth over the next three years.
Drawing on what they’ve experienced during the pandemic, CEOs indicated that high on the agenda will be doing business in the most cost-effective manner, expanding into other markets and investing more money in integrating digital technology in different areas of their businesses.
Business leaders in the region are among the over 5,000 respondents polled by PwC in a survey conducted in January and February 2021 in 100 countries around the world.
Video: Upbeat: Middle Eastern CEOs optimistic about economic growth
Among those surveyed in the region, 76 percent said they intend to “seek operational efficiencies”, while 35 percent are eyeing new locations in the next 12 months. In addition, 59 percent of the CEOs also aim to increase their investments in digital transformation.
“After successfully navigating the uncertainty brought about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have emerged more resilient and agile than ever before,” said Hani Ashkar, a senior partner at PwC Middle East.
“It’s clear that in order to continue to thrive, companies will need to embed lessons learned as a result of the pandemic to transform their operations, continue to drive investments and secure the wellbeing of their people,” he added.
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Other CEOs are also considering new strategic alliances or joint ventures in the next 12 months, with 41 percent saying they plan to do so, compared to 36 percent last year. About 26 percent said that they also plan to pursue mergers and acquisitions.
And with regards to the welfare of their staff, 50 percent of CEOs said that improving the health and well-being of their employees will be a business priority, up from 43 percent in 2016.
“The survey findings reveal that Middle East CEOs are drawing on their experience of withstanding the dual shock of COVID-19 and the drop in oil prices to build smarter, more resilient organisations,” PwC said.
It continued, “Two lessons, in particular, are highlighted in the results. Firstly, the abrupt mass shift to remote working in 2020 amid worldwide economic upheaval has pushed employee welfare up corporate agendas.”
Also influenced by COVID-19’s social and economic impact, 76 percent of CEOs across the region said they will reassess their overall busines and operating models as well as the corporate transformation programmes conceived and developed prior to the pandemic to drive growth.
“Our CEOs realise that they need to transform their organisations and invest to emerge stronger from the pandemic,” said Stephen Anderson, Middle East Strategy and Markets Leader at PwC. “Planned digital investments, however, will only realise their full potential if organisations ensure that employees are upskilled to utilise artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning and other new technologies. CEOs are already citing a lack of available skills as a key constraint and as a region we are going to have to be able to develop own talent to compete.”
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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