Page 84 - Mariners Cricket Club (Singapore) - Souvenir Magazine 2020

economies and all you get is stoppage of
production, loss of livelihoods, declines
in exports and remittances and lack of
consumer spending; all of which were

amplified by the border closures and
lockdowns in most of the countries.
While most of the governments were quick
to respond to putting control measures
in place for stemming the pandemic, as
an economic observer I am yet to see
tangible efforts being offered to the most
vulnerable parts of the society. While the Chayan Mazumdar is a astute
digitally enabled white-collar jobs shifted consultant working with IT
online to working from home and ensuring conglomerates for over 17 years.
minimal business continuity, making He has traveled to 16 countries
such a switch was practically impossible and worked with clients in 12 of
for MSMEs. This resulted in widespread them as a leading emissary for
loss of employment in temporary or ‘gig- adoption of Artifi cial Intelligence.
economy’ sectors. Needless to say that in Currently based in Singapore,
ASEAN, these segments of the economic Chayan leads partnership strategies
pie are directly tied to direct revenues of and offering development for DXC
travel & tourism. Technology’s Analytics business in
Asia. An Economics graduate and a
So while we are quick at reveling in the management professional, Chayan
wake of lower mortality rates in Asia as has always been interested in
compared to Europe and Americas, that observing changes to international
never translated to a rosier outlook in the economics. You can reach him
economy. Even some of the governments directly at yancham@gmail.com
have not been able to disburse relief
aid properly due to a large number of
unbanked populations.

Another factor to watch carefully would be the impact of the Oil & Gas sector. The
collapse in oil prices caused by the sudden drop in energy consumption due to the
widespread lockdowns and travel bans will have a sharp impact on economies
dependent on exports of fuel, viz. Indonesia, where coal and oil comprise nearly 25% of
exports; Malaysia, where it forms 16% of exports; and of course Brunei, whose economy
is almost entirely supported by exports of crude and natural gas (over 90% of exports).

Over the longer term, it is difficult to predict the ultimate economic impact on Southeast
Asia because there is vast uncertainty about how different countries will take resiliency
measures moving forward. Although certain sectors in some Southeast Asian economies

have benefited from recent supply chain shifts out of China, the financial crisis is likely
to intensify if the ongoing process of reshoring capacity away from China is going to
stay as a trend. Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam are indeed emerging with investments
committed to manufacturing of electric vehicles, solar power and electronics. But
China’s share of exports in labor-intensive manufacturing continues to hold dominance
in Asia.

Mariners’ Cricket Club (Singapore) 84