KUALA LUMPUR: A survey of executives between April and August 2023 found that they considered an economic downturn, labour and food shortages to be the top three threats to Malaysia over the next two years.
The findings were in Zurich Insurance's annual Global Risk Report Executive opinion survey which polled over 11,000 executives across more than 110 countries.
The survey was conducted in partnership with the World Economic Forum Centre for the New Economy and Society and Marsh McLennan.
Other concerns for Malaysian executives were inflation, infectious diseases and erosion of social cohesion and wellbeing.
Economic downturn concerns were consistent across all Asia Pacific sub-regions, besides mirroring global sentiments.
"From Eastern Asia's worries around geoeconomic confrontation to Southeastern Asia's concerns on infectious diseases and extreme weather, these findings emphasize the intricacies of risk perception across APAC. Navigating these multifaceted risk profiles demands a nuanced approach, one that acknowledges and addresses these diverse challenges for sustained resilience," Zurich Insurance Group Regional Head of Risk, APAC Siddhartha Medappa said.
He added that it is important to build an overall risk assessment taking into consideration the interconnectedness of the top risks and the varying degrees of impact it could have across the APAC region and globally.
Zurich Insurance said worries around infectious diseases and extreme weather events emerge high in Southeastern Asia due to high population densities in major urban centres, and the potential impact of containment measures on business operations and growth in developing markets.
Labour shortages also remained a consistently aligned risk across markets in this region, indicating challenges associated with sourcing skilled professionals, as businesses look to expand their head count, and traditional sectors continue to digitalise.