KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Chief executives in the developing Asean economies reported a surge in economic confidence in the fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16) as commodity and oil prices staged a rebound, according to the latest YPO survey.

The YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index for Asean countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam — climbed 9.4 points to 62 in 4Q16.

"During 3Q16, the economic outlook among the Asean countries had slumped to its lowest level in the seven-year history of the YPO Global Pulse but bounced back in the final quarter, surging 9.4 points to end 2016 at 62, its highest level since April 2015," said YPO in a statement today.

"Most notably, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam all saw marked improvements in economic sentiment," it added.

"It's encouraging to see that the outlook is still firmly optimistic in each of the major markets and that confidence has quickly returned to most of the developing economies in the region. Clearly there will be some concerns about the potential impact of a more protectionist US economic policy on global trade and a strong US dollar, and chief executives in Asia will be monitoring the situation carefully over the coming months," said The Carlyle Group managing director and YPO regional chair for North Asia Patrick Siewert.

"For the most part, the signs are encouraging for economies across Asia in 2017, and business leaders will be keen to take advantage of the current favourable economic conditions," he added.

Meanwhile, chief executives in Asia reported a modest increase in economic confidence, rising 1.2 points to 61.2 in 4Q16.

For the first time since October 2015, Asia lagged behind the YPO Global Pulse composite score, which climbed 3 points to 62.2 in 4Q16.

YPO reasoned that the YPO Global Pulse Index for Asia climbed to 61.2 following moderate gross domestic product growth in most of the region's major economies.

"Business leaders in Asia reported a more cautious outlook than their counterparts in the United States, but were more optimistic than chief executives in the European Union," said YPO.

The findings from the survey also showed that in Asia, the three key indicators in the YPO Global Pulse Index, namely sales, hiring and fixed investment, all increased in 4Q16.

The YPO Sales Index for Asia edged up 0.4 points to 66.9, the YPO Employment Index rose 1.3 points to 56.8, and the YPO Fixed Investment Index jumped 2.6 points to 64.2.

"Two-thirds of chief executives (65%) expected to increase sales in the next year, versus only 7% who expected a decline in revenues. Similarly, more than a third (35%) expected to increase headcount in the coming 12 months, while 10% predicted a reduction in staff numbers.

"Finally, more than half (53%) expected to increase fixed investment in the coming year, with only 5% predicting reduced investment," said YPO.

The YPO Global Pulse Index is a quarterly survey, conducted in the first two weeks of January 2017. It gathered answers from 1,514 YPO chief executive officers across the globe, including 189 in Asia and 60 in Australasia.