Programme

What a difference a year makes. Last year Asia-based corporates shrugged off concerns about the eurozone and slowing Chinese growth. Since then the eurozone crisis has continued apace, the US recovery has yet to show true grit, while China has experienced seven straight quarters of slower growth, leaving the three main engines of the global economy sputtering. Fewer Asian finance professionals now routinely dismiss the rest of the world as irrelevant. All in all 2013 will still not witness the strong global recovery everyone was hoping for.

For corporates, this means uncertainty and risks on the downside. In these circumstances, cost cutting and rationalisation trump investment and strategic thinking. Retraction to HQ is a knee-jerk response. At the most basic treasury level, collection becomes king: as customers struggle, payment terms stretch and bad debts rise.

However in a recent report, “Corporate treasurers need to make faster and more fundamental changes to their operating models to achieve business unit and firm-wide goals.” In other words, traditional responses will not generate the growth businesses need in this more challenging and volatile environment. Treasury and finance need to change.

If they do, there are opportunities to exploit in Asia. China is not the only game in town. So, as in Europe and Latin America, those who treat the region as one homogenous entity will lose out to those willing to tailor strategies to individual countries and able to fine-tune local financial structures and requirements to suit fast-changing business conditions.

Although marred by global anxiety, there are hints of promise and we will explore some of these.

Key themes are:

• The finance function as a true driver of business opportunity
• Risk mitigation in treasury
• Treasury best practice in Asia and awards
• China - what's hot and what's not