CLSA will host the 19th CITIC CLSA Asean Forum from 8-10 March 2023 in Bangkok

This year's event will bring together over 280 institutional investors with senior executives from leading regional companies and an outstanding lineup of industry thought leaders delivering actionable insights over three days.

While global markets work through inflationary and recessionary pressures, Asean continues to provide investment opportunities in a post-pandemic world. CLSA Chief Equity Strategist Alex Redman anticipates relative emerging markets outperformance, a forecast supported in part by the recent unravelling of the US dollar rally.

Around the region, we see Indonesia leveraging substantial resources to attract manufacturing investment from multinational corporations looking to diversify supply chains. A new Malaysian government and a forthcoming election in Thailand add another political dimension to a region that boasts US$10tn in GDP. Home to 670m people, population growth remains a core driver in Asean for 2023.

Edward Park, Chief Executive Officer of Institutional Equities at CLSA, said: "Asean has become an increasingly attractive investment destination for global investors looking to tap into the enormous opportunities emerging markets can offer. With US$10tn in GDP, there are numerous growth possibilities. Our Forum is a reputable platform for corporates and investors alike to delve deeper into the region's long-term transformation and commercial development prospects."

Shaun Cochran, Head of Research at CLSA, added: "As the world returns to a normalising interest rate environment, real economy investment and innovation will be favoured over the dominance of financial innovation seen during the prior decade. Coupled with shifting geopolitics that will transform global production footprints, the relative merits of the young and growing populations of emerging markets - especially Asean - have never been stronger. This is despite historically compelling relative valuations. In the transition to a post-Covid world, our Asean Forum is ideally timed to ensure investors get ahead of this impending secular shift."