Q: What are your expectations of the business environment in the next 12 months or so?
A: The consumer confidence indexes in markets such as the US are gradually increasing and expected to reach pre-COVID levels.

The resurgence of COVID-19 continues to create disruptions in global supply chains but the resilience of people continues to overcome these challenges.

On our own front, we have seen a gradual return of our base business over the last several months, which is indicative of trends in terms of the global trade resurgence. I believe that companies will observe several peaks and valleys, and must adapt to this.

Businesses will continue to evolve and innovate, to ensure that they are agile and able to meet these challenges head-on. Organisations will place greater emphasis on technology to drive efficiencies and customer centricity.

Q: How is your company planning for the medium term – i.e. for financial year 2021/22 – given the ‘new normal’ era that we are facing?
A: We’re excited for the future of our business, and hope to strengthen and consolidate our position and performance from the past year, by taking a holistic view of our operations and adopting a multi-pronged approach.

We continue to broad base our customer portfolio, and look to service customers in a multitude of industries and verticals.

As we make further inroads into our main North American market, we’re actively looking to strengthen our European operations and continue expanding our Asian footprint. Meanwhile, we are keen to drive initiatives that help reposition ourselves as a supply chain company offering end-to-end logistics services.

Our investments in digital initiatives bring us closer to customers, providing more visibility and transparency, and establishing more emphasis on data-based decision making. In addition to this, we expend effort in driving internal efficiencies to ensure that our operations and support functions work in the most efficient manner.

Q: In brief, what are the main challenges confronting corporates at this time?
A: There are several challenges faced by corporates, the most important among them being the uncertainty and unpredictability of the environment. This impacts long-term plans as we have to revisit if they are viable and re-look at implementing certain strategic initiatives that we would otherwise pursue.

The other pressing challenge is the availability of funding to drive forward growth plans. While organisations learn to operate in the new normal, it’s vital to also acquire the skill set required to prepare businesses for the future.