“Companies around the globe note change and increased awareness among their teams about the technologies that are inevitably coming to their organizations. Upskilling needs are at an all-time high. At the same time, with digital transformation in mind, they should evaluate their companies to hire differently, train differently, and promote differently. The capabilities that technology can unlock will have enormous impact on the future of the world of work, and leadership must enable their teams to understand the opportunities and provide them with the knowledge, skills and narrative to talk about the future.” – Bert Miller, President & CEO, MRINetwork
EMEA
Despite the trials and tribulations of last year over three quarters (78%) of businesses met or surpassed their growth target according to a new study by Oracle NetSuite, down just 4% from a similar report conducted prior to the pandemic. The new study, The State of Growth, provides insights from 2,000 employees in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Nordics and the Middle East, examining business responses to COVID-19 challenges and the expectations for growth.
The organizations surveyed have demonstrated an ability to react and adapt over the past year and have an optimistic growth outlook for 2021.
- This was consistent regionally — the UK (83%), Benelux (83%), Spain (82%), Germany (80%), Nordics (78%), France (73%), Italy (72%) and the Middle East (70%).
- Across all regions, respondents’ industries also impacted performance. Advertising, media & publishing (89%), professional services (85%), and software and technology industries (82%) reported growth, above manufacturing (64%) and retail (70%).
- Despite challenges that remain, over half (54%) of respondents are expecting annual revenue growth in 2021, while 21% expect to remain flat. Spain (66%), the UK (65%) and Italy (59%) are more expectant of growth than Benelux (40%) and France (40%).
The report is available at New Survey: 78% of EMEA businesses achieved growth goal last year | ERP News.
ASIA PACIFIC
China is pushing ahead with behind-the-scenes talks to join a major trade deal that originally aimed to exclude Beijing and cement U.S. economic power and trade ties in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report from Bloomberg. Officials from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and possibly other nations have held technical talks with Chinese counterparts on details of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
China announced in February it had held informal talks with some of the members but didn’t release details. It’s not clear how far China has progressed in preparing an application, but the people see Beijing as seriously interested in joining. Many of the CPTPP members are heavily dependent on trade with China, but the country’s increasingly poor image in some nations may make it harder to agree on entry. Concerns over labor practices, state-owned companies and its economic confrontation with America also loom as potential roadblocks for entry.
THE AMERICAS
Canada needs to be a central player in the Americas’ efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Mary Ng said as North America’s trade emissaries sat down to work out the fine points of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Ng, Canada’s international trade minister, virtually met with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Mexican Economy Secretary Tatiana Clouthier for the first Free Trade Commission meeting of the USMCA era.
The main goal was to codify the implementation and enforcement of the agreement’s provisions on protecting workers and the environment, two of the biggest complaints about its NAFTA predecessor. Officials from both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the table spoke in glowing terms about the spirit of co-operation and common cause at the meeting, largely gliding past the various irritants — some long-standing, others more modern.
Ng said she defended Canada’s plan to impose a three per cent digital services tax on foreign streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, a measure the U.S. opposes around the world as an unfair penalty on American innovation. Read the full story at Canada a key player in U.S. COVID-19 economic recovery, Ng tells free trade meeting – National | Globalnews.ca.