Right now, American voters face a choice between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. Business leaders around the world—including in Southeast Asia, which is trying to balance its relations with the United States and China—are plotting what either outcome might mean.
The overall view of Trump’s policy proposals is that they paint a “very negative picture,” DBS Bank Chief Executive Piyush Gupta told a Reuters conference audience on Tuesday. The bank’s CEO pointed to the former president’s call for tariffs of up to 60%, suggesting they would lead to inflation and could prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high. That in turn would put pressure on currencies around the world, some of which are already trading at record lows against the U.S. dollar.
But Gupta, responding to a question about US-China relations, saw a possible silver lining in Trump’s presidency. He said Trump is “a dealmaker… not driven by any ideology.” The DBS CEO suggested the former president might be happy to “cut deals,” which would help him deal with Chinese officials who “also like to cut deals.”
DBS is the largest bank in Southeast Asia by assets. With $25 billion in revenue in 2023, DBS Group Holdings is ranked 10th in the world. luckAmazon has announced the launch of its inaugural Southeast Asia 500 list, which ranks the region’s largest companies by revenue.
Heading towards long Asia
Beyond geopolitical considerations, Gupta was optimistic about economic development in Asia. He noted that Asia, with a growth rate of 4% to 5%, is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the world.
Under Gupta’s leadership, DBS focuses on and invests in major economies such as Greater China, India and Indonesia. In August, the Singaporean bank became the largest foreign bank in Taiwan by assets after acquiring Citigroup’s consumer banking business on the island.
Gupta revealed on Tuesday that DBS now owns a stake of nearly 19% in Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank of China, making it the largest shareholder in the Chinese lender. (DBS) Buyer Share of 13% in 2021).
In its annual report, DBS said its stake in Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank gives it a foothold in the “Greater Bay Area,” an economic zone in southern China that includes the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau. On Tuesday, Gupta said he was “very bullish on that region.”
However, DBS’s CEO played down the prospect of any “stunning, game-changing M&A”, saying instead that the Singaporean bank would look for “additional deals” that would boost its wealth management, SME retail and transaction services businesses.
“Any large-scale acquisition would take a long time, be very messy, and would distract from the future,” he added.
Asked if DBS’s regional moves were risky, the bank’s CEO said one had to “decide whether you want to be long-term in Asia.” Gupta said you can’t be long-term in Asia without having a view of North Asia.
