KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian chief executive officers (CEOs) are navigating the uncertain global environment by balancing resilience with business reinvention, while positioning the country to capture regional opportunities, according to PwC Malaysia managing partner Soo Hoo Khoon Yen.
He said the 29th PwC global CEO survey, business sentiment for 2026, revealed that the chieftains remained cautious amid geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic volatility.
“Confidence started to increase as businesses emerged from the Covid-19 period, but it was dampened by geopolitical tensions and technological disruption such as artificial intelligence),” he said during an interview on Bernama TV’s The Nation programme.
Soo Hoo said recent geopolitical developments, including conflicts in West Asia, have further amplified uncertainty and shaped the mood among corporate leaders.
Meanwhile, according to the PwC survey, 33% of Malaysian CEOs are confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, compared with 45% previously.
Soo Hoo said businesses are increasingly treating resilience not merely as a defensive strategy but as a competitive requirement.
“Looking at the survey, we have moved from what I call a resilience play as we come out from Covid-19 to an opportunistic play,” he said.
The survey also indicated that Malaysian CEOs are taking a more aggressive approach to business reinvention compared with their global peers, particularly by exploring new revenue streams and expanding into adjacent sectors.
However, tariff uncertainties involving the United States, had contributed to cautious boardroom sentiment.
“People are generally uncertain about what the US tariff crisis entails for Malaysian corporates because it does not just impact their own products but also adjacent sectors such as suppliers and consumer demand,” he said. — Bernama
