TRICOR, FINANCIAL TIMES PROGRAMME REPORT UNCOVERS CORPORATE BOARD SENTIMENTS ON PANDEMIC

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) -- Tricor Group and the Financial Times Board Director Programme have co-released the inaugural 2021 Asia Pacific Board Director Barometer Report, uncovering corporate board sentiments on COVID-19 disruptions globally with focus on Singapore and other APAC markets.

According to the Report, corporate boards struggle to keep pace with rising digital adoption and transformation pressures against the COVID-19 pandemic turbulent headwinds; business continuity planning (BCP) and corporate governance, risk & compliance (GRC) are weighing on board directors, rising to the top of corporate board priorities;

Corporate boards are not equipped to support effective hybrid meeting models, which are expected be the most favoured operating model post-pandemic; the digital divide continues to widen, and corporate boards are falling behind, highlighting operational and security risks and inefficiencies; and, gaps in cybersecurity threaten corporate board operations and integrity.

The Report reveals sentiments and actions of global board directors in key areas of digital transformation, cybersecurity, board operations, corporate GRC and BCP.

According to a statement, the sampling focuses largely on key markets in APAC (including mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Australia) and also incorporates comparative samples from the Americas, Europe and Africa.

Overall, confidence on the handling of the crisis is mixed in APAC and there’s significant room for improvement in some markets: 71 per cent of board directors in Singapore said they felt positive about the way their boards responded, compared to mainland China (68 per cent), Malaysia (56 per cent), Thailand (52 per cent), Hong Kong (51 per cent), Australia (50 per cent), Japan (45 per cent) and Vietnam (42 per cent).

Corporate boards are unprepared to meet security and efficiency requirements for virtual meetings – both currently and post-pandemic, with only two per cent of boards in Singapore (vs five per cent globally) are currently meeting fully in-person, and only 11 per cent of boards in Singapore (vs 12 per cent globally) plan to meet fully in-person post-pandemic.

-- BERNAMA