BDO's Roger Loo shares global outlook with a Singapore twist

China to stay as ‘world's factory,’ but India, Vietnam and Mexico are not to be left behind, he says.

Roger Loo, executive director of the management consultancy division of BDO Consultants Pte Ltd, has spearheaded the growth of the management consultancy arm of BDO for the past decade. Well versed with market conditions as well as cultural diversity, Roger lived and worked in various countries, including Australia, UAE and China, where he helped clients in their quest for internationalisation and growth.

Roger has a proven track record in market intelligence and brand research, strategy consulting, internationalisation, family offices and performance management. His global expertise in management consulting spans the globe from Asia to Africa, Europe to South America.

In previous roles, Roger served as the head of Greater China for The Asian Banker, specialising in banking and business intelligence for Asia and Oceania, and he was senior regional consultant for the world’s renowned military and security consultancy firm—Jane’s Information—part of the IHS Group in the US, where he handled strategic advisory and consultancy projects for military hardware vendors, government bodies and research institutes.

In a quick chat prior to the Singapore Business Review Awards, Roger talks about his extensive work experience, how SMES can cope in a time of uncertainty and ambiguity, and why Singapore still remains a bright spark in this whole ordeal.

Which particular markets or sectors are your main focus? Can you share with us your work experience or any backstory that has contributed to your professional career?

As a management consultant, I do work on cross-industries in order to gain insights and benchmarks which might be applicable across all industries. With over 20 years of experience in the business intelligence and consultancy industries, I have worked in areas that include market intelligence and brand research, feasibility studies, strategy consulting, internationalization and family business advisory, including internationalization expertise such as go-to market strategies in Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, United Kingdom, USA, Middle East and ASEAN region. Prior to joining BDO, I served as the Head of Greater China with a banking research firm—specializing in banking and financial business intelligence and research for the banking communities in the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. I spearheaded projects in relations to industry research, wealth planning and transfer for the high-net-worth clientele of the banks. Before joining the banking and finance industry, I was the Senior Consultant for the world’s renowned military and security consultancy firm—Jane’s Information—part of the IHS Group in the US. During my stints in Jane’s, I worked on numerous strategic advisory consultancy projects for military hardware vendors, government bodies and research institutes in the North Asia region. Areas of research include feasibility studies, benchmarking, process management and implementation, country insights and industry studies etc. Lastly, I have spent my embarking years in research and consultancy with shipping and oil and gas firms from Norway and UK where I still maintained many life-long contacts till date.

What can SMEs and other homegrown businesses learn from the crisis? For those who have been badly hit, what do owners need to consider on the road to recovery?

COVID19 is indeed an unprecedented event globally, and we are still assessing the damages it costs to businesses across the world. According to a recent OECD’s research, there is a growing fear that, because of their vulnerability, more than 50% of the SMEs globally might not survive in the months ahead. Given how we have seen the crisis impacting the SMEs, the road to recovery might be prolonged and SMEs whose strategies do not have the abilities to embrace uncertainty or new ideas, and move swiftly along the road of alternatives, they will be in for a rough ride ahead. SMEs owners need to view the horizon under different scenarios they are in, for example, immediate vis-a-vis mid and long term; their current geographical markets (New Zealand, China and Vietnam markets are already opening up for instance); checking and anticipating their own industry contours of recovery (V shape vis-a-vis U shape) etc. It is time for SMEs owners to seek diverse alternatives and perspectives to their business models—the collective experiences shared by the consumers in the past few months will shape a new normal for the marketplace in the coming months. To overcome this, SMEs owners need a combination of courage to tackle the hardships and willingness to explore alternatives in facing the greatest enemies of SMES in the forms of uncertainty and ambiguity of business climate ahead.

What’s your take on international companies moving their operations out of the Mainland? Where are the opportunities and how does Singapore fare in all these?

China, being the factory of the world, has gained collective experiences both in effectiveness and efficiency in manufacturing capabilities over the last two decades and that synergy will not diminish just because of COVID19. Many international companies are exploring ways to nearshoring their operation closer to home after learning a painful lesson when China is virtually shut down due to the outbreak, but nearshoring is not a new concept, neither is the concept of less reliance on China’s manufacturing capabilities. India, Vietnam and Mexico have always been named as the next alternatives in manufacturing but both have yet to replace China’s role in world manufacturing despite many years of trying. The fact of the matter is many international companies might be having knee-jerk responses to this crisis and until they begin to realise the “actual costs” in shifting their operations out of China, many will eventually restrict to having this discussion in their boardroom. Singapore, being a global logistic hub, will be poised to mitigate some of these risks associated with China’s operations. Singapore will and shall never be able to replace China’s manufacturing but we can synergise and compliment China’s role as a manufacturing hub with our efficient logistical network. For example, many international companies realised during the crisis that they are not able to move their stocks out of China but by offering to store minimum stock levels in Singapore, we can dispatch virtually to anywhere in the world within short notice. Singapore will continue to fare well by leveraging on our inherent logistic hub status.

Whilst we thought that investments were redirecting to other hubs, MTI reported that investments have already exceeded the full-year target in the first four months. What’s your take on this?

MTI has indeed done very well during this period to secure direct investment into Singapore's economy. That should be the bright spark in the gloomy outlook. But it shouldn't be too big a surprise amongst many observers as with Singapore’s deep engineering and innovation capabilities, Singapore is long being recognised as a global leader in building a vibrant ecosystem featuring global R&D labs for leading Fortune 500 companies, as well as over 150 venture capital funds, incubators and accelerators. We are way ahead of many competing countries in Asia in terms of creating a pro-business environment through its economic and manpower policies. With rigorous IP protection, a deep and highly talented pool of workforce, modern IT infrastructure and world class innovation capabilities, Singapore will continue to attract the right direct investment into her economy.