Oct 16, 2025, 12:01 PM ETPanel, Conference Presentation

Can Globalization Be Great Again? Doing Business in a Changing World | Asia Summit 2025

Shift from Integration to Fragmentation: The era of frictionless global markets has transitioned into a volatile environment defined by protectionism, geopolitical tensions, strategic rivalries, and wars, though globalization itself has not disappeared but is undergoing a significant transition.
Multipolar Reality: Indonesia and other stakeholders perceive the current landscape as shifting toward a multipolar world where power is more evenly distributed, moving away from unipolar dominance.
Indonesia's Trade Expansion: Indonesia has ratified the Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and substantially concluded the Indonesia-EU and Indonesia-Peru trade agreements (SIPA) in the last six months.
Export Dependence on FTAs: Approximately 68% of Indonesia's exports are directed toward countries with which it has established Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
Emerging Market Focus: Unilever and other global firms identify significant growth potential in underserved markets, specifically Nigeria (250 million consumers), Ethiopia, Pakistan, and other emerging economies, viewing geopolitical tariffs as temporary noise rather than long-term barriers.

Government & Policy (Minister Diyaroto Esti Widya Putri)

Domestic-International Balance: Indonesia is pursuing a dual strategy of protecting domestic priorities—specifically through downstreaming industries to create jobs and transfer technology—while simultaneously opening to foreign investment and global trade.
Human Capital & Sustainability: Government priorities include improving education and healthcare to leverage a demographic dividend (68% of the population is productive) and transitioning toward green energy and sustainable development.
SME Empowerment: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contribute over 60% to Indonesia's GDP, with 64% of these businesses led by women; the government aims to leverage trade attaches in 33 countries to help these firms access international markets.
Utilization Strategy: A key focus for the next phase is shifting from signing agreements to ensuring private sector utilization of existing frameworks like RCEP and ASEAN Plus agreements through better government-business engagement.

Logistics & Supply Chain (Kamal Puri, FedEx)

Network Reconfiguration: FedEx moved its physical network to capture emerging trade flows, launching a direct flight from Singapore to the U.S. in April and a daily China-to-Europe flight to capture growth shifted from the U.S. market.
Intra-Regional Growth: Intra-Asian trade accounts for 60% of Asia's exports; FedEx is adding capacity between Vietnam-Korea and Penang-Bangkok to meet e-commerce and regional demand.
Data-Driven Agility: The company leverages data from 17 million daily shipments to optimize routes and deploy AI-driven tools like a "HDS Code Lookup" chatbot to help customers navigate complex tariff and customs regimes.
Future Signals: Key strategic signals include staying close to customer supply chain outlooks, monitoring new trade negotiation patterns (e.g., Singapore's 27 FTAs), and utilizing AI to transform business models through precision logistics and sensor-based monitoring.

Consumer Goods (Asim Puri, Unilever)

The "Three Ds" Resilience Model: Unilever employs a strategy of Diversification (shifting focus to Southeast Asia and the Middle East), Digitization (accelerating speed to market), and De-averaging (targeting high-growth niches like K-Beauty in India or DIY channels in Australia).
Market Volatility: The company views crises (pandemics, Red Sea conflicts, tariffs) as annual affairs, maintaining growth by pivoting quickly rather than waiting for geopolitical clarity.
Untapped Potential: Unilever identifies specific opportunities in markets like Ethiopia (100 million consumers, recently liberalized currency) and notes that U.S. imports surged in the first half of the year as companies rushed to beat tariffs.

Technology & E-Commerce (Namsung Kim, Naver/Poshmark)

The "Catch-Up" Dynamic: The global tech landscape has shifted from a 30-point gap (1992 Olympics comparison) to a much narrower margin, as non-Western regions (Asia, Europe, Israel) have caught up in innovation while the U.S. still concentrates capital and top talent at the bleeding edge.
Strategic Pivot to APAC: Korean and other non-U.S. tech firms are forced to prioritize intra-Asia trade and ecosystem building rather than solely focusing on winning the North American market.
AI as a Unifier: Naver is exporting AI software, cloud, and enterprise services to Japan, the Middle East, and foreign businesses, viewing AI as a common language that facilitates partnerships regardless of geopolitical friction.
Brand Value Over Cost: In a fragmented world, brand power and aspiration (e.g., K-Beauty, Harajuku vintage fashion) are becoming more critical than cost optimization, as consumers maintain demand for differentiated goods despite tariffs.

No Return to "Old" Globalization: Panelists agree that the "heyday" of wide-open markets will not return; the pendulum will continue to swing between protectionism and integration, settling into a new, more fragmented but still interconnected normal.
Opportunity in Crisis: The consensus among business leaders is that crises create opportunities for agile players; the mantra is to ignore uncontrollable external factors and focus 95% of energy on actionable opportunities.
Private-Public-Private Partnerships: Success in the new era requires moving beyond traditional government-private partnerships to include "large private-small private" collaborations, particularly in the tech sector, to scale innovations and find new export markets.
Sustainability as a Global Imperative: Climate change and green technology are identified as universal challenges that necessitate international cooperation, serving as a bridge between domestic priorities and global trade goals.
Pioneer Mindset: The primary advice for companies navigating uncertainty is to act as pioneers: pioneering new markets, channels, sourcing models, and business structures to survive and thrive in the reconfiguring global landscape.