AHK Special Analysis for Asia-Pacific Spring 2025

The assessments of more than 900 companies with a connection to Germany show: The region remains hugely important, but geopolitical pressure is increasing - and it is becoming more difficult to plan business activities. Asia-Pacific is of outstanding importance for the German economy: around 40% of German foreign trade outside the EU is now accounted for by this region - more than the whole of America combined. By comparison, total non-European trade with North, South and Central America is only 26%. 

"The Asian market remains a strategic future market for many companies - but the environment is getting tougher," warns Volker Treier, Head of Foreign Trade at the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). "Geopolitics, economic policy uncertainty and new trade barriers are driving many companies to stop investing or even withdraw." 

In Asia-Pacific outside the Chinese economic area (also known as Greater China), 38% of companies currently report a good business situation - 3%  more than in autumn 2024. At the same time, the proportion of negative feedback continues to decline at 15%. This indicates a noticeable, albeit modest, recovery.  The picture is particularly positive in Sri Lanka (54% good) and the Philippines (58% good). In South Korea (17% good, 36% bad) and the People's Republic of China (25% good, 29% bad), on the other hand, caution and scepticism prevail. Companies in Greater China, i.e. the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, are even more pessimistic. Only 25% in these countries report a good business situation, while 27% see it as poor - a slight deterioration compared to autumn. The outlook also remains cautious: Only 27% of companies in this sub-region expect an improvement, while 16% anticipate a deterioration. 

In the rest of the region, the outlook is somewhat more favourable: At 49% the proportion of confident companies is considerable - even if it is slightly lower than in autumn. Overall, the positive expectations outweigh the negative ones in most cases. In India and Sri Lanka in particular, around two thirds of companies expect business to improve. Optimism also remains high in the Philippines, where 65% expect an improvement in the coming 12 months, while only 3% expect their business to deteriorate. 

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