The wild card

摘要

With the world's economies on a roller-coaster ride,sluggish trade growth is expected on the heels of further trade restrictions and policy uncertainties.According to the OECD,the global economy is likely to expand from 3.3% in 2019 to 3.4% in 2020,down from the 3.5% it had projected for both years in 2018.Meanwhile,in China,while new policy measures have offset weak trade developments,the OECD's forecast for the country remains close to 2018,with a forecast growth of 6.2% in 2019 from 6.3%.And while India's growth wound down to 7.1% in the third quarter of 2018,it is expected to grow at 7.3% in the fiscal year 2018-19,and 7.5% in the following two years,says the World Bank.Bracing for further headwinds in the months to come,mature economies are pointing their compasses towards South East Asian countries,even against the Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecast of a slowdown in five countries-Indonesia,Malaysia,the Philippines,Singapore and Thailand-with growth falling slightly to 4.8% in 2019,from 5% in 2018.South East Asia is very attractive for key industries,including packaging.The region is also embracing salient issues relating to plastics waste reduction through a recycling infrastructure and adoption of smart manufacturing via industry 4.0 initiatives.South East Asia's plastics market is expected to register a CAGR of 5.5% during 2018-23,according to a report by Mordor Intelligence.Construction and packaging industries are the major consumers of plastics in the region,as are film/sheet applications.