FM Global in the News

Hong Kong has lost its position as Asia's most resilient economy to Singapore due to political tensions. In a study conducted by FM Global, Hong Kong dropped seven places from 19 to 26 in the Resilience Index mainly due to increased political risk and tensions. In the sub-category of political risk, Hong Kong dropped 56 places to 81 because of tense relations with mainland China and its active pro-democracy movement, according to the company. Meanwhile, Singapore was the region’s biggest mover, rising 10 places to rank 12 overall thanks to the inclusion of new earthquake data incorporated into the 2021 index calculations.

Asia remains vulnerable to significant business disruption according to the newly released 2021 FM Global Resilience Index, the definitive global ranking of countries and territories by the resilience of their business environments. This year's index demonstrates the relative difference between the region's economies, where resilient countries like Singapore are becoming more so, widening the gap to less resilient regional neighbours and creating cause for concern as economies seek to recover and adapt multi-market supply chains and pursue opportunities for growth.

Singapore has surpassed Hong Kong for the first time in a global index which measures the resilience of business environments in various countries and territories. The city-state scored a first as Asia’s most resilient region in this year’s rankings, rising 10 places to rank 12 overall, as measured by the American mutual insurance company FM Global. The rise was due to FM Global incorporating new and more incisive global earthquake data into the 2021 index calculations, the company said.

Singapore has surpassed Hong Kong as Asia’s most resilient economy for the first time, said FM Global recently when releasing its global resilience index. The island city-state is the region’s biggest mover, rising 10 places to rank 12th overall due to the inclusion of new, more incisive global earthquake data incorporated into the 2021 index calculations, FM Global pointed out.

The 2021 edition of the FM Global Resilience Index shows that Singapore has surpassed Hong Kong as Asia’s most economically resilient country, while the gap between the most and least resilient regions continued to grow. FM Global expressed some concern over this widening divide as economies seek to recover and adapt multi-market supply chains and pursue opportunities for growth.

The disparity in the economic risk landscape across Asia is a cause of concern during the global recovery process from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2021 FM Global Resilience Index, which ranks a total of 130 countries and territories worldwide.

FM Global has released an Earthquake Map to help business executives improve the resilience of their global supply chains. The map directly incorporates soil effects and building structural performance to map the return times of ground motions that will damage weak buildings. This allows organisations to consistently compare earthquake risk across the globe.

FM Global has released an interactive online global earthquake risk map, as it seeks to help businesses improve the resiliency of their supply chains. According to the international commercial property insurer, the ever-present risk of earthquakes inflicts an average of nearly US$40 billion in direct economic losses every year. This has led it to release the FM Global Worldwide Earthquake Map, which can help businesses become more resilient by providing guidance on how to plan, assess and manage their global operations.

FM Global Vice President and Client Service Manager Asia Tan Hian Hong argues that natural disasters do not stop during a pandemic. The eye on the horizon therefore, should not only factor in market recovery, but also on the ever-present sources of risk to business continuity. While Asia’s brightening business landscape gives hope for a better global economic outlook this year, a major takeaway from 2020 is that there is a need to shore-up risk mitigation strategies to avoid further business interruption and preventable losses.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major shifts in how companies operate, and these shifts have allowed them to discover that alternative ways of doing business are possible. For example, virtual meetings while working from home are now extremely common in many industries compared to one year ago. According to Yong Seek Ying, vice president and division engineering manager for FM Global in Asia-Pacific, the company harnessed remote servicing technologies, enabling it to continue its business.