New Delhi: Unemployment or underemployment is the top perceived risk for doing business in India, South Asia and across the world over the next decade, the World Economic Forum’s Regional Risks for Doing Business 2020 report has found.
According to the WEF report released Thursday as an interactive map, the top five perceived risks for doing business in India are unemployment or underemployment, misuse of technologies, profound social instability, energy price shock, and asset bubble.
For business in South Asia, the top perceived risks were in this order — unemployment or underemployment; misuse of technology; energy price shock; profound social instability; and failure of national governance.
Globally, the top five were: unemployment; spread of infectious diseases; fiscal crises; cyber attacks; and profound social instability.
The findings of the Regional Risks for Doing Business 2020 are based on a survey of over 12,000 responses from business leaders from 127 countries. The respondents were given a list of 30 global risks and asked to select five they believe to be of “most concern for doing business in your country within the next 10 years”.
The 30 risks for doing business mentioned in the survey included terrorist attacks, extreme weather events and state collapse, among others.
The WEF surveyed South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Eurasia, Europe, the Caribbean, Middle East, North Africa, North America, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
The findings are based on the same survey that is used for the Global Competitiveness Report, which will be released on 18 November this year.
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Climate-related risks causing grave concern
The WEF report found that while most top risks were related to economics, climate-related risks were causing grave concerns this year.
Compared to last year, ‘natural catastrophes’ was up seven ranks, ‘extreme weather events’ was up five, and ‘biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse’ was up eight ranks. In other changes, ‘human-made catastrophes’ and ‘urban planning’ fell six and seven places, respectively.
The Regional Risks for Doing Business 2020 is part of the WEF’s Global Risks Initiative, which analyses critical global risks and communicates these to stakeholders through digital and media assets.
The findings have been released ahead of the WEF’s inaugural Jobs Reset Summit, which will be held from 20 to 23 October. The summit aims to shape fair, inclusive and sustainable economies and workplaces.
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