Dezan Shira Reports Consistent and Strong Growth in Asia

Chris Devonshire-Ellis

By Dezan Shira & Associates

Dezan Shira & Associates have reported consistent China growth in their practice and “significant” growth in their non-China Asian operations during 2016.

Speaking following the firm’s Partners Meeting in Shanghai this past weekend, Chairman Chris Devonshire-Ellis said, “Overall China growth for 2016 resulted in an increase in revenues”, while Asia operations year on year growth saw a significant increase in Vietnam, Singapore, and a substantial increase for India.

Devonshire-Ellis stated that while the US$-RMB exchange rate was a challenge throughout the year, the firm’s growth in China remained steady. He said the firm serves as a barometer for foreign investment flows into China as it possesses several thousand clients, a 25-year-old history in China, and 12 regional offices in China.

Devonshire-Ellis further stated that growth in Asian regions was strong, partly because of a smaller client base compared with China, but also because India and Vietnam were growing at a faster rate in terms of FDI than China.

In sum, he explained that “growth will remain constant, and relatively vibrant over coming years, but higher and faster growth will come from our other Asian operations”.

Shanghai and east China remained very particularly active, with the firm seeing stronger interest from SME companies.

South China also continued to show a process of evolution, with many manufacturing firms choosing to relocate to Vietnam, Indonesia and India.

India experienced huge growth in investment from foreign businesses as manufacturing production and organization has improved. This was most notably evidenced by Apple commencing production of the iPhone in the country, which was forecast by Devonshire-Ellis in 2013.

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“Confidence is building in India”, he said. Devonshire-Ellis explained, “Overall productivity, reliability, and quality have all improved in India’s manufacturing sector the past few years.” He further noted that Indian labor was priced at about 30% of the cost of a similar worker in Guangdong.

In terms of the firm’s professional services, he noted the firm performed strongly in payroll and related human resource services. He announced that the firm had received a Chinese labor dispatch license, allowing it to compete with the likes of FESCO in terms of providing contracted labor.

Devonshire-Ellis said, “IT and administration services across Asia are the future –companies continue to upgrade to software and web-based financial and administrative solutions.” He noted that the firm has been heavily investing  in its payroll software development in China over the past years, and are now rolling out total corporate payroll solutions across Asia based on that investment.

In 2016, other hot spots in Asia included Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, while certain regions of ASEAN with Chinese investment – such as the Forest City and Silk Road maritime development in Malaysia – offered excellent opportunities for FDI.

He said, “We are also exploring new trade and investment corridors such as Russia-Asia and both the Land and Maritime Routes to China in terms of Silk Road development.”

In terms of the Chinese overseas direct investment, he suggested most would be going into Silk Road infrastructure development projects and other growing markets. For example, he noted that Latin America had received more Chinese investment than the US in 2015 and that the overall trend for ODI was into developing, and not developed, markets.

“Asia is the place to be”, he summarized. “But it is important to understand which parts are vibrant and will succeed now, and which areas are longer term developments. That applies as much to China now as it does to the total Asian region. Providing intelligent options throughout Asia based on client needs – as well as delivering on IT-driven services – are the way ahead”.

Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure
Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asia’s complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide.

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