A few weeks ago a report examined where the most up and coming firms, in areas such as technology, are based in Asia. China and and India are significant, of course, while countries such as Vietnam are worth watching. Singapore's prominence as a tech centre is also significant.

India and China, unsurprisingly given their size, are set to dominate the Asian space as the source of fast-growing tech businesses, while countries such as Vietnam are worth paying attention to, according to KPMG. 

The global accounting and professional services firm recently issued an Emerging Giants in Asia-Pacific and named 100 leading "Emerging Giants" within the overall Asia-Pacific region. The report was issued in conjunction with HSBC. 

There is “hunger” across Asia, and in regions such as Southeast Asia in particular, for access to modern technology. “Access to technology is being democratised,” Darren Yong, head of technology, media and telecommunications, KPMG Asia-Pacific, said.

Asia is, in some respects, the world’s global growth engine, and the emergence of new businesses in the tech space is an important subject for wealth managers to watch, he continued. 

The KPMG/HSBC study examines new economy businesses across the region with strong potential to impact the global business landscape over the next decade. More than 6,472 technology-focused startups with valuations of up to $500 million were studied across 12 markets, with 10 leading emerging giant companies identified in each market.

Young said some of the findings of the report surprised him. 

“I did not expect to see NFTs [non-fungible tokens] as so significant. The whole trend of what is called the 'metaverse' was also quite prominent, along with DEFIs (decentralised finance) …DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation), digital tokens…blockchain for real estate. I did not expect to see such a pronounced bias there,” he said.

Looking at future firms and where growth is coming from, China and India are slated to dominate in terms of sheer numbers and volume of business.

“In terms of trajectory, China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea are in the top five [emerging giants]," he said.

The report also sheds light on which jurisdictions' governments are supportive and helping drive these emerging giants. Singapore is a good example of this, he said. “India remains strong,” Yong continued.

“Vietnam continues to be a key market in terms of innovation and adaptation of technology,” he said.

“There is [in Vietnam] this local culture of hunger for change and it creates a leapfrog mentality to build the right infrastructure, education and knowledge,” Yong said. (He is not unique in that view – we have spoken to firms such as Swiss bank Bordier & Cie about its work in the country.)

Another force at work, benefiting countries such as China, is the change to global supply chains, Yong added.

The Emerging Giants in the Asia-Pacific study by KPMG and HSBC looked at 6,472 technology-focused startups across 12 key markets and identified approximately 120 industry subsectors.