Sixty-nine percent of Caribbean business leaders are optimistic about the growth of the global economy this year,  while 67 percent of them cite cyber threats as the number one concern. Oddly, the pandemic is in third place with 61 percent concerned.

These were among the findings of PwC’s 24th Global CEO Survey which polled 5,050 CEOs in 100 countries and territories in January and February 2021. CEOs from The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were included in the survey.

Overall 76 percent of business leaders globally are predicting that economic growth will improve in 2021, which is up from 22 percent in 2020 and 42 percent in 2019. This represents the highest level of optimism since the survey started asking this question in 2012.

According to Leighton McKnight, PwC Jamaica territory leader, “despite the challenges brought on by the global pandemic, CEOs are reporting record-high optimism about the global economy. Caribbean CEOs are a bit less optimistic than the global trend, but still very positive in their outlook considering how much has changed in the last 12 months.”

“Caribbean CEOs are also poised to scale up their businesses with 63 percent planning to pursue organic growth, 75 percent planning to improve operational efficiencies and 59 percent planning to launch a new product or service.”

Along with cyber threats and health crises, Caribbean business leaders also cited the spread of misinformation and tax policy uncertainty as serious concerns.

Rising digitization is increasing the risks posed by cyber threats. A significant increase in cybersecurity incidents in 2020 including ransomware attacks, has resulted in cyber threats leaping up the list, the report said.

Misinformation which has had an impact on elections, reputation, and public health – further contributing to a decline in trust across society was a concern for 28 percent of CEOs, up from 16 per cent in 2020.

In 2020, tax policy uncertainty ranked outside the top ten concerns for CEOs, with only 19 percent of CEOs concerned. This year, it leaped to seventh place (31 percent globally), with CEOs undoubtedly watching government debts accumulate and realizing that business taxes will likely need to rise, the report said.

Other findings of the survey are that 36 percent of CEOs said they are “very confident” about their organization’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months, up from 27 percent of CEOs in 2020.

Also, 55 percent of Caribbean CEOs plan to use automation and technology to make their workforce more competitive, compared to 36 percent globally. This is more than double the share of CEOs who said the same in 2016.

Another finding is that 35 percent of business leaders are looking to the United States as the number one market for growth over the next 12 months, while 28 percent are looking to China as their leading market. In 2020, the US was only one percentage point ahead of China.

PwC is a network of firms in 155 countries with over 284,000 people delivering assurance, advisory and tax services.