As we near the end of 2022, most parts of the world have entered into a post-pandemic normal. This includes Hong Kong, which is gradually loosening COVID restrictions. At the same time, new threats emerged alongside persistent uncertainties, such as the war in Ukraine and other geopolitical tensions, soaring inflation, high interest rates and the rapid decline of equity prices worldwide.

The Ukraine war, the pandemic, high inflation and tightening by the Federal Reserve in the US are creating tremendous uncertainties for the global economy and pose risks to the outlook. However, the uncertain economic environment is not going to stop Asia from growing its economy.