Editorial

Asia’s aspirations for treasury

This edition lands in your inbox as we pass the halfway mark judging the 2023 Adam Smith Awards Asia. Reading over 400 entries of treasury endeavour and success is a reminder of the privileged and unique window our awards offer into the issues front of mind in corporate treasury and it won’t be long before we proudly reveal our winners.

Issues that have also shaped this latest edition focus on aspirations and laying out a vision for the future. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a topic that treasurers are becoming well-versed in, and in this issue, we focus on India’s project – the digital rupee. While other countries have different motivations for their digital currencies, India’s aspirations focus on enabling financial inclusion and using the country’s existing infrastructure – in tandem with the central bank digital currency – to bring more people into the financial system so they can have access to payments, credit and other financial services, such as insurance.

Meanwhile, many treasurers across the region have their own digital aspirations for creating a truly digital treasury. As the Technology feature explains, however, a digital transformation project isn’t just about the technology – it’s also about the people involved and managing stakeholders. And while it is easy to have a vision for a digital future, it is easier said than done.

In having digital aspirations, it is important to understand the latest technology and tools that are available, and our Trade article focuses on the latest trends in global shipping, particularly in relation to technology.

Shipping and supply chains have suffered major disruption in recent years, and while Japan has long been a leader in high-tech industries, it has suffered with disrupted supplies. For this reason, it is now turning its attention to supply chain resilience – the topic of our Regional Focus.

Sustainability is a key theme for our Corporate View profile with Will Thomson at Contact Energy, who has been mirroring his company’s drive to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in his role as corporate treasurer.

We also focus on other aspirations and plans for the future by considering the future role of global transaction banks; asking what is next for APIs [application programming interfaces] and what kind of digital innovations they can enable. This also ties into the Question Answered section on the evolution of the payments ecosystem and how this is changing and responding to innovation.