Half of global CEOs say their businesses are unable to maintain their day-to-day operations for over three weeks should a major supply chain shock occur tomorrow, according to a report from Proxima.
Singapore, however, has the most resilient businesses that can maintain business operations for the longest period of between four to six months (23%).
This is based on a survey of 515 CEOs from businesses generating over $500 million in revenue across the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Singapore, and Germany.
Findings show that 18% of US firms, 10% of German firms, 8% of UK firms and only 5% of Australian firms can survive during this same time period.
The latest of Singapore’s Economic Strategy Review (ESR) sets out the country’s roadmap for sustaining long-term economic growth. One of the recommendations include working with key industries to identify and mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities to build resilience amid growing economic pressures.
Singapore businesses view AI as the biggest (22%) and most underestimated (27%) financial threat to their supply chains. Among them, 93% have documented and tested plans to address related disruptions, with half of them (47%) indicating that they are very prepared.
This proactive approach demonstrates Singapore businesses’ focus on mitigating technology-driven supply chain risk.
At the same time, AI presents a strategic opportunity to enhance supply chain performance beyond risk management. Singapore businesses are leveraging AI to generate measurable value through applications such as cost modelling (50%) and procurement automation (48%), aligning with Singapore’s broader ambition under the ESR to become a trusted hub where AI solutions are developed, tested, and deployed to tackle real-world problems at scale.
However, operational challenges such as data quality (40%), integration (30%), and skills gaps (29%) remain barriers to scaling AI adoption.
Addressing these obstacles will be critical as Singapore seeks to accelerate AI adoption across industries. The ESR recommends supporting leading Singapore-based companies in undertaking end-to-end AI transformation, with successful adopters serving as reference models for their industries.
The trade associations and chambers also have a role in enabling wider adoption by aggregating demand, facilitating data-sharing, and working with AI developers to create sector-level solutions that can be deployed more easily across businesses.
In order to guarantee supply chain resilience, almost three quarters (72%) of global CEOs would accept an uplift of more than 10% on their current third-party supplier costs.
In Singapore, 44% of CEOs would accept paying between 11% and 20% more to ensure supply chain resilience.
When asked how they would fund such an uplift in their third-party supplier costs, almost four in ten (38%) global CEOs stated they would pursue cost-saving measures while 35% said they would pass the price rises on to customers. A smaller proportion (26%) said they would need to absorb the costs through reduced margins.
In Singapore, almost 40% would adopt cost-saving measures, and only 30% would pass costs on to consumers—the lowest of all countries surveyed.
“Singapore’s performance demonstrates how trade-based economies are reshaping supply chain strategy in response to sustained global volatility, so much so that resilience has become a proactive measure that is now firmly embedded into core operating models,” said Chris Hampden, SVP at Proxima.
“As Singapore businesses continue to face elevated levels of risk, they continue to place an increasing emphasis on supply chain resilience. Many are willing to pay a premium to guard against that risk, where supply chain continuity is fundamental to regional and global operations,” said Hampden.
The study also found that supplier disruptions pose a significant risk to Singapore firms. Majority (58%) shared that a two-week disruption to their top three suppliers would put 11% to 20% of their revenue at risk, while 2 in 10 (22%) projected revenue losses of 21% to 40%. This underscores the critical role which suppliers play in business continuity.
Singapore firms experienced most changes in overseas demand in response to protectionist policies such as tariffs. One-third (34%) indicated that overseas demand for their products rose in the past 12 months, as compared to the global average of 29%.
Also, 23% indicated that overseas demand for their products fell in the past 12 months, well above the global average of 15%. The uneven impact suggests that business performance depends largely on individual firms’ ability to adapt to and manage changing trade conditions.
Singapore firms draw on a diverse range of information sources when addressing supply chain disruptions. One-fourth (24%) cited external advisors as their primary source of information, followed by AI-driven insights, supplier input, and internal experience and judgment (all at 19% each).
This finding suggests that many organisations value external advisors for the different perspectives they bring, alongside technology-enabled tools that can help process large volumes of data and identify potential risks.
