SEE: RHB maintains 'buy' on ComfortDelGro as taxi competition drops
“We believe the potential for work-from-home (WFH) [practices] will vary across countries – a reflection of their sector, occupation, and activity mix. In Asean, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, we see that industries such as agriculture, retail services, accommodation, construction, and food services cannot be 100% done remotely,” they say. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would eliminate up to 90% of import tariffs over the next 20 years and establish common rules for e-commerce, trade and intellectual property, which should reduce export costs in the region. “Less-developed countries are likely to benefit from investments and the transfer of technology from more-developed countries. RCEP is world largest trading bloc, with members accounting for about 30% of the world's population and some 30% of global GDP,” they note. On their stock picks for the region, the team has given Singapore-listed companies CapitaLand, DBS and Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering) “buy” calls with target prices of $3.75, $30 and $4.40. Shares in CapitaLand, DBS and ST Engineering closed at $3.41, $27.42 and $3.93 respectively on Jan 8.