Anxiety gripped global markets when Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. But a year on, despite the U.S. President’s game-changing policies, much of the Asia-Pacific region appears to have insulated itself from the shocks, with businesses and economies changing tactics to rely less on the U.S.
Banking and financial services once again dominate the latest statistical ranking of 500 of the region’s best companies conducted by TIME and Statista, which assesses firms using three key metrics: employee satisfaction, revenue growth, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluations. While 2025 started rocky with Trump’s tariff war, the Asia-Pacific region stabilized towards the yearend, says Daniel Kritenbrink, formerly U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and now partner at The Asia Group. “Compared to earlier in 2025, most businesses face a slightly more clear, stable, and certain business environment that they can plan around,” he says.
Read More: Asia-Pacific’s Best Companies of 2026
