She said the “recipe” for new crises were not only present but already “baking”.
“Both the public and private sectors should take preemptive measures, not to insulate but to minimise any headwinds and contingent effects,” she said.
She cited the US-China trade war and the US-Iran sanctions as potential grounds for future global crises.
She said SMEs which had business ties with either parties in the US-China trade war should monitor the current developments closely.
“Forget about the cycles, look at the real-time. Monitor the oil market and the trade tariffs daily,” she said during her keynote address at an Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) event on SMEs.
“Don’t just focus on who’s getting arrested. Not that we are not concerned, but leave that to the government,” she joked.
The US-China trade war reportedly began when US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on US$34 billion ( RM141 billion) worth of Chinese goods.
China hit back by imposing duties on US$50 billion of US products. The US has imposed three rounds of tariffs on Chinese products this year, totalling US$250 billion worth of goods. And China has replied by imposing tariffs on more US goods.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had warned on Nov 13, at the 33rd Asean summit being held in Singapore, that trade tensions between the US and China could trigger a “domino effect” of protectionist measures by developed Western nations against other Asian countries
US Vice-President Mike Pence is attending the Singapore meetings instead of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly railed against China over intellectual property theft and entry barriers to American businesses, among others.
Trump’s absence at the summit has been previously associated with Washington’s lack of commitment towards Asia.