Navigating a New Policy Reality: Insights from the Corporate Affairs Forum 2026

Navigating a New Policy Reality: Insights from the Corporate Affairs Forum 2026

October 2026

Isabelle Trick, Associate Director, Public Affairs, Singapore

With attendance exceeding 150 regional leaders across corporate affairs, government relations, and strategic communications, the PRCA Corporate Affairs Forum 2026 in Singapore marked a pivotal moment for public affairs in the region. Against a backdrop of splintering multilateral trade, heightened geopolitical rivalry, and regulatory uncertainty, one theme was unambiguous: the traditional corporate affairs playbook has broken down.
As headline partner, Sandpiper convened senior voices to examine how leaders can steer through this fragmentation. From boardroom diplomacy and China’s outward push to pragmatic sustainability frameworks, healthcare access, and ASEAN’s digital integration, the discussions offered a sharp look into how organisations must adapt.

Geopolitics as Balance-Sheet Risk

Opening the forum with the keynote address, Emma Smith, CEO of Sandpiper and Vice-Chair of the PRCA APAC Board, challenged the historical view of corporate affairs as an operational “cleanup crew” called in only after transactions stall or regulatory friction begins. In a landscape defined by economic sovereignty, critical mineral mandates, supply chain realignment, and rapidly evolving AI governance, public policy exposure is no longer a peripheral communications hurdle – it is a balance-sheet vulnerability.

This macro shift was evident across the day’s sessions. Speakers observed that government interventions are increasingly steered by security priorities rather than purely commercial logic. In response, business leaders must increasingly evolve into “corporate diplomats” who must craft institutional frameworks akin to a corporate foreign policy. Navigating these waters requires public affairs heads to have a direct conduit to the C-suite and the board early, transforming political risk forecasting into strategic margin protection.

The Maturing Reality of “China Goes Global”

Chinese companies are entering a far more mature phase of globalisation. Expansion is no longer driven solely by state-owned enterprises or straightforward export models. Today, a dynamic mix of consumer brands, tech firms, and SMEs are thinking globally from day one. Crucially, going global has become a necessity rather than an optional opportunity. Fierce domestic competition and squeezed margins are compelling companies to look abroad. At the same time, shifting trade dynamics and supply chain diversification are accelerating this outward push.

Yet sustainable success overseas demands much more than innovative technology or competitive pricing. Enduring market leadership hinges on building genuine local trust. Public affairs leaders highlighted that companies must develop robust in-market capabilities across talent, government relations, public relations, and investor engagement, while navigating nuanced local regulations and cultural expectations. Chinese firms must move beyond exporting finished goods to embedding themselves within local ecosystems.

Within this landscape, Singapore is cementing its role as an essential, trusted regional launchpad for businesses seeking to establish long-term international credibility.

Pragmatism in Sustainability and Healthcare Equity

Discussions on sustainability reflected a notable – some argued overdue – transition away from broad moral appeals toward measurable operational value and clear economic return.

Contributors underscored that Asia’s energy and green transition cannot replicate Western models. The region faces immediate, distinct trade-offs between economic growth, energy security, and affordability. Against this backdrop, public affairs leaders must help businesses navigate these trade-offs by building practical coalitions across regulators, competitors, and communities. This requires a pragmatic and locally relevant approach rather than a single global playbook.

A parallel shift toward multistakeholder alignment surfaced in discussions on healthcare innovation. Medical advancements cannot deliver societal benefit if regulatory pathways, public reimbursement, and cost-effectiveness frameworks are misaligned. Panellists stressed that patient advocacy groups must be treated as co-creators from inception rather than downstream checkboxes. For public affairs practitioners, bridging the divide between clinical innovation and health access necessitates building localised, credible health-economic evidence that aligns with broader public finance priorities.

Interoperability and Strategic Neutrality in ASEAN

Closing the day’s agenda, a fireside dialogue with His Excellency Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, explored the bloc’s multilateral posture amid escalating global friction.

Rather than weakening the bloc, external trade and supply chain realignments are accelerating intra-regional economic ties. Central to this effort is the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), designed to harmonise cross-border data flows, cybersecurity standards, digital trade documentation, and payment rails.

The crucial point was that ASEAN’s model favours practical interoperability over rigid uniformity, recognising the varied economic maturity of its member states. Combined with strategic neutrality, this pragmatism allows ASEAN to function as a durable, non-aligned platform where multinational enterprise, regional capital, and technology can collaborate across borders.

The Three New Rules of Strategic Influence

Drawing the day’s insights together, navigating this changing geopolitical backdrop and more fragmented policy landscape requires public affairs leaders to abandon defensive, transactional engagement in favour of strategic alignment:

• Sovereign alignment: Instead of defensive lobbying, align corporate objectives directly with host-government priorities, including workforce upskilling, economic resilience, and energy transition.
• Financial literacy: To have your voice heard internally, connect policy intelligence directly to margin preservation, capital expenditure security, and overall cost of capital so the C-suite can make informed risk choices.
• Banked reputational capital: Cultivate trusted, institutional stakeholder relationships long before crises occur, establishing durable goodwill before regulatory audits or policy shifts strike.

As organisations navigate an unpredictable global architecture, strategic public policy acumen has become an essential pillar of corporate governance. Those who embed sovereign alignment into their core commercial decisions will be best positioned to protect their operations and build resilient growth across the region.