On June 18, 2024, Fortune announced the inaugural Southeast Asian edition of its Fortune 500 list, with Trafigura, a commodity trader based in Singapore, claiming the top spot with sales of US$244 billion. Despite facing recent controversies, including a bribery probe in Brazil, Trafigura stands out for its low employee count and high profitability among the top ten companies.

Other notable companies from Singapore in the top ten include Wilmar International and Olam Group, ranked fourth and fifth respectively, along with Flex at eighth and DBS, Singapore’s largest lender, at tenth.

Sector Representation and Regional Insights:
The inaugural list includes firms from seven Southeast Asian nations: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia. Indonesia leads the ranking with 110 companies, followed by Thailand with 107, Malaysia with 89, and Singapore with 84.

Fortune noted that the top ten companies span various sectors, with three in energy, alongside financial services, commodities, and consumer goods. Collectively, these top ten companies reported revenues of US$650 billion, accounting for over a third of the total revenues of US$1.8 trillion reported by the Southeast Asia 500.

Challenges and Opportunities:
While overall revenues and profits declined for companies on the Southeast Asia 500 list, attributed largely to weak energy markets, several sectors experienced significant growth. Companies such as Harita Nickel and Merdeka Battery Materials in Indonesia, as well as travel firms like Thai Airways, demonstrated impressive performance.

Clay Chandler, Fortune’s executive editor for Asia, remarked on the dynamic and rapidly changing nature of Southeast Asia’s economies, which are now growing faster than those in Europe or the U.S. This shift is partly due to the increased significance of the region in the global economy, as many multinational corporations have moved their supply chains to Southeast Asian countries.