Asia GDP set to grow by S$1.4tn thanks to the Metaverse

New research finds that innovations and experiences brought about by the Metaverse are expected to boost GDP in Asia by between S$0.8 trillion and S$1.4 trillion by 2035, if investments are made over the next decade.

The Metaverse report from Deloitte, called The Metaverse in Asia – strategies for accelerating economic impact, points to positive characteristics of the current Metaverse, such as high awareness levels in Asia, that bode well for the long term success of platforms in the ecosystem.

But the success of the Metaverse in Asia is not guaranteed, according to Duleesha Kulasooriya, Managing Director of Centre for the Edge at Deloitte Southeast Asia.

“The successful future of the metaverse calls for action not just by governments, but all ecosystem actors. While the Metaverse is still in its early forms, it is now a good time for businesses and players to experiment, find their edge in the Metaverse, and identify opportunities to scale these edges,” said Kulasooriya.

Metaverse in Asia

While the entire Metaverse ecosystem is still in a developmental stage, a growing number of high-profile companies are innovating in the space. For example, manufacturing firm Siemens recently established a partnership with NVIDIA to build-out digital twin technology utilising the metaverse.

Benefiting from the expertise of Siemens in creating digital twins and NVIDIA’s extensive history of success in rendering and AI, this partnership is expected to bring together the best of both worlds for the metaverse.

“Photorealistic, physics-based digital twins embedded in the industrial Metaverse offer enormous potential to transform our economies and industries by providing a virtual world where people can interact and collaborate to solve real-world problems. Through this partnership, we will make the industrial Metaverse a reality for companies of all sizes,” said Roland Busch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG.

Major financial services firm DBS also announced a partnership with The Sandbox, a leading decentralised virtual gaming world, to build DBS BetterWorld, an interactive metaverse experience illustrating the value of creating a more sustainable world. Many global banks are actively embracing the metaverse and seeking for ways to improve their relationships with customers through metaverse experiences.