2010-04-13 17:11
The Grant Thornton emerging markets opportunity index ranks the
level of opportunity for investors in 27 emerging economies across
the globe.
SINGAPORE, April 13 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The
future looks bright for emerging economies according to the Grant
Thornton International Business Report 2010. A balance of +57% of
privately held businesses (PHBs) in 14 of the world's leading
emerging markets indicated that they were optimistic about the
prospects for their country's economy in the year ahead. At the
same time, a balance of just +2 per cent of businesses in mature
economies indicated that they were optimistic. These figures
compare with a global average of +24 per cent.
At an individual country level, emerging
economies occupy four of the top five places in terms of optimism
for the year ahead. Chile (+85% per cent), India (+84 per cent),
Vietnam (+72 per cent) and Brazil (+71 per cent) are only separated
by Australia (+79 per cent). Of the other emerging economies,
Botswana, mainland China, South Africa, Malaysia and Poland all
boast optimism balances of more than 40 per cent.
In the Grant Thornton emerging markets
opportunity index the top five countries this year remain the same
as in the 2008. China leads the way thanks to its huge consumer
market, increasingly open economy and trade growth, followed by the
other developing Asian powerhouse, India. Russia, thanks to its
wealth of natural resources, is third, followed by the two largest
economies in Latin America - Mexico and Brazil.
Says Alex MacBeath, global leader - markets
for Grant Thornton International, "The importance of the emerging
markets to the world economy has been brought into sharper focus as
the world emerges from recession. Not only have these economies
been less severely hit, but they are also recovering more quickly,
with growth rates over the next two years forecast to be double
that of more mature economies."
However, the survey also reports that
businesses in emerging markets fear their growth prospects are
being hampered by poor access to finance and a lack of
highly-skilled workers to a much larger extent than their
counterparts in more mature economies.
Says Alex MacBeath, "The opportunity for
investors from both mature and emerging markets to feed off this
optimism and help these businesses to overcome the barriers they
face regarding expansion are enormous. Indeed, these markets and
their businesses are developing so rapidly and powerfully that
ignoring them could represent a risk to long term
profitability."
About the Grant Thornton International
Business Report (IBR)
Grant Thornton IBR surveyed a sample of over
7,400 chief executive officers, managing directors, chairmen or
other senior executives in medium to large PHBs across 36
economies. The sample was randomly selected by number of employees
or revenue of the businesses. A minimum sample size of 100 per
country was surveyed in order to guarantee statistical reliability,
although this number was higher in larger economies. The survey was
commissioned by Grant Thornton International and conducted by an
independent market research agency, Experian Business Strategies.
Further details about the IBR methodology are available at
http://www.internationalbusinessreport.com .
About the Grant Thornton emerging markets
opportunity index
The Grant Thornton emerging markets
opportunity index ranks the level of opportunity for investors in
27 emerging economies across the globe. Taking account of key
factors such as size, wealth, involvement in world trade, growth
potential and levels of human development, it highlights these
markets as investment prospects with their large, rapidly expanding
and increasingly affluent economies.
Contact:
Dato' Narendra Jasani
SJ Grant Thornton
Tel: +60-3-2692-4022
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.gt.com.my
Aw Eng Hai
Foo Kon Tan Grant Thornton
Tel: +65-6303-9500
Email:
[email protected]
Website: http://www.grantthornton.com.sg
Christine Hobart
Grant Thornton
Tel: +44-207-391-9548
Full Report:
http://www.slideshare.net/GrantThorntonAPAC/emerging-markets-leading-the-way-to-recovery-in-2010
SOURCE Grant Thornton