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Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sciAticA errAticA who wrote (32905)	5/2/2003 7:35:58 AM
From: sciAticA errAticA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Most US Firms In SE Asia Don't See Econ Rebound Until '04 Friday May 2, 6:12 am ET SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- A majority of U.S. business executives based in Southeast Asia said they believe it will take until late 2004 for Asia to recover from its economic slump, according to a survey published Friday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. Only 36% of the 313 business leaders surveyed said they expect the region's economies to rebound by the end of 2003. Some 65% said it would take until mid- 2004 for a recovery to take hold, while 81% didn't see a recovery until the end of 2004. The Internet-based survey, conducted by the Gallup Organization between Feb. 18 and March 11, doesn't include businesses' perception of the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The business leaders are also doubtful over the chances of a global economic recovery this year, with only 24% saying they felt it was likely. Some 69% said they believe the global economy would recover by mid-2004, while 91% said it would likely happen by the end of 2004. Despite the cautious view over the economic situation in 2003, a full 75% of those surveyed said they plan to expand their operations this year, up from 73% in 2002. Only 18% said they planned a reduction in 2003, unchanged from last year. SARS will likely have only a short-term impact on businesses' expansion plans, said Nicholas de Boursac, AmCham's executive director. "Three quarters of them expect to expand this year. SARS will have affected their planning temporarily, but we see an intention to expand ultimately," he said. China continued to lead with respect to business expansion, with 57% saying they planned to expand operations there, down from 64% in 2002. Vietnam was next at 38%, up from 23% in 2002. Thailand was third at 31%, down from 39% in 2002. Indonesia topped the list for planned business reductions, with 22% of those surveyed saying they expect to cut operations there, down from 28% in 2002. Singapore followed at 21%, down from 36% last year. The Philippines was third at 19%, down from 27% in 2002. Although Singapore was rated highly in a number of categories, such as security, governance and infrastructure, AmCham officials speculated that the high cost of housing and labor in the city-state had some bearing on plans to reduce operations there. Even with deteriorating economic conditions in Asia this year, businesses are still relatively optimistic over the prospects of profit growth. Some 53% of those surveyed said they expected profits to expand in the current year, down from 57% in 2002. Some 83% predicted profit growth in the coming year, up from 80% in 2002. Regarding hiring, 36% of the respondents said they planned to boost their work force this year, up from 32% in 2002. Asia also was viewed as an increasingly important part of the global economy. Some 70% of those surveyed said Asia would play a more important role in their worldwide operations over the next two years, compared with 63% in 2002. The Gallup Organization contacted 1,465 members of American chambers of commerce in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam via e-mail. A total of 313, or 21%, responded. -By Alan Yonan Jr., Dow Jones Newswires; 65 6415 4045; alan.yonan@dowjones.com biz.yahoo.com ========== Asia expansion = the accelerated export of deflation to the west. US business pricing power? US business expansion? With excess supply and deflationary pressures? LOL! Except for "must-haves & must-pay" like medical, insurance, property taxes, energy - where inflation abounds...