2008 appears less optimistic for Malaysian businesses compared to their Asian counterparts

 

Global confidence remains unexpectedly robust with Asian business owners being the most confident in the world

Kuala Lumpur, 21 January 2008 – Despite the subprime credit crunch panic in the US, Asian business owners continue to be the most optimistic in the world, with Philippines, India, Vietnam and Singapore taking the top four positions in a survey, Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR 2008) revealed.

The annual survey of Medium to Large Enterprise (MLEs) shows that despite intense media coverage of the global financial crisis, businesses are resilient. 42 per cent of businesses report feeling optimistic about the economic outlook for the next 12 months with Asian countries topping the index. This is only three percentage points lower than that reported in January 2007. 

However, optimism among Malaysian businesses fell slightly to a balance of +38 per cent from +40 per cent in 2007 - just below the global average of +42 per cent and the East Asian average of +40 per cent. Confidence for 2008 fell greatest for profitability (down 13 per cent) and turnover (down 11 per cent).

However, the Malaysian businesses were more confident for exports where the confidence level rose by 11 per cent and for investment in plan and machinery seeing a good increase of 17 per cent.

The accounting and consulting firm’s Malaysian member SJ Grant Thornton Managing Partner Dato’ N. K. Jasani highlighted the possible reason for the slight 2 per cent fall could be due to the manufacturing sector not feeling the beneficial effect of higher palm oil and petroleum prices as well as the appreciation of our Ringgit.

“Whilst the appreciation in commodity prices and Ringgit has benefited the plantation, services and construction sectors, the same is detrimental to the manufacturing sector, elaborated Dato’ Jasani.

The survey is conducted on behalf of Grant Thornton on a confidential basis by Experian Business Strategies and Harris Interactive. The survey covers 250 respondents in Malaysia and 7,800 worldwide in 34 countries.

Further findings from the survey will be published throughout the first half of 2008. The planned major reports include:

• corporate social responsibility- February 2008

• recruitment and retention- April 2008 

• global growth- May 2008 

• global overview- June 2008

 Research is also being conducted on the following topics:

• business expectations

• business constraints

• competitiveness

• international business languages

• corporate finance

• taxation

• business fraud

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