Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
According to a recent HSBC survey conducted with 4,000 businesses in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas, India is the most optimistic in the world about the 2006 economy. The survey also showed that small and medium businesses in the Asia-Pacific region have very high levels of international trade.
Subir Mehra, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC India, said: "It's heartening to see so much optimism for the economy among SMEs and MMEs in a number of locations in Asia-Pacific and India in particular. These businesses are the engine of the regional and global economy, and HSBC is ready to support their business expansion plans."
The global survey, conducted in 18 countries by TNS and the largest one ever undertaken by HSBC among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and middle market enterprises (MMEs), started in late 2005 and was completed earlier this year. The purpose was to find out how businesses feel about the current and future economic climate, as well as their involvement in international trade.
In India, 88% of SMEs and 98% of MMEs surveyed say the current economy is 'very good' or 'fairly good'. The outlook for the year is equally positive, with 88% of SMEs saying the economic situation will turn even better, 12% saying it will stay the same and no one saying it will worsen. For MMEs, the corresponding figures were 84%, 16% and 0%.
In Asia-Pacific, nine countries and territories were surveyed. Thirty per cent of the SMEs and 35% of the MMEs consider the current economy to be 'very good' or 'fairly good'. Forty-six per cent of SMEs and 41% of MMEs expect the situation to get even better by the end of the year.
The Asia-Pacific outlook for 2006 was the brightest of the three regions. In the Americas, 36% of SMEs and 59% of MMEs describe their current economy as 'very good' or 'fairly good', with 36% of SMEs and 28% of MMEs expecting the situation to improve. In Europe, 29% of SMEs and 19% of MMEs consider the current economy 'very good' or 'fairly good', while 22% of SMEs and 32% of MMEs have a positive outlook for the coming year.
The table below shows the economic outlook of the individual countries/locations in Asia-Pacific: (Pls refer attachment : Table 1 :Eco Outlook_Countries).
The HSBC survey also gauged the level of international trading among SMEs and MMEs. In Asia-Pacific, the SMEs that trade internationally range from 37% in Korea to 71% in Singapore. The figures are even higher among MMEs, ranging from 41% in Indonesia to incidences above 80% in Malaysia, India, Singapore and Taiwan.
SMEs in Asia-Pacific trade with all regions, but the majority takes place within the region, particularly with mainland China. The situation is similar among MMEs, with companies in Hongkong, Taiwan and China being most likely to trade outside Asia-Pacific.
For Europe, international trading by SMEs ranges from 30% in the UK to 53% in Turkey. The figures are higher among MMEs, ranging from 69% in Germany to 89% in Spain. For European SMEs, few trade outside of Europe, with the exception of the UK. European MMEs in Germany trade more widely with countries and territories in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, mainland China, the Middle East and Africa.
In the Americas, international trading by SMEs ranges from 16% in the US to 50% in Mexico. MMEs are more international in their trading, ranging from 21% in the US to 84% in Mexico. The majority of trading takes place within the Americas.
Notes to Editors :(Pls refer attachment - Current & Future Eco Positions)
HSBC in India
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in India offers a full range of banking and financial services from its 43 branches in the 22 cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Noida, Pune, Trivandrum, Thane, Vadodara, Visakhapatnam and Mysore, and some 150 ATMs across the country. HSBC has a credit card base of over one million customers in India and is one of the leading credit card merchant acquirers in the Indian credit cards industry.
The HSBC Group
The HSBC Group is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world. The Group has over 9,500 offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa, serves over 125 million customers and has assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005.
To view the complete release with tables please click on the urls given below:
http://businesswireindia.com/attachments/Table_1_Eco_Outlook_countries(1).doc
http://businesswireindia.com/attachments/Notes_to_editors_Current_&_Future_Eco_position.doc
malinithadani@hsbc.co.in
George Cherian, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), +91 (022) 2268 1695 georgecherian@hsbc.co.in
Source: Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) (Business Wire India)
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