INSIDE THIS ISSUE
   
   
   
  01 MAIN
   
   
  02 NEWSMAKERS
   
   
  03 INVESTMENT UPDATE
   
   
  04 TRADE & ECONOMY
   
   
  05 TECHNOLOGY
   
   
  06 CULTURE
   
   
  07 TRAVEL
   
   
  08 CALENDAR
   

   
  HIGHLIGHTS
   
 

India driving Global Business Confidence
MORE [+]

 
  Healing Traditions
MORE [+]
 
  Visit Madurai
MORE [+]
 





   
  04. TRADE AND ECONOMY
 

 
 
  'India driving global business confidence'  
   
 
 
 

One of the key finding of the survey shows that India is more upbeat than China. Respondents from India are abuzz with optimism for the years ahead, with 98% of them seeing "good" or "very good" business prospects. Meanwhile, the survey pointed out that in comparison to India, China-based executives were notably less enthusiastic.EIU's fifth annual CEO Briefing Survey, found that nine out of 10 top global executives rated business prospects during the next three years as "good" or "very good".

  

In the survey, majority of the 1,006 executives from around the world are planning to invest more in developing countries than in developed economies.Eight out of the 10 respondents in China say that the outlook is promising, but just 3% agree that it is "very good", though both countries are highly positive about the prospects for business in 2007, the survey said.

The survey highlights the importance of emerging markets to companies as primary revenue and sourcing opportunities.

A majority of respondents intend to invest more time and money in emerging markets over the next three years than in the developed economies.

The survey, which polls more than 1,000 executives every year is sponsored by UK Trade and Investment, a government body which promotes exports and inward investment.

  

"Emerging markets are clearly top of the agenda but they are not risk-free environments and business culture is frequently very different," UK Trade and Investment chief executive Andrew Cahn said.

"It is more important than ever that corporate leaders have access to high quality, impartial advice on which to base their management decisions," he said. Interestingly, nearly a third of the executives (28%) chose the latter option, up from 20% in 2006 and just 9% in 2005.

Reasons behind the growing optimism are majorly the expanding global economy by some 5.4% in 2006 and is expected to continue to grow robustly over the next five years. However, the rosy picture is marred by economic risks that continue to concern the business leaders. Interest rates have been on a rise in the past two years in US and Europe, while a sharp slowdown in the US housing market is leading to fears of a decline in consumer spending.

 
             
   
  World Hindi Day Celebrated  
   
 
A Special Committee to deliberate on how to bring the focus of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) on economic and social issues relevant to the developing countries as well as South-South Cooperation has been set up. The Committee is likely to submit its report to the government before end August 2006. As one of the founder members, India continues to be actively involved in   NAM, which provides a valuable forum for developing countries to articulate their views on a wide range of issues in a collective manner, and to find ways and means to further strengthen their cooperation.

The NAM is the largest grouping of developing countries outside the United Nations. With rapid changes in		   the international environment, there has been a growing realization among the membe r countries of the NAM to revitalize the Movement, making it a more effective voice of the developing countries. In this context, it is important to strengthen economic cooperation within NAM and also to pursue interests of its member countries by agreeing on common positions in the global arena.

 
   
 

Mittal Business Person of 2006

  
 
   
 

According to ‘The Sunday Times’ Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal who brought about the merger of Mittal Steel with Arcelor to form the world's largest steel producing company Arcelor Mittal, has been declared The Sunday Times Business Person of 2006.

The Sunday Times said Lakshmi Mittal embodied the rise of a new breed of Indian entrepreneur: confident and commanding on the world stage. The merged group employs about 330,000 people in 60 countries and makes 130 million tonnes of steel a year, 10 per cent of world production. Japan's Nippon Steel and Korea's Posco, the next biggest players, each make only about 30m tonnes a year.

 
             
 
 

MAIN I TRADE & ECONOMY I INVESTMENT UPDATE I NEWSMAKERS I INFOTECH I CULTURE I TRAVEL I CALENDAR

     
  BACK TO TOP