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INVESTING IN AN ACCELERATING ASIA?
Insights from Asia’s business leaders on their outlook for 2013

Asia Business Outlook Survey 2013

Investing in an accelerating Asia? Insights from Asia’s business leaders on their outlook for 2013

Contents

Highlights I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV Introduction Asia gathers speed But is it enough? Asia’s productivity challenge On the money? Investment priorities in 2013 Frontier, or fringe? Unprecedented gravitational shift Communication failure? Asia gets too big to manage Overheating hubs Operational insight: Footloose and fancy-free Operational insight: Human capital Appendix: Survey firmographics

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© Economist Corporate Network 2013

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Investing in an accelerating Asia? Insights from Asia’s business leaders on their outlook for 2013

Highlights

Asia’s productivity challenge
Companies are expecting their sales to grow twice as fast as the size of their workforce • With sales growth outstripping workforce growth, companies are expecting their revenue per worker to rise • Some of this will come through prices increases • But some will also come through a drive to increase labour productivity • Business models are becoming more capitalintensive, but improving productivity will be an ongoing challenge

Asia gathers speed
After a slowdown in 2012, executives expect better things in 2013 • Companies are expecting their sales to grow faster in 2013 than in 2012 in every market in Asia, except Japan • However, the improvement will be only modest • China continues to carry the highest expectations for sales growth, but South-east Asia is only just behind

Investment priorities in 2013 Is it enough?
In much of Asia, company sales are lagging underlying economic growth • This is especially true in China and India • One reason might be stiffening competition from local players • But our survey also suggests that Western firms