Half of the nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expect the global economy to turn around next year and many believe the biggest growth opportunity lies in moving to higher value-added products and services, a survey by UPS International Inc said yesterday.
The survey, conducted by telephone among 1,200 SMEs across 12 markets in Asia between Jan. 8 and Feb. 27, showed Taiwanese firms were more optimistic than their foreign counterparts about the economic outlook.
Gary Wu (吳信翰), general manager of UPS Taiwan Branch, said 50 percent of Taiwanese SMEs predicted the world economy would regain momentum next year, followed by 46 percent in China and 44 percent in India.
The figure hovered between 13 percent and 38 percent for South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and other Asian countries, the report said.
A recovery this year is considered unlikely as only 25 percent of SMEs in India voiced optimism, with the figure dropping to a low of 3 percent for South Korea, the report showed.
More than 60 percent of Taiwanese firms said they had no plans to expand this year, and 78 percent ranked cost control as their top priority.
Belt-tightening measures were widespread across the region, with 82 percent of firms in Hong Kong and 78 percent in Japan using this strategy to weather the global slump, the survey said.
The number stood at 68 percent in Singapore and 44 percent in South Korea.
Encouraged by the cross-strait deregulation, about 10 percent of the Taiwanese firms surveyed said they planned to invest in China, and 9 percent said they intended to expand their businesses in both Taiwan and China, the report said.
Wu said it was noteworthy that 44 percent of Taiwanese SMEs cited switching to higher value-added products and services as the single biggest growth opportunity.
The report said that 14 percent thought the key lay in exploring new markets, while 10 percent considered strengthening their workforce by hiring good talent to be more important.
Meanwhile, 53 percent of SMEs in the region considered Taiwanese firms to be more competitive than them, up from 44 percent last year, it said.
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