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Survey: Opportunity still abundant in Asia

By Jia Jingqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-11 08:13

Asia may be the world's most influential economy by 2020, according to a survey by international communications and public affairs consultancy Fleishman-Hillard released yesterday in Dalian at the ongoing Summer Davos forum.

The survey of a group of high-ranking business executives and opinion leaders mainly examined challenges growth-hungry Asian multinationals face, as well as solutions and opportunities.

The study titled "The New Asian Champions" found that multinationals based in China, India, Japan and South Korea have unprecedented opportunity to succeed in the current global business environment.

Some 40 percent of the respondents see "a great deal of opportunity" in the current economic climate, 67 percent believe that a "great deal of opportunity" will be present five years from now and a majority of 70 percent agree that "by the year 2020, a China-led Asia will be the most influential region in the global economy", said the report.

"Clearly, the new Asian champions have unprecedented opportunities to succeed globally," said Dave Senay, president and chief executive officer of Fleishman-Hillard.

"However, there is no room for complacency among Asia's top companies. The leaders we surveyed by no means view Asia's global leadership as automatic."

The survey then revealed a number of challenges Asian multinationals must overcome in order to capitalize on opportunities outside their home markets.

While 72 percent of respondents said they still view a low cost base and access to inexpensive labor as the No 1 advantage of Asian companies, 35 percent see a lack of profile and branding as their single greatest weakness.

And a collective 48 percent of participants expressed concern about the impact of the global economic downturn and a range of other issues that includes lack of familiarity with foreign markets, cultural and linguistic barriers and global availability of international distribution channels.

"Asian multinationals have demonstrated their mastery of the production process, advanced technologies and succeeding at home," said Patrick Chovanec, assistant professor at the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University.

"But it is the 'soft skills' - the ability to communicate value, to build strong emotional bonds with customers, to navigate unfamiliar cultures and political systems - that often present Asia's top firms with their greatest challenge."

The survey results also indicate that, while Asian brands such as Lenovo, Tata, Hyundai, Daewoo and NEC are widely recognized, many others are not. Respondents largely attributed this to a relative lack of communications and branding expertise on the part of some Asian players.

"So now is the time for Asian multinationals with global ambitions to invest in their brands and in differentiating their products, services and competitive advantages in business and consumer markets around the world," Senay added.

Fleishman-Hillard Inc, founded in the US more than 55 years ago, is part of Omnicom Group Inc, a global marketing and corporate communications company.

(China Daily 09/11/2009 page42)