Stanley Pignal – The Financial Times, 01/03/2011
Business leaders in Japan and southern Europe are the most worried about the coming year, a survey shows, with Latin America the most promising place to do business in 2011.
The International Business Report, an annual survey of 11,000 owners of private medium and large businesses in 39 countries compiled by Grant Thornton, the accounting group, crowns Chile as the country where businesses are most optimistic, with a 95 per cent of respondents forecasting growth.
Globally, the figure stands at 23 per cent, down 1 per cent on 2010 but well above the -16 per cent recorded at the height of the 2009 financial crisis. Business leaders in India, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Germany are among the most bullish, delivering scores of 75 or above.
[...] A couple of weeks ago, while lamenting the onset of cold weather here in Washington, I discussed the investment potential of Latin America. Since winter does not appear to be ending any time soon, thinking about Latin America still has appeal. While our current local climate in the Washington DC area may not be sunny, the business climate in Latin America is certainly heating up. [...]