Exporters urged to look east

Addressing the Economist Emerging Markets Summit this morning, the Secretary of State will reveal the findings of a new report which examines global business attitudes to emerging markets in light of the global downturn. He will say that UK businesses should be strategic about their exports because many emerging markets are outperforming developed economies, and are expected to grow strongly for years to come. "This represents an exciting opportunity for UK business providing greater diversity for the exporter. "The global recession was a wake-up call for companies to diversify their export base and seek out new opportunities in the emerging world. UK business needs to adapt its strategy accordingly to reap long term rewards," Lord Mandelson concludes. Key findings from the 'Survive and Prosper: emerging markets in the global recession' report, commissioned by UK Trade & Investment, include: • 77%of companies expect the prospects for the global economy to improve in 2010-11. • Despite the economic downturn, emerging markets support global profitability. • Emerging market economies, on the back of the continued high growth and market size of China and India, have outperformed those of developed countries in 2009. • 60% of companies surveyed expected to derive more than 20% of their total revenues from emerging markets in five years' time. • China was cited as the preferred investment destination over the next year and beyond by most respondents (45%) followed closely by India (43%) and other Asian nations (35%). • Political risk (including the risk of nationalisation and expropriation) was cited by 50% of survey respondents as the greatest government-related obstacle to doing business in emerging markets. The report is part of a wider push by UK Trade & Investment to raise awareness about the potential trade and investment opportunities for British companies in high growth markets.