A region often associated with political crises and oil production, the Middle East is also a region where the chief executives are the most optimistic in the world. The 16th annual PwC’s Middle East CEO Survey reveals that most of the Middle East CEOs are optimistic about growth and are confident about their businesses’ growth and have positive outlook for wider economic growth.
More than half of Middle Eastern CEOs, or 53 percent, say they are very confident about the prospects for their companies’ revenues this year, compared to only 36 percent of their peers. The relative optimism in the region is expressed at a time when geopolitical troubles are still dominating both international and local headlines. According to the results of ‘Matching Confidence with Competitiveness’ report, local chief execs are more likely to see opportunities for organic growth in their home markets than CEOs in any other part of the world. And they are more likely to plunge into new, “go abroad” strategies, as well. Researchers from the audit and consultancy firm PwC state that this optimism reflects the strength and confidence, resulted by the region’s natural resources. Other factors shaping the positive outlook are the presence of a mature infrastructure and the growing variety of businesses in the region.
44 percent of Middle East CEOs point the growth of the existing domestic market as a main stimulus for the economy in the next 12 months. 25 percent of them say this would be new operations in the foreign market and 9 percent of the execs say new products or service development will be huge growth opportunities. As a result of this economic growth, 75 percent of them expect a boost in the employment market.
One reason for Middle East CEOs’ optimism is obviously the oil price which remains around $100 a barrel – a positive fact for oil producers such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. One of the authors of the report, Hani Askar, Middle East deals leader at PwC, also suggests that CEOs in the region are more accustomed to changes and political unrest. The history of crises has made them more cold-blooded and calmer. But crises haven’t stayed unnoticed after all – confidence last year was 60 percent, a little higher than this year’s 53 percent.
Another key finding of the survey is that the most preferred foreign markets are Africa and Asia. All Middle Eastern CEOs (100 percent) are confident that the South and South East Asian markets will grow in the next 12 months. The PwC warns about the other finding – there’s almost complete lack of interest in improving customer service and innovation. Only 9 percent of Mideast CEOs point these as one of their top three priorities in the next year, compared to 38 percent of global CEOs.
