Malaysia's growth potential ranked No. 3
- From: .... pluto <...pluto@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 02:11:01 +0800
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/free/story/0,6418,339656,00.html?
Malaysia's growth potential ranked No. 3 in Asia-Pacific
Country lags behind China and India but is ahead of S'pore, poll of CEOs
shows
Sept 9, 2005
KUALA LUMPUR - A THIRD of chief executives surveyed in the Asia-Pacific
have
rated Malaysia among the top three countries in the region with the best
growth potential and investment for their companies over the next five
years.
This ranks it third after leaders China and India, but ahead of Singapore,
the Philippines and Indonesia.
Results of the survey, carried out by global executive search firm
Korn/Ferry International (KFI), showed that only 8 per cent of the 185 CEOs
polled last year picked Singapore as the country with the best growth
potential.
The poll showed Malaysia was on track to becoming one of the top three
countries in the Asia-Pacific region with the best growth potential, The
Edge business daily yesterday reported KFI Malaysia country head and
managing director Reza Ghazali as saying.
He added that proof of Malaysia's growth had been de- monstrated in KFI's
recruitment for executive and mid-management staff among conglomerates and
government-linked companies.
Mr Charles Teng, KFI president for Asia-Pacific, who unveiled the findings
yesterday, also noted that many multinational corporations were
particularly
attracted to Malaysian talent.
Malaysians were in demand for jobs in other countries and this had created
a
'war for talent', he said.
He added that Malaysian talents were 'ubiquitous' in the Asia-Pacific
region
and able to adapt easily because of the multicultural environment in which
they were brought up.
'It provides the individual with ease and sensitivity to be effective in
different settings, not just multicultural, but also in different
development settings,' he said.
According to Mr Teng, gaining and retaining talent had been identified as
the top management challenge faced by CEOs in the Asia-Pacific.
This was reflected in the survey, with 80 per cent of the CEOs from
South-east Asia rating this aspect highly, followed by CEOs from Japan (73
per cent) and China (60 per cent).
Asked how they attracted and retained talent, CEOs ranked constant
motivation and challenge as the most important factors, followed by
adequate
and competitive compensation.
Another business trend apparent in Malaysia is in offshoring.
Last year, a survey by A.T. Kearney ranked Malaysia the third most
attractive offshoring location, behind India and China.
The Edge report quoted Ms Marta Grutka, KFI regional director for
Asia-Pacific marketing communications, as saying that most of the
outsourced
jobs to Malaysia were high-level ones because the country was well-suited
for new business outsourcing services demanded by companies across the
Asia-Pacific.
The survey also revealed that the business environment was positive and
nearly half of the CEOs thought their countries' economies would improve
over the next 12 months.
CEOs in South-east Asia were the most optimistic - 62 per cent felt the
economy in their countries will continue to do better.
Investment was forecast to increase throughout the Asia-Pacific region for
this year.
About 91 per cent of the CEOs planned 'moderate' to 'aggressive' investment
over the next two years. -- THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
____
[S'PORE}
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/free/story/0,6418,339966,00.html?
Oil prices a slippery patch for economy
By Nizam M. Idris For The Straits Times
Sept 10, 2005
UNTIL rather recently, Singaporeans - from car owners to economists - have
been cautiously confident about the domestic impact of record high oil
prices. Underpinning this attitude seems to be the fact that, having passed
the US$60 (S$101) per barrel mark with no apparent damage, there was little
need to fret even if oil prices breached US$70. The economy was surely
robust enough to handle rising oil prices.
In fact, oil prices are not only at a record in nominal terms but also
closing in on record real levels last seen in 1979. While the domestic
economy has thus far largely escaped unscathed despite these price rises,
the assumption that it will continue to be so even beyond US$70 is, at
best,
a careless one.
Overlooked is the fact that global fuel prices have risen by more than
US$20
per bar rel since May, a pace that promises a fuel crisis if continued
unabated. Although prices are easing post-Katrina, there is little to
suggest that fuel prices have already hit a peak in the multi-year cycle.
There remains a whole host of potential supply-side shocks, given the
global
depletion of product inventories, that could easily push prices to US$80
before the year end and keep them buoyant above US$50 through next year.
Until recently, even those who monitor these prices professionally had
maintained a view that future fuel prices will head lower -
'backwardation',
in forward market jargon. Admittedly too, most global economies are still
growing comfortably despite the rising oil prices in the first half of this
year. Singapore's economy itself grew a stunning 18 per cent in annualised
terms in the second quarter, and an average of 4 per cent in the first half
of the year. That despite oil prices hitting US$60 in June, a rise of 50
per
cent from the end of last year.
This, however, does not mean the economy will remain isolated when oil
prices hit or surpass US$70.
Despite the still inefficient use of oil relative to developed nations,
subsidies and price controls have been instrumental in isolating the Asian
economies from the effects of these price rises. Inflation has also been
kept low by the influx of cheap Chinese products, while the higher cost of
oil imports has been compensated for by speculative fund inflows as the
market seeks to position itself for further revaluation of the Chinese
yuan.
But this may not go on uninterrupted if inflation starts to show, profit
margins get squeezed, balance of payment surpluses narrow, and consumer
confidence dips.
Indeed, some impact from the recent run in oil prices has already started
to
show across the region in statistics other than the GDP, well before oil
prices hit US$60. China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and even Malaysia have
been trying to lower the impact of higher oil prices on their government
budgets, each having to raise the price of oil 7 to 30 per cent in recent
months.
Meanwhile, the US economy will see its inflation rise and current account
deficit widen by a further 1 per cent of GDP, potentially destabilising the
global economy even further. A slowdown in demand from the US for
foreign-made goods will see a deceleration in the manufacturing engines of
China and the rest of Asia.
The backwardation in the futures markets has finally given way to contango
(a situation where the market is pricing in a higher future fuel cost than
current price). This is a rare occurrence in the crude oil market.
The US Energy Department on Wednesday raised its crude oil price forecasts
to US$70 a barrel for this winter and an average of more than US$60 a
barrel
for next year. In a recent advertisement, Chevron, the second largest
energy
producer in the US, warned: 'One thing is clear - the era of easy oil is
over.' High oil prices are here to stay.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The writer is deputy head of research for Asia IDEAglobal and
president of Mendaki Club.
=====================================================
[pluto note: the above is a verbatim copy and paste message without any comment from me. If i have any comment, it is in square brackets thus [pn...]
cheers
pluto
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