Concerns remain among business leaders for 2012

Corporate outlook remains optimistic for 2012 overall, but more companies are concerned that their situation will further deteriorate compared to previous years, according to Nielsen Vietnam .
Corporate outlook remains optimistic for 2012 overall, but morecompanies are concerned that their situation will further deterioratecompared to previous years, according to Nielsen Vietnam .

The online Nielsen Business Barometer survey – conducted during thelast two months of 2011 – was recently released. It found that 29percent of firms believed their situation would improve significantly,while 36 percent expected conditions to remain the same and 28 percentestimated the situation would deteriorate in the next 6-12 months.

Two-thirds of business leaders still expect double-digit growth in thenext 12 months. Compared to the last wave, more companies expectsingle-digit growth, according to the survey report.

Among the three key factors companies believed were required for growthin the next 12 months, the survey pointed out that "while increasingconsumption and expansion still remain a source for growth, businessleaders now talk about mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and exportstoo."

"Leaders will continue to invest inadvertising and expanding businesses in 2012, but will do so with evenmore caution than in past years," stated the report. Business leadersexpect Vietnamese consumers to continue to make purchases when there arepromotions, but also to cut back on ‘non-essential' items.

In the next 12-18 months, the rural market was predicted to continueto attract business leaders, though to a lesser extent than the firsthalf of 2011.

The survey also asked questions onbusiness leaders' opinions and consumer reactions on 2011. Abouttwo-thirds of the leaders felt business conditions in Vietnam haddeteriorated, yet most achieved their targets. However, significantlyfewer companies beat their targets in 2011 compared to 2010.

Among the five top concerns, global economic crisis showed up for thefirst time. The lingering instability in Europe, North America and thegrowth challenges facing Vietnam brought back a cautious outlookamong business leaders and consumers.

Inflation remained a top burning concern among businesses, with more than 59 percent of business leaders worried about it.

Competitive pressure, the dong devaluation and wage growth were alsolisted among the top concerns of business leaders with 41, 41 and 24percent expressing worries, respectively.

Leadersrecognised that consumers were becoming more discriminating and had anallotment of choices. Therefore, price increases must be carefullyplanned. Furthermore, more than half of those surveyed said they wouldlook at improving productivity as a solution to inflation.-VNA

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