CEOs look to emerging markets for growth

At least 90% of transport and logistics CEOs say their companies’ strategies have changed over the past two years, with 37% describing the shift as “fundamental”. This is just one of the key findings of the PricewaterhouseCoopers 14th Annual Global CEO survey, which was first released earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. According to Klaus-Dieter Ruske, a partner at PwC and global industry leader in transport and logistics, most CEOs expect growth to come primarily from emerging markets with expectations placed on Latin America, Asia and China. At least 73% of the CEOs said they were changing their company strategies to respond to growth potential in the emerging markets. “A total of 39% of respondents surveyed across all the industry sectors anticipate China to be one of the three foreign countries most important to their companies’ growth,” said Ruske. “The African continent has not been excluded, as the growth of south-south trade plays a vital role in spreading confidence by reshaping trade corridors.” Ruske said the survey had found that transport and logistics CEOs were significantly less concerned about protectionism in 2011 and only 37% had expressed concern compared to 66% last year. “This is largely attributed to the fact that trade barriers appear to be coming down.” With the global economy still recovering from the worst economic crisis in 75 years, the optimism of the transport and logistics industry was welcomed, said Ruske. “We believe the primary drivers for the change in strategies is customer demand and industry dynamics, with 72% of the CEOs citing both as deciding factors.”