India is the fifth most attractive market for investments and the optimism over global economic growth over the next 12 months among chief executives worldwide is at a record level, according to a survey of CEOs by global consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The United States tops the spot for global investment, the company’s 21st CEO Survey said.
Around 46 per cent of global CEO respondents considered the United States as one of the three most important countries for growth, followed by China (33 per cent) and Germany (20 per cent). The fourth position was of the United Kingdom (15 per cent), according to an Indian news agency report.
Though the Indian Government has made efforts to address concerns regarding infrastructure, manufacturing and skill development, newer threats like cyber-security and climate change are beginning to play on the minds of our clients, PwC India chairman Shyamal Mukherjee noted.
Around 54 per cent of the CEOs plan to increase their headcount this year while 18 per cent expect to reduce their staff, according to the survey. The fields having the highest demand for fresh recruits are health care (71 per cent), technology (70 per cent), business services (67 per cent), communications (60 per cent), hospitality and leisure (59 per cent).
Around two-fifths of the CEOs were 'extremely concerned' about geopolitical uncertainty and cyber threats while 41 per cent felt so about terrorism. Other points of concern were availability of key skills (38 per cent) and populism (35 per cent).
“The threat of over-regulation remains the top concern for CEOs (42 per cent extremely concerned), and over a third (36 per cent) remain concerned about an increasing tax burden," The agency quoted the survey as saying.
PwC conducted 1,293 interviews with CEOs spread across 85 countries between August and November 2017. (DS)
Source:http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/india/