Half of the companies surveyed said they are postponing investments. Of those, most will do so for a year or more. The main drivers behind the cautious sentiment are uncertainty about market opportunities (cited by two-thirds of executives) and difficulty finding financing.

Some 72% of investors believe that the Asia-Pacific region will lead the world out of the recession, 15% think North America will rebound the fastest, while 6% believe that Europe will lead the way to recovery.

Asian investors exhibit more optimism and FDI investment intention than their counterparts from the US or Europe. Seven of the top 10 preferred investment targets for Asian investors were ‘near abroad’ countries from the Asia-Pacific region.