PwC: Russia regains 10th position on prospective countries list

MOSCOW, Jan 23 (PRIME) -- Russia has regained its 10th position on the list of the world’s most attractive countries for prospects of business growth in 2018, as seen by PRIME late on Monday in a survey of 1,293 CEOs of companies around the world conducted by consulting company PwC.

According to the survey, 5% of polled CEOs named Russia as one of the most attractive markets, up from 4% last year, allowing the country to step up one position on the list. The U.S. became the most prospective country for businesses, while China ranked second and Germany third.

“I would like to point out that results of the survey showed Russia climbing up one position this year and once again becoming one of the 10 most important markets from the point of view of investment in 2018. This is an evidence that companies are interested in expanding their business in our country in spite of the sanctions,” PwC said in a statement quoting PwC Russia’s Managing Partner Igor Lotakov.

For the first time since 2012, the majority of CEOs – 57% of them – have expressed optimism about 12-month growth prospects for the world economy.

“Now global commodity prices seem to have stabilized at a moderate level. Russia and Brazil have returned to modest growth; China is doing well, and the Eurozone has mounted a steady recovery that looks set to continue in 2018. Even the U.K. economy, while slowing this past year, has not yet been severely impacted by Brexit,” PwC said in the survey report.

The top-five threat factors for business in 2018 included over-regulation, terrorism, geopolitical uncertainty, cyber threats, and “availability of key skills,” respectively.

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