MALAYSIAN BUSINESSES PLAN TO GROW, SAYS ICAEW

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- Nine out of ten Malaysian businesses plan to
grow over the next two years, increasing growth expectation on one year ago,
according to a survey by the Institute of Chartered Accountant for England and
Wales (ICAEW).

In a statement here Tuesday, ICAEW said nearly half of businesses surveyed in
Malaysia planned to grow by 11 per cent or more.

"This is on par with Hong Kong and other Asia-Pacific countries, well ahead of
businesses in Australasia and not dissimilar to Singapore, where 53 per cent
expect growth at that level," it said.

It said of the two-thirds of Malaysian businesses planning to expand into other
markets over the next two-three years, more than half planned to expand into or
increase their market share in China.

"However, they see the existence of an effective legal system and corruption as
barriers to international expansion," it said.

ICAEW's South-East Asia director, Mark Billington, said while businesses
undoubtedly were in the process of putting the global crisis behind, there were
still several challenges on the horizon for Malaysian businesses.

"With the forthcoming introduction of goods and services tax, it is
interesting to see that an equal number of businesses in Malaysia view business tax
changes as help (35 per cent) and hindrance (36 per cent) to their business," he
said.

Billington said the Malaysian government must continue to work with its
neighbours to remove barriers for expansion into other countries to help
Malaysian businesses grow and prosper.

The survey covers over 1,700 chartered accountants working in businesses across
the world.