Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, may see full growth within the first half of 2010, the latest edition of the bi-annual Regus BusinessTracker survey said. However, in Bahrain the full momentum of recovery is not expected until the first half of 2011, it said. In Saudi Arabia, 61 percent of businesses experienced a rise in revenues in the past year (42 percent globally). As a result of this positive year, 78 percent more companies than average (70 percent) expect their revenues to rise in the coming year. When asked about the measures they believed would be most effective in aiding the recovery, 57 percent of companies (58 percent globally) emphasized interest rates remaining very low for another 12 months and 50 percent of businesses advocated additional public spending to create public sector jobs (21 percent global) and to be invested on infrastructure projects (37 percent global). Additional grants to encourage foreign firms to set up new facilities in the country (21 percent global) has also been mentioned as measure that would help the country to recover. In Qatar, 56 per cent of businesses experienced a rise in revenues in the past year. As a result of this positive year, 89 percent more companies than average (70 percent) expect their revenues to rise in the coming year. This bullishness is reflected in the expectation that the full momentum of recovery will take place in the first half of 2010. When asked about the measures they believed would be most effective in aiding the recovery, 60 percent of companies emphasized interest rates remaining very low for another 12 months, as well as government pressure on banks to loosen their lending criteria, additional tax breaks for businesses and public spending on infrastructure projects, the report said. The global survey's survey's 15,000 respondents reported a higher percentage of businesses seeing revenue and profit growth globally. The key findings of this worldwide survey emphasize that the business community needs to retain an element of caution in their optimism, it said. The study revealed net growth globally, with 12 percent more firms reporting a rise in revenues rather than a decline, and 8 percent more companies experiencing an increase in profits rather than a reduction. However, businesses across the globe need to stay focused on strategies for cost management, streamlining and greater operating flexibility, the study said. Mark Dixon, chief executive of workspace solutions provider Regus, said: “Despite the slippage between expectations and real experience of business growth observed in this latest survey, it is important to emphasise that the experience of growth is overall still positive around the globe.” He added though that “an important caveat remains, however. Commentators everywhere agree that businesses must take some important lessons away from the downturn. In particular the restructuring of workforces and workplaces should become a continuing process as the flexible working practices which helped weather the recession have yielded a number of positives for employers and employees alike.”
