KDespite wars, tense supply chains and trade policy conflicts: According to a recent survey, the CEOs of international companies are more optimistic for the new year than they were a year ago. Accordingly, 38 percent of those responsible expect an increase in global economic growth. A year earlier it was only 18 percent. However, the majority is still skeptical: 45 percent, or almost one in two people, still expect a decline. Last year, however, three quarters of those surveyed were still pessimistic.
These are the core results of the “CEO Survey” commissioned by the auditing and consulting firm PwC. For this regular survey, which took place for the 27th time, more than 4,700 business leaders from around 100 countries were surveyed. The results were presented on Monday in Davos at the start of the World Economic Forum.
Given the gloomy economic development in Germany, the results of the top managers here seem particularly surprising. The proportion of those who expect more dynamic growth in the global economy shot up from a meager 14 percent in the previous year to 67 percent. Only a good fifth of those surveyed expect a negative trend; most recently it was four fifths.
Petra Justenhoven, head of PwC Germany, spoke of the results as a positive signal in times of great geopolitical and economic challenges. “The opportunities presented by technological innovations are recognized and must be exploited,” said Justenhoven, referring to the reasons for the return of optimism. In addition to the war in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, the Swiss Alps will also focus on future technologies for a week, particularly on new business models based on artificial intelligence.
However, the development also entails the greatest risks. 42 percent of German CEOs see their companies at great risk from cyber risks. Internationally there are only half as many people with concerns. German company managers are also significantly more skeptical than their international colleagues when it comes to geopolitical conflicts and climate change (both 28 percent). This is followed by macroeconomic volatility and inflation. Health risks and social inequality, however, rank far behind as business risks.
In the ranking of the most attractive economic areas, Germany is back in third place behind the USA and China (ahead of Great Britain and India), but has lost three points to 15 percent approval from foreign bosses. If you ask the German bosses what it depends on, the opinion is clear: 65 percent said that legal requirements had led to major changes in processes in the past five years – internationally, only 42 percent think that of their home country . Four out of ten respondents also reported supply chain disruptions. Almost every third German boss now believes that their company will no longer be economically viable in ten years, according to the survey analysis. For PwC manager Justenhoven, this shows the pressure to change that many companies are under.
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