India has been named the fifth most crucial region in terms of overall strategic importance — ahead of Japan, Brazil, Russia, Australia and New Zealand and only next to the US, Western Europe and China according to New York Stock Exchange survey of top business leaders representing companies from 24 countries. From US-based Wal-Mart to UK’s Vodafone, businesses are betting big on a presence in India.
Nearly 42 per cent of CEOs said India was strategically key to their business through 2008 — with 12 per cent terming the country’s importance as crucial and 30 per cent as important, said the survey, which elicited responses from 240 CEOs of NYSE-listed firms.
India was named as the single-most crucial region by one out of 100 companies from across the world, while the ratio was much higher at one out of 48 among the non-US companies. None of the US companies said India was the most crucial area for their business though the next year.
Top honours
However, India received top honours in terms of scouting for possible locations to set up operations. A majority 47 per cent CEOs said their focus on India was primarily related to exploring favourable locations for operations or plants. “Global expansion is no longer just the domain of a few forward thinking CEOs...It is clear  that globalisation is now part of the fabric of decisions concerning market extension, operations, growth & profit,” said Opinion Research USA President Jeff Resnick.