Despite the current global economic and political headwinds, optimism among businesses in the key focus markets of Dubai, London, Moscow and Istanbul remains high, results of a mid-market survey show.

The research conducted by Citi in conjunction with YouGov shows that across all four cities, approximately82 per centof companies polled expressed confidence about their economic outlook over the next two years.

In Istanbul 96 per cent of respondents were confident about their business' prospects in the short term. Respondents in Dubai were also optimistic, with 61 per cent confident and 37 per cent not confident in the short term outlook for their business.

The majority of respondents comprising senior staff in companies with turnover from $50 million to $1 billion also anticipated their businesses growing in headcount, with Istanbul again expecting the greatest growth in staff numbers.

"Confidence is increasing for the majority of companies we polled. In fact they are increasingly looking beyond their national borders for growth," saidVincent Valladares, head of Citi Commercial Bank, Middle East."Close to66 per centof respondents in Dubai also expected their businesses to grow headcount in the coming year.''

"We are pleased to say that74 per centof companies surveyed in Dubai plan to open new international offices and similarly74 per centwill target new export markets as a means of growing their businesses in the next two years," said Vincent Valladares. "We feel this reflects well on Dubai as a place to do business."

The report also revealed that when selecting the most suitable markets for expansion, the main priorities for Dubai-based businesses were presence of a skilled workforce, political stability, and ease of doing business.

Respondents were most optimistic about the economic prospects of the Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions, while they were most pessimistic about Europe."Opinions about the prospects of Europe, the Middle East and Africa were mixed, with roughly equal numbers believing them to be growing, stable or in decline. There were small differences in the perceived prospects of each region between the four focus markets, indicating that the picture is more nuanced at a local level," the report by Citi Commercial Bank said.

According to the survey report, thetop fivemost favourably viewed markets for business expansion were (in rank order) India, Canada, US, Saudi, Qatar, reflecting the importance of the size of the new market, as well as its proximity and cultural links.

"In terms of actual expansion undertaken, in the last three years, four in five of our sample had targeted new export markets while three quarters had opened new offices. The Middle East was the most popular regional location for both of these," the bank said.

Europe is the most popular anticipated location for new offices and the Middle East most popular for targeting of new markets.

"Although essentially consistent with the overall view, there are slight nuances in perceived regional prospects when viewed by each market. For example, there is greater optimism about Africa in London than across the sample as a whole, greater scepticism about Europe in Dubai while in Istanbul, optimism about South America, North America and Europe exceeds all other markets," it said.

Political stability, size of the market and ease of doing business were the most common main criteria for evaluating potential markets for overseas expansion.

However, each of the four focus markets had different priorities, shaped by their respective economic and political circumstances. The UK is principally motivated by the size of the market and local demand, the UAE by the presence of a skilled workforce, Russia by favourable regulation/tax laws and Turkey by political stability, the report said.

Opening new offices and targeting new export markets was the most common type of overseas operational expansion that had taken place in the last three years across the sample as a whole. Most businesses had undertaken more than one type of operational expansion indicating that overseas expansion is very much viewed as a strategic exercise, rather than something to be done in incremental steps.

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Issac John Associate Business Editor of Khaleej Times, is a well-connected Indian journalist and an economic and financial commentator. He has been in the UAE's mainstream journalism for 35 years, including 23 years with Khaleej Times. A post-graduate in English and graduate in economics, he has won over two dozen awards. Acclaimed for his authentic and insightful analysis of global and regional businesses and economic trends, he is respected for his astute understanding of the local business scene.