The economic growth of Asia as a whole, in addition to China and India, will present good opportunities for local investors in the immediate future, according to the portfolio manager of a global funds management house.
An indication of this is the positive attitude the credit ratings houses have recently had towards the region, Fidelity Asia Fund portfolio manager David Urquhart said.
While these ratings organisations have been downgrading their assessments of southern European countries over the past few months, their outlooks for a number of the Asian economies such as Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines, and India have improved.
As these economies continue to develop, new market sectors are emerging as areas for investment including healthcare and internet facilities, Urquhart said.
Statistics compiled by the China Internet Network Information Centre for the month of January 2010 showed internet users in that country increased by 29 per cent in 2009.
Urquhart identified private educational services as another growth area with room for investment dollars, with a particular focus on education in countries like Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, and China.
Infrastructure remains a good investment sector as well given continued urbanisation and an increasing middle class, particularly in China.
Furthermore, the investment opportunities don’t appear to be fading, with the International Monetary Fund in October 2009 predicting the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan and the other developing economies, will contribute 39.2 per cent of global GDP in 2014, up from 23.5 per cent in 2000.
“Choosing the right stocks in Asia may offer an alternate investment opportunity, as the region’s economic fundamentals remain stronger than those found elsewhere in the world,” Urquhart said.
