Cleantech bucks bleak economic trend

The cleantech sector is bucking the economic doom and gloom with the majority of business leaders expecting positive prospects over the next year. More than 68% of cleantech businesses expect […]

The cleantech sector is bucking the economic doom and gloom with the majority of business leaders expecting positive prospects over the next year.

More than 68% of cleantech businesses expect their revenues to go up in the next 12 months compared with half (52%) of businesses globally. A similar percentage (62%) expects profits to rise as opposed to just 38% of businesses around the world.

The latest research from global tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR) also shows cleantech firms expect to spend double the amount of cash than the worldwide average on research and development over the next year.

Nathan Goode, global leader cleantech at Grant Thornton said: “The cleantech sector continues to demonstrate remarkable rates of growth, with economies such as China increasingly playing a leading role. Global economic uncertainty is weighing on short-term business growth prospects but the data suggests that dynamic businesses in the cleantech sector are willing to invest in bold growth plans to boost competitiveness.

“Demand for cleantech products and services is fairly robust. China, the United States and Europe account today for around 50% of total global output, but their share of cleantech output is nearer to 75% so we would expect them to drive future innovation and growth.”

However more businesses complain about red tape stifling growth in the sector (41%) than the all-sector average of 34%.

The results come from the IBR survey of 3,000 listed and privately held businesses across all industry sectors in May/June 2012.

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