More than half of CEOs in the Asia-Pacific region are ‘very confident’ of increased revenue for their companies over the next three to five years, up slightly from a year ago.  More than 40% of CEOs say their single greatest opportunity for growth will stem from the rise in spending power in Asia, particularly in China.

These were the key findings from a survey by PwC of more than 320 CEOs across 26 countries, including the 21 APEC economies, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit.

To drive growth CEOs are seeking to expand in Asia’s fast growing consumer markets and to extend their presence in the evolving markets for services.  Over 40% of planned investments, both by domestic Chinese and non Chinese companies, are targeted on China.

The CEOs surveyed remain confident that the economy of the Asia-Pacific region will continue to prosper despite the weak economic recovery in the United States, financial uncertainty in Europe and the tsunami and earthquake that struck Japan earlier this year.

However nearly one-third of CEOs said the weak US recovery had impacted their companies ‘to a great extent,’ while 17% said they had been strongly affected by conditions in Europe.

"The opportunities in the APEC economies for the remainder of this decade will be different from the past 10 years. Going forward, developing domestic Asian markets will replace low-cost manufacturing exports for mature economies as the main driver of economic growth in the region”, said Dennis Nally, chairman of PwC International Ltd, who will speak at the opening session of the APEC CEO Summit on November 11th.

“Consumer markets are the driving force for investment,” says Frank Lyn, PwC China Markets Leader. “Those investing in China are directed towards access to consumer markets, while a new wave of investment is also flowing to expand footholds in China’s evolving marketplace for services."

The survey shows that close to a third of investments will develop an R&D, managerial or financial presence in that country.