21.04.2008

Source: Vietnam Investment Review online (Vietnam)
Date: 21.04.2008

Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are three Southeast Asian nations occupying three of investors’ four most favoured markets due to rising penetration, increased mobile spending and impressive profit margins, according to the Altimo Mobile Development Index (Altimo Index H2 2007).

The Altimo Index H2 2007, the third of its series published by Altimo Foundation and released at last week’s Total Telecom international telecoms conference in London, contended that Southeast and East Asian mobile markets were the world’s «most favourable for investors due to continued rapid user growth and mobile spending driven by strong macroeconomic performance».

Referring to the two previous editions, Altimo Index H2 2006 and H1 2007, the index developers insisted that «the third index explicitly demonstrates this [trend] as a continuing theme» and the attractive investment opportunities «would remain from 2008 to 2010».

The Altimo Index H2 2007, which evaluated the investment opportunities represented by 80 international mobile telecoms markets, put Indonesia on top of the world, followed by the Philippines, China and Vietnam. The United States held on to the 25th position on the list. «The Altimo Index clearly outlines that the current slowdown in the US and other highly developed countries is cushioned by robust growth in emerging economies,» said Kirill Babaev, Altimo Foundation CEO.

«Altimo’s focus on these markets has enabled it to double its assets’ value to $30 billion last year, and as this Altimo Index shows, there are still plenty of opportunities within less-developed mobile markets in the near future,» he added. The new index showed that domestic growth momentum in China, India and their neighbours should be sufficient to overcome the effects of the global turmoil in financial markets and the economic slowdown in the US. And while China was «slowly accelerating penetration», India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh from South Asia «[were] attracting investors by huge potential in client base and large capital expenditures».

The index also noted that the total rating of Southern Asia was becoming flatter «due to high competition on the Indian market».

First launched in March 2007 and published by the Altimo Foundation, a non-profit organisation established to promote the social investment initiatives of Altimo in emerging markets, the Altimo Index combines the efforts of professionals in economics from Cambridge University, the London Business School and the Moscow-based New Economic School. The index is updated every six months and aims to produce a handy and practical measurement for world mobile telecoms markets according to their investment attractiveness.