Underserved Countries Essay Example for Free

Underserved Countries Essay Using the marketing techniques in the local commerce may not be appropriate for some segments of the international market. In this case, it would be necessary to first know the overall opportunities and challenges which may be found among countries or regions where a particular company may want to invest in. Considering the implementation of plans to invest in underserved countries, the region to be analyzed is the Asian general market. Apparently, Asia is on the verge of development as an offshoot of the Asian Miracle in the early 1990’s. Although it suffered from a financial crisis in 1997, it has already recuperated itself to attract even more investors outside the region. The main opportunities which can be found in Asia are inline with how the Western investors prefer in a developing market. In fact, the looming US recession lead investors to consider South East Asia as a possible haven for investment following the growth of China and India (Crispin, 2007). Another good investment factor in Asia is the fact that the region’s economies offer very low labor rates (Gumbell, 2004), a plus for companies which intends to increase its manpower for direct selling and distributorship. Although Asia provides some of the greatest investment opportunities, the region is also exposed to defined challenges. For one, most Asian economies heavily depend on the western economic performance such as the United States and European Union. If there will be a slight undervalued performance from these regions, direct stock market hits can be felt in Asian markets. Although it is not that huge of an impact, there is always a tendency to slow down especially when it comes to unstable economic commodities such as oil prices and imports (International Herald Tribune, 2005). In addition to possible risks in economic dependencies, some Asian countries are also vulnerable to peace and order concerns which badly affect investor confidence. In a larger perspective however, Asia remains as one of the top performing regions when it comes to foreign investments. Getting to know the specific profile of a country can help in deciding about an investment plan. This analysis can open up more decisive factors to enable a company to consider doing business with a specific economy or not. References Crispin, S. 2007. SE Asia offers haven from US turmoil. Asia Times Online.Retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www. atimes. com/atimes/Asian_Economy/IL22Dk01. html. Gumbell, P. 2004. Outsourcing Chasing Cheap Labor to the East. Time Inc. Retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901040412-607777,00. html. International Herald Tribune. 2005. East Asia Growth Rate Expected to Slow. IHT. Retrieved February 26, 2008 from http://www. iht. com/articles/2005/08/09/business/adb. php.