How to keep your business growing during a slowdown?

FROM BNET.COM

Make the leap overseas. Here are 10 countries for expansion — and why they’re the places to be.

While the U.S. economy has slowed, demand for foreign business investment is still on the rise in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Extending your reach outside U.S. borders is a risk, but it can also provide new revenue and profit streams that help companies ride out the recession. It works for the big dogs: General Electric, IBM, and General Motors now make more than half of their revenue offshore.

So how can you make it work for your company? We’ve staked out 10 countries that are ripe for investment — including the best small, mid-size, and large markets. Read on to find out which foreign markets are strongest for your product or industry — and where new policies and reforms are creating the best incentives to move your operations overseas.

Russia
GDP:
$1.286 trillion

Sectors in demand:
Russians are demanding furniture, fast food, high-end clothing and jewelry, and home-improvement products. One of the fastest-growing sectors is retail, which attracts 24 percent of Russia’s foreign investments, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report “ Doing Business in the Russian Federation 2006.” “This is a country starved for consumer goods,” says Sheila Puffer, professor of international business at Northeastern University. The Russian government has offered tax breaks to companies that start major assembly lines in the country. Ford, General Motors, and most major auto manufacturers now operate there, as do Microsoft, Intel, and IBM. Commercial banking also is big and growing faster than the country’s overall economy, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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