The Chinese business community is cautiously optimistic about the country's economic outlook for the second half of this year.

This was indicated in a survey by the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACCCIM), with 59 percent of the respondents stating that they expect to maintain their output level in line with better sales performance.

ACCCIM member of the commerce committee, Chua Tia Guan, said the respondents in the survey came mainly from wholesale and retail businesses as well as manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction sectors.

The survey was based on the country's economic situation for the first half of 2009.

"Fifty-two percent of respondents surveyed indicated that their local sales are likely to be maintained for the next six months," Chua said during a media briefing on the survey.

NONE ACCCIM president William Cheng ( left ) said there was a need to speed up Malaysia's economic recovery process.

"There is a need to speed up projects under the Ninth Malaysian Plan so that the construction sector can recover, which will in turn benefit the other industries," Cheng said during the media briefing.

He said the construction sector and the retail industry had shown signs of improvement.

Cheng said foreign direct investment and domestic investment also played a key factor in driving the recovery process.

"We are competing with so many countries in terms of attracting foreign direct investment, such as China, Vietnam, India and Indonesia," he said.

Public safety a concern

According to Cheng, businesses are also feeling less secure about public safety.

In the survey report, 96 percent of the respondents expressed their concern over public safety in the country, he said.

However, the overall outlook remained positive, he added.

Even if businesses were feeling less secure about public safety, it did not affect the overall outlook on the economy in the medium term, Chua said.

"The survey shows that 60 percent of the respondents are optimistic or somewhat optimistic with regard to the economic outlook in the medium term, that is, in the next two to three years," he said.

Majority of the respondents in the survey stated that the Malaysian economy continued to deteriorate in the first half of this year.

"Sixty-six percent of the respondents indicated that the economy continued to deteriorate in the first half of 2009. More than one third of the respondents registered poor sales during the period," he said.

According to the survey, major factors adversely affecting business performance in the first half of 2009 were government policies, increase in operating costs and price of raw materials, drop in foreign and domestic demand, and domestic competition.

The survey also highlighted a need for the government to improve its delivery system and make its policies more transparent and liberal.

-Bernama