The Asia-Pacific region offers the greatest opportunities for growth in the next three years, according to a survey of the world's top corporate executives by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Sixty-six per cent of the 681 executives covered by the survey and interviews chose the region as offering the biggest growth prospects for their businesses, followed by Eastern Europe which was chosen by 40 per cent, EIU said in a report received here at the weekend.

North America was third with 28 per cent, Western Europe 24 per cent and Latin America 22 per cent.

The Middle East was voted as the region posing the biggest risks to business in the next three years, followed by Latin America.

"Senior executives overwhelmingly endorsed Asia-Pacific as the region offering the greatest growth opportunities over the next three years," EIU said.

The survey, titled CEO Agenda, was carried out in the last three months of 2002 and covered 681 respondents, including chief

executives, board chairmen, chief financial officers and regional managers.

Healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology was selected by 69 per cent of the respondents as the industry having the best growth prospects in the same period.

Aerospace and defence was selected by 40 per cent, reflecting expectations of bigger defence spending ahead of a possible US-led war to disarm Iraq of reported nuclear and biological and chemical weapons.

Thirty-three per cent said they saw telecoms, software and computer services as well as leisure, entertainment, media and publishing as having the best growth prospects.

The executives were agreed that the global economy will start to rebound from the slump by late 2003 or early 2004, but also admitted the expansion will be weak and there would be no return to the high-flying growth of the 1990s.

"This pattern of slow, weak economic recovery suggests that GDP growth in 2003 will be disappointing, at just 3.1 per cent using purchashing power parity weights,

up from 2.1 per cent in 2001 and 2.8 per cent in 2002," it said.

World gross domestic product growth is likely to average 3.8 per cent in 2004 as normalcy returns to the major world markets.

However, expectations of improving economic prospects are tempered by an awareness of the risks, including the possibility of another major terrorist attack and war in the Middle East.

"If the Middle East and the terrorist situation stay under control, then you'll see a consistent and slow recovery. If not, then who knows," EIU quoted John Morphy, chief financial officer of payroll services firm Paychex, as saying.

Despite the series of scandals that have rocked the American corporate world, corporate governance was ranked low as a "strategic priority" and as among the risks faced by companies.

Increasing consumer satisfaction, keeping down costs while maximising efficiency and focusing on core competencies emerged as the top strategic priorities for chief executives.