While capex projections remain "static", the Emerson Power Network market pulse study showed that forecast and scheduled projects have increased, with forecast up 14 percent from the previous survey . For projects scheduled for the next six months, the number has increased three percent since the last survey while projects scheduled further than six months have decreased five percent.

Despite an increase of almost 40 percent in the sample size, "visible projects" have increased by more than 60 percent.

Business sentiment across the region varies, according to the market survey, though the expected performance of business is uniformly positive.

Economic sentiment in the region, on the other hand, is generally positive, comparable to the sentiments last seen in the first half of 2011, which is the period when the global markets have shown signs of recovering from the global financial crisis. The only exception from this trend is North Asia.