Birmingham: Companies in Birmingham and surrounding areas in the west Midlands areincreasingly looking to Indiaand Chinato develop their businesses, according to a new survey.

More than a third (35 percent) of the members of BirminghamForward  a body promoting Birmingham's businessand trade - are already working in China,while 59 percent are working in India.

Overall, 69 percent of the professional and financialservices firms that responded to the survey indicated they already derive atleast part of their revenues from abroad. The survey shows that 23 percent ofcompanies that responded had already secured Chinese clients or are advisingtheir UKclients on dealings within the country.

The survey reveals that 17 percent of respondents have atleast one representative office in China, with one firm alreadyoperating two. In addition, 36 percent of firms plan to open an office in China withinthe next three years.

According to the Birmingham Post, a leading local newspaper,the continuing lack of connectivity to Chinaas well as the limited Indian sub-continent access from BirminghamInternationalAirport is stillfrustrating many firms looking to expand their business operations in the east.

Richard Brennan, chief executive of Birmingham Forward,said:, "We have known for some time that China has massive commercialpotential for professional firms in this city."

 The member surveydemonstrates that many of our firms in the professional and financial servicessector are working for their clients in China or are working directly forChinese organisations.

"This is extremely encouraging. One respondentsbelieved this was an emerging and important market to be ignored at our periland one firm suggested that their expectation was for China to be its biggest market inyears to come," he said.

Brennan said many members of the lobby group heldreservations about working in the Far East: "Some of our members, though,are still worried about the human rights issues and working conditions in China and manyare still only investigating the potential in terms of logistics and likelyfinancial returns.

"However, our survey clearly shows that China, andindeed the Indian subcontinent, are recognised for their potential. Chinesebusinesses are already beginning to be 'Advised in Birmingham' by Forward member firms,"he said.

Meanwhile, the Birmingham-based Asian Business Forum hassaid that local authorities need to do more to encourage Asian companies totake up the business support on offer. Speaking at the forum's annual meetingat Birmingham Friday, chairman Prithvi Choprahighlighted an urgent need for skills training across employers of all sectorsand cultures in an attempt to boost the UK's economy.

He said: "We see Asian businesses as not only beingseen but actually taking leading positions in the local and national economyand being proud to be doing so. We see the community as a whole benefiting fromtheir contribution and to be recognised in doing so."

"More Asian businesses are now accessing businesssupport and achieving quality awards. I feel there is a progress but more needsto be done. There is a strong case for improving our skills," he said.