Businesses in Gulf Cooperation Council countries have been described as "realistically optimistic" in a recent poll.

The HSBC Gulf Business Confidence Index survey, the results of which were published this summer, found that business people in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were generally postive with regard to budgets, revenue predictions, and the maintenance of profit levels over the coming months.

In terms of growth forecasts for 2010, 43% of those questioned reported that they expected an increase in business turnover in the Middle East, with 40% seeing an increase in profit, and 33% revealing that they are planning to increase investment.

According to the survey results, however, despite a general increase in optimism in the region since late 2008, there is a significant amount of intra-regional variation, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates the most and least confident jurisdictions respectively, although the latter showed one of the highest quarter on quarter rises in confidence (with Bahrain just pipping it to the post in this regard). Meanwhile, confidence in Kuwait and Oman has fallen quarter on quarter.

Commenting on the survey results, Simon Vaughan Johnson, Regional Head of Commercial Banking for the HSBC Group in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, observed that:

“These results show a mood of realistic optimism in the GCC. Many companies are doing better than they were 12 months ago, but they do not see another boom on the horizon."

He concluded:

"This realistic perspective is predicting steady and sustainable growth, which is good news for our customers and for the region.”

Meanwhile, reports in the regional media have revealed that there has been strong take-up for the bank's small business support fund, established in January 2010 following a deal with the the Ministry of Economy, and offering various types of financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UAE; 87% of the fund has been allocated, according to The National newspaper, with demand highest among businesses in the oil and gas, retail and trade sectors.