Focusing on the opportunities.

The outlook has certainly cooled for European exporters, but this must be viewed in the context of a historically-strong 2017.

The HSBC Navigator survey shows that firms in the region are looking forward to opportunities offered by EU efforts to open new markets, with plans to make this a key part of their strategy for the coming years – even as worries about access to the US market persist.

Plans to increase use of digital and data are welcome, but the region currently lags other parts of the world on this.