By CHEW XIANG

JUST over half of successful entrepreneurs here say the environment for entrepreneurship in Singapore has improved in over the past 10 years, according to a report published yesterday by Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The report, The Entrepreneur in Adversity, surveyed 2,300 people globally with at least ?500,000 (S$1.15 million) in assets, including 960 entrepreneurs, on their views about business environment, qualities that define a successful businessman, and their own motivation for starting a business.

About 100 of the respondents were from Singapore and the survey was conducted from March to May this year.

A total of 54 per cent here said they felt there has been some improvement in the past 10 years in the overall environment for entrepreneurship, while about 19 per cent found some or significant deterioration.

For Hong Kong, the equivalent figures were 35 per cent and 24 per cent respectively.

Countries in Asia which also showed significant improvement included Indonesia (71 per cent positive responses), Malaysia, (68 per cent), Thailand (63 per cent) and China (62 per cent).

These were also the countries in which the least respondents reported a deterioration in the environment for entrepreneurs.

Overall, the Middle East and Africa were the regions that saw the biggest improvement in business conditions, unlike developed markets in Western Europe and North America, where close to half of respondents said the regulatory environment had deteriorated.

The survey also polled respondents on their motivation.

Singapore respondents most often cited the ability to make a lot of money rather than the ability to be one's own boss or the ability to create influential new products and services.

Most respondents worldwide said perseverance was the most important characteristic of a successful entrepreneur.

The report, however, noted that the most common exit strategy, the initial public offer, 'has become all but unattainable'.

'The likelihood for the next 18 to 24 months will be less than what you have previously,' said Didier von Daeniken, chief executive of Barclays Wealth Asia pacific.

The report is the seventh volume in the Barclays Wealth Insights series.

This article was first published in The Business Times on December 02, 2008.