The former and current capital cities of the country are considered among the top spenders in information and communications technology (ICT) this year, research firm Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc. said.

“In almost all of the Asean countries, the top three major cities contribute to around 40 percent of [their respective] country’s ICT spending,” AMI Partners said in a statement.

AMI Partners identified the cities as Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Shah Alam for Malaysia; Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan for Indonesia; Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima and Chiang Mai for Thailand; Makati, Manila and Quezon for the Philippines; and Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Binh Duong for Vietnam.

“In 2009 small businesses in the key [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] cities will spend $10,000 to $15,000 on ICT, except for Singapore, where [small businesses] are expected to spend about 40 percent higher,” the statement quoted AMI Partners research analyst Tram Tong as saying.

Tong added that based on their analysis, “medium businesses [MB] in the top three cities of Malaysia are expected to be the second-highest ICT spenders, behind Singapore MBs, and for the rest of the Asean region, MBs in the key cities of the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia will spend approximately eight to 10 times more on ICT than small businesses.”

In terms of technology, small and medium businesses (SMB) in the key cities of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam will spend most of their 2009 ICT budget on computing hardware such as personal computers, servers, printers and printing supplies and telecom services, which is reflective of the early stage of ICT adoption for some of these SMBs.

Even though the Asean region is expected to experience lower growth in 2009 compared with previous years, well-informed vendors can still grow by having a focused go-to-market approach, the Singapore-based AMI Partners said.

“Vendors should target key city markets using intelligence and insights from deep research and analyses to ward off any lingering effects of the global crisis.”

AMI Partners surmised that SMBs, or companies with less than 1,000 employees, in these key Asean countries are on track to spend $24 billion on ICT products and services in 2009, up by about 5 percent over 2008, and about half the precrisis forecast growth rate.

“Even at a much reduced growth rate of 5 percent, the Asean region will still perform better than other regions around the world, and is a market that all ICT vendors should not neglect in their growth and expansion plans,” according to the latest opportunity analysis by AMI.

“Among all Asean countries, Singapore SMBs, which constitute about 13 percent of the total SMB ICT spending, is expected to chalk up the slowest growth. Hence, ICT vendors are increasingly looking to SMBs in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam to help achieve their regional revenue growth targets,” Tong said.

“With the crisis still looming, it is becoming evident that ICT vendors need to have a realistic geo-expansion strategy and laser-sharp decision-making process in order to enhance their footprints in the Asean markets.”