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An economic slowdown in China triggered by the Sino-US trade dispute would surely lead to lower demand for ICT exports to China and to other parts of Asia.

The currently rather good situation for French ICT businesses could quickly worsen, due to the fast changing and very competitive market environment.

The Italian ICT wholesalers and retail segment is negatively impacted by stiff competition, high pressure on margins and liquidity management issues.

ICT continues to be characterised by stiff competition and cheap imports causing pricing pressures, especially for smaller IT resellers and distributors.

The recent escalation of the Sino-US trade dispute and the US restrictions on suppliers to Huawei will surely affect certain Taiwanese ICT businesses.

The profit margins of many Spanish ICT wholesale and retail businesses remain tight, which is mainly due to high competition in terms of sales prices.

While ICT distributors are becoming larger, many smaller companies are changing their business models towards a more IT service-oriented approach.

Payment experience over the past two years has been good and the level of protracted payments and insolvencies remains low compared to other industries.

The domestic ICT market remains affected by stiff competition, declining margins, low entry barriers, lack of bank support and slow economic growth.

World trade growth stagnated in Q1 amid the escalating trade war. While we expect some recovery in 2019, further escalation of the trade war could grind growth to a halt.

European pro-trade policy likely to stay in place after the European elections

In 2019 Austrian economic growth is expected to decelerate after a robust performance in 2018, mainly due to weaker external demand and lower investment.

Swiss economic growth is expected to slow down in 2019, as external demand from the Eurozone and the US has weakened and investment growth decreases.

The Danish economy has regained some of its international competitiveness due to structural reforms that addressed the issue of high labour costs.

A potential downside risk to the economic performance could be the high household debt in case of sharp house price decreases and interest rate increases.

In 2019 the number of Belgian business insolvencies will still be higher than the levels seen before the start of the global credit crisis in 2008.

The Irish economy is expected to grow by about 2.5% in 2019, but remains exposed to ongoing economic uncertainties stemming from the Brexit decision.

Household consumption is sustained by rising employment, higher wages and low interest rates, while lower financing costs support business investments.

In 2019 Dutch export performance is impacted by lower demand from France and Germany, the ongoing Brexit issue and increased global trade uncertainty.

Due to economic stagnation, political uncertainty and tighter credit conditions business insolvencies are forecast to increase by more than 5% in 2019.