HONG KONG, May 22: US food and beverages giant Coca-Cola is the most successful foreign company doing business in Asia, according to expatriate business executives in a survey published on Thursday.

The survey showed that US firms generally beat their Japanese rivals and a number of hi-tech companies scoring well when respondents were asked which company was the most successful and why. International Business Machines (IBM) received the second largest number of endorsements from businessmen, 31 to Coca-Cola's 44, scoring especially in Japan.

Among the hi-tech firms, Motorola Inc was held in highest esteem by executives surveyed in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. The US Citibank was the top-rated foreign financial institution in Asia by far, garnering such plaudits as "staying power through problems," "global infrastructure" and "innovative products" among the comments from Asian executives. The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was the only other bank which received a significant number of mentions in the survey.

McDonalds was deemed the next most successful food company, with 21 votes, including praise for its marketing, quality and cleanliness leading a Japanese executive to comment comment that "Japanese think its a Japanese firm".

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.