A lack of available local talent will be the greatest barrier to growth for firms that operate within emerging markets over the next three years, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual CEO Briefing survey.

In developed markets, the high cost of labour is the primary barrier to growth, according to those surveyed.

As competition for talent heightens in all markets, firms will put more effort into their own training and development programmes, while also emphasising performance-based compensation more than ever.

The survey highlights the importance of emerging markets to companies as primary revenue and sourcing opportunities. A clear majority of respondents intend to invest more time and money in emerging markets over the next three years than in developed markets. For the second year running, rising demand in the developing world is seen as the most critical force at play in the global marketplace (34%), followed by global sourcing (32%).