Ti’s Emerging Markets Logistics Conference, sponsored by
Agility, opened with over 120 delegates in attendance on Tuesday, September 24
in Singapore.
After opening remarks
by Ti’s CEO John Manners-Bell, CEO and President of Agility, Essa Al-Saleh set
the tone for the conference by providing an overview of the Agility Emerging
Markets Index. The index, now in its
fourth year and produced by Ti, provides deeper insights into emerging markets
based on facts and experiences.
According to Mr. Al-Saleh, China, India, Brazil and Russia
continue to dominate but are facing increasing challenges – China is facing
labor costs and income disparities whereas India and Brazil are suffering from
weak infrastructure and Russia remains dependent on natural resources for
trade.
Meanwhile, second tier emerging markets are growing quickly
such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey. As a result, new
trade patterns are emerging such as that between China and Africa and smaller
niche trade lanes. True, these markets’ growth rates may be high but they are
from a smaller base compared to the likes of Brazil, China and Russia.
In fact, according to panelist Deanne De Vries, Agility’s
Director for the Africa region, “Africa is growing at a rapid clip. Trade
between Asia and Africa was valued at $304bn in 2010 but by 2020 it is expected
to grow to $1.5 trillion. In fact, Maersk recently announced it is investing
$2bn in 22 container ships to connect West Africa and Asia.”
Among the growth drivers of emerging markets include the
removal of trade barriers, population growth, and increase in buying potential
and rising infrastructure investments.
However, this growth also comes with challenges such as
language and cultural barriers, limited regulatory framework and compliance,
poor infrastructure, security concerns and skilled labour force.
Still, Ernst and Young expects growth in emerging markets to grow 4.6% in
2013 and growing 6.0% in 2015-16, much faster than the advanced economies. In
fact, by 2020, it is expected emerging markets will account for 2/3 of global
economic growth.
The theme of growth and opportunity continued throughout the
day as trends and issues affecting emerging countries were discussed such as
changing trade networks, the impact of increasing integration and the rise of
the Asian middle class were covered.
The Agility sponsored - conference finishes up on Tuesday as
supply chain risk, security and corruption and infrastructure issues and
ecommerce are discussed.
