ROGE (London-UK): International Conference of Restructuring of the Global Economy 2013

Ever since the publication of the BRIC [ Brazil, Russia, India , China ] report by Goldman Sachs in 2001, the debate about the role of emerging countries vs. the developed countries in shaping global business has gathered momentum. A revised version of the same report entitled “BRICs and Beyond” by the same authors, with upward revision of certain growth projections, has added further fuel to the debate so much so that by now, most countries have accepted that the world economy is in transition. In other words, the countries as above joined by others such as South Korea, Mexico and to some extent the major Arab countries and Iran and Indonesia will exert a much greater influence in world affairs aided by their increasing economic power. The developed countries, led obviously by the major economies of USA, Japan, Germany, Britain , France and others [ the so-called G-7/8 group of nations ] have accepted that their dominance in shaping world opinion will be shelved as the growth gradient of the emerging economies becomes increasingly steeper. Nowhere has this been more reflected than in the G-20 [Group of 20 countries – developed and emerging] meet last year [2008] in calling for fiscal stimulus to induce growth to beat the recessionary forces.

It is but natural that such a changing economic scenario calls for fresh thinking towards development of policies examining macroeconomic stability as well as framing of strategies by firms irrespective of their sizes. Multinationals and SMEs, all will be involved in formulating strategies to compete effectively and grow- whether they belong to agriculture, industry or service sectors.

There is intense pressure on both governments and businesses to perform and deliver. In such a scenario, alternative -and may even be controversial-policies and strategies will need to be thought out and placed before the decision making bodies.