In the shadow of the elephant and the dragon

Doing business in Asia has always been important to Australian businesses with seemingly endless opportunity awaiting those who get it right. Adaire Fox-Martin addressed the GAP Productivity Summit about succeeding in the region.

From the start of the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain required 150 years to double its economic output. The United States took 50 years. A century later China and India did the same in just 12 and 16 years respectively.

The purchasing power of Asia has increased along with GDP, heralding prosperity locally and opportunity globally. In the past 20 years, emerging markets have swelled the ranks of the world’s consumer class from a little over 1 billion to 2.4 billion. By 2025 this figure will stand at more than 4 billion. In the same timeframe, annual consumption from emerging markets will grow from USD 12 trillion dollars to 30 trillion.