Emerging Markets Asia

Emerging Markets: Asia:

Has been the fastest-growing area in the world for the past three decades, and the prospects for continued economic growth over the long run are excellent. Despite this economic adjustment, the 1993 estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Asian economies would have 29 percent of the global output by the year 2000 were on target. Both as sources of new products and technology and as vast consumer markets, the countries of Asia particularly those along the Pacific Rim are just beginning to gain their stride.

The most rapidly growing economies in this region are the group sometimes referred to as the Four Tigers (or Four Dragons): Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. Often described as the "East Asian miracle," they were the first countries in Asia, besides Japan, to move from a status of developing countries to newly industrialized countries.

PEST Analysis on Asia

Outside from the United States and Japan, there is no more important single market than China. The economic and social changes occurring in China since it began actively seeking economic ties with the industrialized world have been dramatic. Two major events that occurred in 2000 are having a profound effect on China's economy: admission to the World Trade Organization and the United States' granting China normal trade relations (NTR) on a permanent basis (PNTR).

PNTR and China's entry to the WTO cut import barriers currently imposed on American products and services. The United States is obligated to maintain the market access policies that it already applies to China, and has for over 20 years, and to make its normal trade relation status permanent.

BRIC and MIST:

In particular, the BRIC and MIST countries are seen as likely to be shaping the global economy in the next two decades, and accounting for a significant proportion of the global growth.

-BRIC: Brazil, Russia, China and India

-MIST: Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey

Europe:

*European Union

-500 million with $16 trillion economy

*European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

*Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

The Americas:

*United States - Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)

*North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA)

-A single market of 450 million people with a $ 17 trillion GNP

*Southern Cone Free Trade Area - Mercosur