The second decade of the 21st century has been marked by a drastic shift of powers in the global economy, which is opening new opportunities for business, professor Nuria Mas, head of economics department at IESE Business School, said at the 80th meeting of the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) in Barcelona on Monday April 8.
"If in 1980, half of the global GDP was coming from advanced economies, in 2020 this is going to be around one quarter," she said. Instead, the growth of the global economy is mainly driven by emerging economies. While advanced economies in total are expected to grow by 3% in 2019, developing ones are projected to grow by 3.5%, Mas, said citing recent International Monetary Fund forecasts. Within emerging economies, the Asia region is contributing the most to growth. This year, the GDP of Asia is forecast to grow by 6.3% and another 6.5% in 2020. "And the country which is growing the most is not China but India," Mas said. "The Indian economy is expected to grow by 7.5% in 2019, China - at 6.3%." One key to the growth of Asian economies is demographics, Mas added. "Every hour, 15,000 new babies are born in the world and 6,000...