LEAD FEATURE
where do the opportunities – especially for the Ms of SMEs – lie?
they launch. Indeed, 37 per cent of fi rms founded in the past fi ve years reported no signifi cant barriers to doing business abroad and more than a third said exporting has given them signifi cant growth, with most claiming a signifi cant return on their investment. Judi Chapple of EDT Direct, explains
how recruiting a local agent at a trade exhibition in Germany led to her electrochemistry-product fi rm moving into Saudi Arabia.
Other emerging markets followed and she says: “We now have an agreement with a local agent in India, which allows it to manufacture some of our products under licence for distribution in India. This allows our brand to penetrate the market with a minimum of involvement from our side and is a useful way of working in an overseas market.” Such stories demonstrate how companies selling to one high-growth country can easily do further business with neighbours. One in every three small exporters has done that, according to UK Trade & Investment research.
BEYOND BRIC
While much attention is focused on BRICs, other emerging economies have dramatic growth stories too. Qatar’s GDP per head is US$179,000 a year; Egypt’s 80m population is projected to double over 25 years while Turkey, home to 75m people, is forecast to
be the world’s second fastest growing economy by 2018. But developed countries are now facing competition from the BRICs in trying to sell to these markets. That issue is the subject of new research by the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by UK Trade & Investment, that will be launched at The Economist’s High Growth Markets Summit on 29-30 September. Around 350 business leaders, thinkers and politicians will hear speakers such as Fu Ying, China’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, and Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, former president of Brazil. By 2050, India will be the biggest economy in the world according to investment bank Goldman Sachs, which coined the BRIC acronym. China will be the third largest with Brazil fi fth and Russia seventh. China is already our ninth largest export partner, spending £7.6bn last year, making it the biggest of the BRICs. Next is India, at number 15 with £4bn, followed by Russia at number 18 with £3.5bn. Brazil is closing fast on the top 20, with imports of £2.1bn in 2010, up 24 per cent in just one year. But there are other high-growth markets too: Britain’s sales to Mexico rose by £207m last year; almost a quarter of exporters are already selling to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while 44 per cent are trading with South Africa or say they are likely to do so. Debbie Clarke, director of trade and investment
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