Destinations for investment

·         In May 2008 global consultancy Grant Thornton”s International Business Report 2008 on emerging global markets put China, India and Russia as the top three most-favoured destinations for investment and development.

·         These are followed by Mexico at fourth and Brazil at fifth place. The study also revealed the presence of 22 other rapidly growing global economies, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Thailand and Poland, that offer immense avenues for future growth.

·         "Availability of low-cost yet highly educated labour force with strong work ethics, combined with fast industrialisation, technology deployment and a strong focus on infrastructure development is enabling these countries to close the gap with the more affluent and relatively slower-growing mature economies,"

·         According to recent projections, China's economy would move ahead of the US by 2027, India would catch up with the US by 2050 and the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as a group will surpass the G7 by 2032.

·         Emerging and developing economies' will on an average grow by 6.3 per cent in 2008 and 6.4 per cent in 2009.

·         In contrast, "advanced economies" are forecast to grow by 1.3 per cent during this period.