Читать книгу The Emerging Markets Handbook - Pran Tiku - Страница 71

Technology and innovation play a unique part in the growth of emerging market nations. Technology that those in the developed world would have thought impossible just a few years ago is now a part of everyday life in emerging markets. Farmers in India who don’t have a working computer or even a landline are using smartphones for transactions. There is a process now underway to allow them to discover prices for their crops at the touch of a button before they take produce to the market.

Throughout emerging market nations, innovation centres are being set up by multinational corporations like GE, who are taking the latest technologies and creating new low-cost versions of these for wider use.

Infrastructure has historically been a major weakness in most emerging markets, but today it has become a top priority – whether in reducing power shortages, engineering faster trains, building better roads or implementing more efficient irrigation systems. The list of possibilities is endless.

A major infrastructure project is likely to take years to complete within emerging markets, along with billions of dollars in investment capital. This is more true of countries such as India, Brazil and most parts of Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. This also means several millions of jobs spread out over the course of several years. This not only includes trains, roads and bridges, but also power generation and grid development, along with water systems and sanitation in crowded urban centres.

This is truly a mammoth task and most emerging markets have recognised the fact that without suitable infrastructure investments they will be relegated to the bottom of the growth scale.