I started my career with EDC more than 30 years ago, in 1979. My first assignment was with the Far East Department, which covered the entire region, from Australia and India, through South-East Asia, to China and Japan. As difficult as it is to imagine today, back then the entire Asia-Pacific region was seen as one huge, largely secondary and impenetrable market.

Looking back, it’s incredible that we could not have anticipated the vibrant, dynamic growth that is now making these markets into global centres of trade and commerce.

When I made my first visit to China and India in 1983, emerging Asia was about eight per cent of the world economy. In 2009, it was 23 per cent. By 2030, it will be 36 per cent—more than one third. Thirty years ago, Asian economies were also far less involved in global trade—in fact, they were largely public sector, closed economies. In 1983, China represented less than two per cent of global trade. In 2009, that number had risen to 10 per cent. And while India’s share of global trade still lags that of China considerably, the trend is similar and unmistakable.

» Please Login or Register to read more