The asian economies are indeed doing better, but whether we can say they're doing well is open to question. For example China is sitting on a massive local government debt situation whereby local governments are hiding complex loan transactions off the books so as not to have to meet the regulatory standards that would be required if those loans were to show up on their balance sheets. Add to this their issues about being exposed to the headwinds of the western economies, I think they too have some issues. I think individual countries like Germany, Canada and Sweden are doing well though, they've managed to find the perfect balance between costs and wages, creativity and science.
I do see your point there as they have a huge commodity that we all need right now. Do you think this will continue to be a trend since we are depending more and more on hybrid vehicles? I do believe that a select number of people in these countries are doing great, but there are lots of people over there who still suffer with being very poor.
Nobody is poor in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Qatar. I spent a lot of time in Saudi Arabia, and it felt to me like some crazy star trek episode where everyone is rich and happy. The only poor people you find there are the Filipino contract workers they bring in by the millions to do any type of manual labor. Of course those contract workers are being paid 10x´s what they can make back home, and get to avoid the 50% unemployment rate. You really do not see a drop-off in the standard of living anywhere in S.A. There is a percentage of citizens who live as nomads, but that is for religious reasons and on purpose. I saw an entire ghost-town city, probably big enough for 50,000 people full of beautiful apartment builds that the government built for the nomads, but they refused to ´settle´. The city was actually about 5 years old when I saw it, and it was like a twilight zone episode, or maybe post-apocolyptic.. it was just this big city of tall buildings.. completely barren. anyway, I digress.
The same applies to most countries in the region. I spent some time in the UAE and all the locals are rich. Especially in Dubai but also in other areas, the government has the cash and takes care of it's own while everyone takes advantage of cheap foreign labour. It's a great system for them but everyone (themselves included) understand that it won't last forever.
Currently I'd have to say China and UAE are doing incredibly well for themselves, but while the UAE's been growing insanely fast, I'm not sure if it'll be sustainable when oil runs out, whereas China is on track to becoming the world's biggest market
The UAE has realised this a long time ago. That is why they have invested so much in tourism, cities like Dubai don't rely on the oil income anymore. The country will certainly survive even when oil is replaced as the main energy source for transportation but of course further transformation is necessary. They are working on that too, for example now the locals have to have a job (almost exclusively some sort of manager type of jobs) in order for them to get the governments "allowance" which previously used to be given to every citizen.
That's definitely true, but I think they they'd still need to do a lot more before they become independent of their oil. I think there are some culture issues as well, with the whole slave labor and oppressive treatment of women that's a big deterrent from making it a more cosmopolitan place
If you are from the United States, any foreign market has a currency risk. Having invested dollars you can not always get them back because of the exchange rate risk. Therefore, look at the domestic market of the country. If it is competitive and the balance of payments is positive, then we can look for opportunities to carry trade
Asian markets have been at the forefront for the past 5 years I would say. Most investors have been attracted to moving their operations from Europe, for example, to let's say China, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, or even Vietnam. This is because costs in general are much much lower, and yet the capability of the people within these countries and other Asian countries are equally as good as in other continents. It's like getting really good value out of your money. You get to operate and the same type of business at a more reasonable cost.
I'd say countries that are still considered developing country and not enough GDP to stand with world's economic leaders but at the same time have a lot of potential in terms of human resources. I am talking about countries like India and Brazil. I know China was doing great and is still doing good but they have slowed down considerably. I think a great demand of human resources as well as undeveloped market will make those countries attractive for investors and I expect to see a lot of growth in the next 5 to 10 years.
