Argentina, S. Africa, Saudi to Be Next Frontiers

By Cho Jin-seo

Staff Reporter

The share in the global market of the 30 richest countries will decrease over the next two decades while a group of developing countries such as Argentina, South Africa and Saudi Arabia will be the ``next frontiers'' of the world's economy after the BRICs nations, LG Economic Research Institute said.

The private think-thank said Tuesday that OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) members will see a decline in their influence as their working-age populations continue to shrink.

The number of the workforce will also start to decrease in the so-called BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) around 2015, while smaller developing countries will continue to add to their population and to their buying power, the report said.

``Their income levels and population are all giving positive signals in the next-frontier countries,'' researcher Yoon Sang-ha said in the report. ``It is expected that the next-frontier region will show an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4 to 5 percent between 2010 and 2030.''

The report made a rather rough definition on the next frontier group, saying it includes a total of 156 nations all over the world ― 45 in Asia, 34 in Latin America, 53 in Africa, 16 in Europe and eight from other regions. Among them, the Asian countries will be the most exuberant and most attractive, it said.

The report also picked 30 most promising markets among the next-frontier group. Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia were the top five picks, while Venezuela, Israel, Egypt, Singapore and Malaysia followed.

The report said it is based on the data from the United Nations and the World Bank.

indizio@koreatimes.co.kr