2018: The Year of Emerging Markets

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast a stronger year for emerging markets in 2018, along with a slight slow-down for the Chinese economy. According to Agility Global Integrated Logistics’ Emerging Markets Logistics Index report for 2018, over 500 logistics executives also hold a positive outlook for these emerging markets.

The biggest hurdle for emerging markets to overcome is not one of infrastructure, but rather one of connectivity. In previous years, a lack of infrastructure was seen as a major factor holding back growth. The outlook is a little different now, as infrastructure development is driving economic growth, especially in Africa. However, with this comes the challenges of poor connectivity and links between developed economic hubs.

Furthermore, the IMF’s report shows that India and China remain the leading investment destinations for logistics companies. Behind these two countries are Vietnam, UAE, Brazil and Indonesia. It also showed that South Africa, Malaysia, Turkey, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Kenya, Egypt and Bangladesh are drawing more interest from the logistics industry than previous years. In contrast Brazil, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Nigeria are attracting less investment interest than previous years.