Jim O’Neill, the Goldman Sachs economist who
coined the now famous acronym BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India & China) in his
2001 Goldman Sachs report “The World needs better Economic BRICs” has coined a
new term to describe the world’s next economic giants – Mexico, Indonesia,
Nigeria & Turkey (MINT). According to him, the MINT could become the
new name on people’s lips, and further overturn the old world order. In fact, the term was first coined by Fidelity,
the Boston-based fund manager, but it has been popularised by O’Neill.
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The quest for a new group was sorely felt after the famous Brics
combination—Brazil, Russia, India, China and (later) South Africa—saw its
collective reputation crumble in mid-2013. Some even renamed them the fragile
five. There are other such artificial asset categories created by investment
banks. There is Civets, for example: Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt,
Turkey and South Africa. During the worst months of the European debt crisis,
there was much talk about the risk from the Pigs, or Portugal, Ireland, Greece
and Spain.
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The alphabet soup is an attractive marketing ploy. There is often
little in common in the long term between the countries clubbed together in
such acronyms. The Brics have commodity exporters Brazil and Russia with
commodity importers India and China. Their strategic interests also diverge, so
it continues to puzzle us that these five countries are trying to work together
as a bloc in global politics.
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MEXICO
- Due to Mexico's rapidly advancing infrastructure,
increasing middle class and rapidly declining poverty rates it is expected
to have a higher GDP per capita than all but three current European
economies of 2014, by 2050 (World bank, Goldman Sachs), this new found
local wealth also contributes to the nation's economy by creating a large
domestic consumer market which in turn creates more jobs
INDONESIA
- With
its large population, Indonesia will be ranked seventh in gross domestic
product (GDP) by 2050 based on a prediction by Jim O'Neill about BRIC and other prominent countries.
Indonesia has a mixed economy in which both the private sector and
government play significant roles.
- The
country is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and a member of the G-20
major economies.
- Indonesia's
estimated gross domestic product (nominal), as of 2012 was US$928.274 billion
with estimated nominal per capita GDP was US$3,797, and per capita GDP PPP
was US$4,943 (international dollars).
- June
2011: At World Economic Forum on East Asia, Indonesian president said
Indonesia will be in the top ten countries with the strongest economy
within the next decade.
- Indonesia is the
world's fourth most populous country after
China, India, and the USA and the world's third most populous democratic country after India and the
USA.
- In
2009, BRIC and Indonesia represented about 42 and 3 percent of the world's
population respectively and about 15 percent of global GDP altogether. All of them are G20 countries.
- By
2015, Internet users in BRIC and Indonesia will double to 1.2 billion.
- At
2009, Indonesia was the only member of the G20 to lower its public
debt-to-GDP ratio: a positive economic management indicator.
NIGERIA
- Nigeria
is a middle-income, mixed economy and emerging
market, with expanding financial, service, communications, and
entertainment sectors.
- It
is ranked 30th (40th in 2005, 52nd in 2000), in the world in terms
of Gross Domestic Product at purchasing
power parity as of 2012, and 3rd largest within Africa
(behind South Africa and Egypt), on track to potentially becoming one
of the 20 largest economies in
the world by 2020.
- Its
re-emergent, though currently under-performing, manufacturing sector is
the third-largest on the continent, and produces a large proportion of
goods and services for the West African region.
TURKEY
- Turkey's
economy grew 10.3% last year, faster than China, and was the third fastest
growing economy in the world.
- Economic
growth came mainly from construction, rather than exports like China and
Russia.
- Construction
alone makes up 6% of the Turkish economy, but if one counts the various
industries related to construction (Steel, Timber, energy used and
purchased) construction and the related industries made up some 30% of the
economy.
- Turkey
also has a very large domestic consumption base, and some 3 major auto
companies.
- In
2011 Turkey had the
world's 15th largest GDP-PPP and 18th largest Nominal GDP.
- By
2050 this nominal GDP is set to grow to $4.45 trillion USD to become the
14th largest nominal GDP in the world.
- The
country is a founding member of the OECD (1961)
and the G-20 major economies (1999).
- Since
December 31, 1995, it has been part of the EU
Customs Union.
- Mean
wages were $8.71 per man-hour in 2009. Turkey grew at an average rate of
7.5 percent between 2002 and 2006, faster than any other OECD country.
- According
to a survey by Forbes magazine, Istanbul, Turkey's financial capital, had a
total of 28 billionaires as of March 2010 (down from 34 in 2008), ranking
4th in the world behind New York City(60
billionaires), Moscow (50
billionaires), and London (32
billionaires).
- In
2012, Istanbul ranked 5th in the world with 30 billionaires, behind Moscow
(78 billionaires), New York City (57 billionaires), London (39
billionaires), and Hong Kong (38
billionaires).
- Turkey's
major cities and its Aegean coastline
attract millions of visitors every year.
- The CIA classifies Turkey as a developed country. It is often
classified as a newly industrialized
country by economists and political scientists.
