What Are the Hottest Global Economies?

Recently I attended Doing Business in Emerging Markets, produced by HSBC. Most people are familiar with the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) which, several years ago, was the group of countries that were identified to have the strongest growth, and in fact, did. The new group of developing counties is called CIVETS—Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa.

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The CIVETS all have populations of at least 50 million and rising incomes. However, doing business in those countries is not a walk in the park. The CIVETS are very hard to do business in because of a variety issues, including regulations, inflation, and governmental challenges. In addition, despite the growth potential, the top two countries with the highest projected growth rates for the next five years are still China and India, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Are the CIVETS good opportunities for your business? Well, they are certainly fertile ground. But the risks are high. As always, thorough research and the right local partners are a must. One panelist said that while the opportunities are high, it is just too hard to do business in some of the CIVETS right now.