World Revolution: Who will be the new leaders in 2022?
Dubai night view from the 124th floor of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world | Freepik
Luis Fernando Heras Portillo
Tourism, commercial and industrial business developer
In the last century, humanity has witnessed great economic, political, and social transformations that have defined the way in which we face new challenges. But like any revolution, during the movement, few nations stand out as leaders. In other words, they are the ones who set the example and pave the way for the future.
But these nations are not permanent rulers; world powers have constantly shifted positions over the past 30 years because of global economic competition. Other factors such as the real estate, financial, commercial, environmental sector, tourism and, mainly, digital technology have also begun to influence this ranking.
As a result, we can learn valuable lessons from these countries so, when the time comes, their experiences can be useful to others that are on a smaller scale of economic, political, and social issues.
All of this can be explained following a simple reason: because we live in a globalized world, and Mexico is no stranger to this process. In fact, our country ranks 15th in the world ranking for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This gives us the great possibility of climbing some steps, supported by the great potential we have in areas as tourism, commerce, productivity, and exports, to improve the quality of life of Mexicans and in many other branches, such as agro-industrialization and responsible use of our natural resources.
But who are the current great economic leaders? In this sense, I would like to highlight four of them that are particularly important due to the way in which they address global challenges, which is why they can be considered as role models to Mexico so we can learn that it is possible to find responsible, creative solutions and with a vision of the future to try to be better every day.
Through actions, technology, public policies and infrastructure, the news, images and videos that circulate on the internet are testimony of the competition that exists between four great powers that work hard to determine who is the best: China, the United States, Russia and, most recently, the United Arab Emirates.
In no particular order, each one of them gives us good examples that are worth to consider. One of them is the value they give to culture and traditions. As a vital element of society, culture unites us and gives us identity. If we add technology to this, we will be able to reinforce and preserve values to new generations. The previous effort was recently seen in the New Year celebrations in each of these places. Videos of the celebration went viral on social networks: in Beijing, China, Moscow, Russia, and New York and Miami in the United States, as Miami stands out for the enormous economic ‘boom’ it has been experiencing in recent years after the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the one that caught my attention in a very special way was the celebration of the United Arab Emirates, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Like Miami, it is interesting to see the way in which both main cities of this country seek to stand out and show themselves to the world as they are: attractive tourist destinations and excellent investment options for real estate, energy, technology, cargo and logistics, transportation and more.
In the competition between these four giants of the world economy, there are three fundamental elements that stand out.
The first one is economic domain. It refers to the control and influence that a nation has over the global economy, taking advantage of economic circumstances for the benefit of its population, its governments, its business, and its citizens. However, with the Covid-19 crisis decentralizing international dynamics and slowing globalization, economic dominance could be granted to those who decide to strengthen and diversify cooperation between nations on international trade.
For example, United Arab Emirates, one of United States’ closest partners in political, economic, and military matters, have also strengthened their relations with China due to its economic and technological capacity, indispensable for the development of smart cities. And China has done the same, especially Beijing, which is the largest buyer of crude oil in the Gulf region nowadays, according to Financial Times.
This is the kind of competition that benefits both parties. That is the competition that exists, even between China and the United States, which has been changing over the years, but advances and defines political decisions made globally. China is currently among USA main trading partners, according to the United States Census Bureau, where Mexico stands out as their main trade partner.
Also, new technologies, large financial corporations and tourism influence the global economic dominance. An example of this are the development of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai, which is currently the ‘mecca’ of tourism, principally neo tourism, which I will explain in a future article.
The second factor is the dynamic, creative and impressive competition of the internal infrastructure of their countries. The competition is visible in its large bridges, huge developments in solar energy parks, large dams, tunnels, highways, in the improvement of the urban quality of its cities, transport, communication, and shopping centers, and of all the areas that makes them first world countries. And this is something Mexicans also want —and need.
In this dynamic and creative competition, the incorporation of new technologies is impressive in its gigantic buildings, skyscrapers and all ports that increase its operational capacity. Also, educational and hospital infrastructure projects are vital to success, such as the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, China, built during the first weeks of the pandemic. The world amazed as China finished a fully equipped building in just 10 days, something that was even streamed live for people to follow the construction progress.
Finally, the third big factor is the appearance of the newest contender in global economic competition: the United Arab Emirates. As I have mentioned before, the new commercial relationships – promoted by younger generations – are driving the greatness of tourism development, transforming it into the world’s new business center. Like ‘Expo 2020 Dubai’, an international meeting that promotes cultural and economic exchange between countries, taking place from October 1, 2021 until March 31, 2022.
For this reason, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are becoming the world capitals of financial centers, financing many projects distributed around the world, as did before by the United States, China, and other developed countries.
This the nature of the world’s economics. It needs to be understood and analyzed by Mexico so we can join the competition, to grow together and build a better future, a future of development, prosperity, progress, economic growth, and benefit for all.