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Mideast’s Economy to Grow I per cent in 2009
DUBAI — The Middle East and Africa region is expected to grow at a modest one per cent in 2009 and a more robust 4.4 per cent in 2010, according to Mohammed Shakeel, economist and editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London.
“While several industries are feeling a sharp slowdown, the region’s wealth and liquidity will help soften the blow,” Shakeel told delegates attending the “OMD Predict 2009” conference on Thursday.
He said the United Arab Emirates and other GCC countries would be among the first to emerge from the global meltdown thanks to
il revenues.
“However, the current year continues to be dismal with no signs of recovery. We expect to see the first signs of recovery by 2010.”
Shakeel said businesses in the Gulf should maintain high liquidity and capitalise on the growth markets while giving high priority for consolidation.
He said besides the Middle East and Africa, other emerging markets, including China and India, would be the main drivers of global economic growth in 2010.
Shakeel said he expected Gulf economies would fare better than expected this year if oil sustains its rally for the rest of the year.
Aubrey Ghose, founder and CEO of AIS>BrandLab, a consultancy headquartered in Barcelona, said brands should look at how they perform on the new trends to stay relevant to consumers. Ghose, a trend watcher and author of a forthcoming book on the subject, looked at how the current global challenges were driven by the collective view of consumers. “The consumer mindset is currently changing, and four key trends are appearing, forcing companies to rethink the way they need to communicate with consumers. The environmental consciousness, the end of limitless funding, the limits of political leadership and how information leads consumers to rethink brand choices are some of the most powerful drivers of future brand communications,” he said.
Charles Wright, a board director at branding consultancy Wolff Olins, specified how brands must navigate the downturn.
“Too often companies’ immediate reaction favours apparent short-term benefits at the expense of long-term brand value,” he said.
Wright drew on his branding experience to explain brand-sensitive strategies and how they will need to evolve over the coming months to be better placed once the good
times return.
Dimitri Metaxas, regional executive director-digital at Omnicom Media Group, described how machines’ computing power would overtake the human brain in 10 years time, and demonstrated how a new media world would challenge current conventions and radically transform how content is consumed.
“This is turn will radically affect the way media is used to advertise products and services,” he said.
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