In a January 2011 research report entitled “The World in 2050” Karen Ward, an economist with HSBC, predicts the following seismic shifts by the year 2050: •  The collective size of economies we currently deem „emerging’ will have increased five-fold and will be larger than the developed world;  •  19 of the 30 largest economies will be from the emerging world; indeed, China and India will be the largest and third-largest economies in the world, respectively;  •  Several other emerging economies – most notably, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia and Venezuela – will make substantial progress up the global league table;  •  Some small-population, ageing, rich economies in Europe such as Switzerland and the Netherlands will slip down the grid significantly, while Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Norway and Denmark drop out of the Top 30 altogether.
These trends make it even more imperative for Trinidad and Tobago to build and strengthen South-South relationships during the current global crisis to help us withstand future economic pressures in our traditional markets. In this regard, I remain convinced that international trade is a key instrument to building more robust and enduring relationships across countries.