Emerging economies (新兴经济体) struggled to grow through the 2010s and pessimism clouds them now. People wonder how they will pay debts piling up and grow rapidly. The solution is the fast-spreading digital revolution. The world's largest emerging market has already demonstrated the enormous effects of digital technology. As China's old industries have slowed sharply over the past decade, the booming technology industry has kept the economy growing steadily.
Now China's emerging market peers are getting a push from the same digital engines. Since 2014, more than 10,000 tech firms have been launched in emerging markets. From Bangladesh to Egypt, it is easy to find entrepreneurs (企业家) who worked for Facebook or other US giants before coming home to start their own companies.
How can the emerging market countries adopt common digital technologies faster than the richer countries? In societies filled with stores and services, customers are accustomed to using the providers they have. However, in countries where people have difficulty even finding public facilities, a bank or a hospital, they will jump at the first digital option. Though only 5% of the Kenyans carry credit cards, more than 70% have access to digital banking.
The digital impact on productivity is visible. Many governments are moving services online to make them more transparent (透明的) and less affected by corruption (腐败), perhaps the most feared obstacle to doing business in the emerging world. Since 2010, the cost of starting a business has been steady in developed countries while falling sharply in emerging market countries, from 66% to just 27% of the average annual income. Entrepreneurs can now launch businesses affordably, organizing much of what they need on a smartphone.
The era of rapid digitization has only just begun. This offers many developing economies a revolutionary new path to catching up with the living standards of the developed world.
微信扫码预览、分享更方便
