Guest post: Dubai looks for trade growth to India and Africa | beyondbrics – FT.com

Without large oil reserves, Dubai’s future depends on our success as a trading hub and strategic position in the world. So understanding the changing shape of global trade is crucial.

Too often, and in defiance of traditional economic thinking, trade is seen in terms of winners and losers. But the true picture, as a new authoritative report* into trade between the countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council and the rest of world highlights, is far more interesting.

The report captures the astonishing rise in economic power of the emerging markets over the last two decades. In 1987, they made up just 16 per cent of global GDP. Today, they account for 31 per cent, a figure forecast to rise to 41 per cent by 2015.