Asia will remain the frowth engine of the world

Before beginning the debate it's better to understand the genesis of investment.Investments revolve around value additions while money has opportunity cost.Investments flow where there is scope for value addition which creates wealth or give returns.As the world is growing in terms of opportunities what we have seen so far is broadening of horizons across the world and not flow of investments which means that the mushrooming of opportunities across the globe paved the way for investment and investments did not create opportunities.

Moreover,those investment investing were not necessarily from global majors as local entrepreneurs and even local government invested in these opportunities.The classical example of this fact is Ambani brothers of India who sighted the opportunities early and invested in a big way and now they figure among the richest in the world.in this case,there is no flow from anywhere,investment investing is not necessarily about flow;it is about value addition.No country or place in the world offers one-stop opportunities for all types of investments.To elaborate,Nepal figures prominently on the tourist map of the world and there is huge scope for growth in tourism sector while it may not be a big attraction for heavy industries due to lack of infrastructure like ports,airports,etc.Similarly,Thailand is a hot destination for world-class investment in tourism,while India is hot for industries and infrastructure.

If Africa offers good opportunity in natural resources,investment will be made for this purpose which is the primary objective.To support the primary objective and for maximum value addition there would be investment in secondary objectives like roads,ports ,electricity.etc.At no point,it means that these investments would be made at the coast of Asia,Europe or any other country for that matter as there would be no major pull out of money for investing in other countries.Pullout of investment could be an option only when the investment is not viable due to any reason.Since investments are long-term decisions and a serious policy matter,it is not revised on short-term basis.

As far as the potential of Africa is concerned, it is indeed true that growth is picking up in the continent and world has start realizing its potential.Africa will attract fresh investments in future but it will not dampen the prospects of Asia.Asia is the growth engine of the world and would continue to remain so despite the fact that Asian economies are also slowing down in sync with the world but that does not signal drain of investment from Asia to other places.In fact African investment would aid the growth in Asia and the rest of the world.Therefore it should be seen in conjunction with the global perspective.