PhD student, Kaimashnikova Ekaterina

Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Ukraine

 

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGIES OF THE BRICS COUNTRIES

AS FUNDAMENTAL BASIS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 

Modern conditions of global economic development require from countries to take into consideration global industrial market trends when using its industrial potential. Industrial potential of the country is the fundamental base of economic development. It is very important for the government to identify strong and weak points of industrial base in order to set strategic priorities and create an effective industrial policy. Global industrial market is rather competitive and countries have to pay special attention to comparative advantage industries. Nevertheless it is not the only task for building an industrial strategy. It is equally important to investigate the domestic market opportunities as well as to explore and analyze the previous experience of building an industrial strategy.

The world leading emerging economies are the economies of the BRICS group. Despite the fact that there was a decline in economic growth of these countries observed in 2013, the group is still the bloc of the highest influence on the global economic arena. Countries of the group are rich in natural resources and have historical and economic background for successful economic development. Nevertheless the BRICS countries face many challenges in field of infrastructure, energy, private sector, science, technology and innovation. Key conditions for industrial growth of emerging countries are research and development (R&D), innovation projects and technological progress. Moreover the BRICS countries should pay special attention to cooperation within the group. It brings new opportunities for getting mutual benefits from implementing technological improvements in industry. The highest results in technological progress are observed in China, followed by India, number of scientists is growing in Russia and Brazil, South Africa is still needs more investments for R&D.

It is needed to investigate industrial strategies of every country of the BRICS group and to find out its importance to economic development.

Brazil economy is the most emerging market of America. It is the second largest oil producer in America and the ninth in the world. The country has well diversified agriculture (sugarcane, coffee, frozen fruits produces) as well as one of the largest cattle herd in the world. Brazil is one of the leading countries in hydroelectric power. The average share of industry in Brazilian GDP is about 30% and covers automobile, machinery, textile, computers, cement, steel, aircrafts and other industries. Nevertheless an increasing service sector takes lion’s share of Brazil’s GDP [1]. Thus the economic development of the country is highly influenced by its industrial strategy.

Now the government of Brazil is implementing an industrial strategy named Greater Brazil Plan (2011-2014). It is aimed to [2]:

1.        build and strengthen critical competencies in the national economy;

2.        enhance productivity and technology density within value chains;

3.        expand the domestic and external markets of Brazilian companies;

4.        ensure socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable growth.

The plan has three main courses: investments and innovation, foreign trade and industry and domestic market.

Russia has strategic priorities in oil and gas industry. About 30% of GDP belongs to oil and gas industry and it takes about 60% of Russian export [3]. Russia is the leading country of natural resources reserves and is among the top ten of oil reserves owners. The country is the largest oil producer in the world and all the oil companies are privatized that allows to respond the world market prices quickly. Russia is also the world largest gas exporter what helps the country to be an influential leader not only in economic sphere, but also in politics. Besides one of the key industries of Russia is manufacturing that includes electronics, automobiles, aircrafts and computers.  Industrial strategy is very important guide for economic development of the country.

Russian Federation has been working on the program of industrial development and rising of industrial competitiveness since 2012. It is a long-term strategic program that will end in 2020. The main aim of the program is to create competitive, stable and structurally balanced industry, able to develop independently in effective way and based on world technological integration and leading industrial technology elaboration.

This program provides the following key tasks [4]:

1)       creation of new sectors and markets (new innovation infrastructure and new conditions for entering the market with innovative product);

2)       development of consumer-oriented industries;

3)       support of  investment demand-oriented industries;

4)       military-industrial complex development;

5)       technical regulation, standardization and uniformity of measurements provision.

India is one of the most attractive countries for investments in the world. In 2013 foreign direct investments to India increased 17 percent and reached $28 billion, so the country took 16 place in the top 20 attractive global destinations [5]. Industries of the highest importance in India are: coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity.  Positive dynamics in FDI inflows is supported by effective manufacturing policy. Previous five year manufacturing plan (2007-2012) was focused on strengthening manufacturing sector and infrastructure, as well as pharmaceuticals, auto-components and textiles, technological improvement and labor conditions were highly emphasized [6].

The next plan that was announced in 2011 - National Manufacturing Plan and was aimed on raising the contribution of manufacturing sector to GDP from the present 16% to 25% by 2025 [7].

Main objectives of the strategy [7]:

1)     increase manufacturing sector growth to 12-14%;

2)     create 100 million additional job places by 2025;

3)     increase domestic value addition;

4)     promote green manufacturing;

5)     develop Small and Medium Enterprises;

6)     create National Investment and Manufacturing Zones.

The market of the most dynamic growth and development is China. Chinese products and services are demanded all over the world. Key factors of future economic development of the country are: emerging growth of the marketplace (growing supply of consumer-attractive products) and high-value and high-tech manufacturing. The industries of future rapid growth are: food and beverage, healthcare (government funding of $2 billion for biotechnology R&D in five year), private education (market size is predicted to reach $102 billion by 2025), clean technology, cloud computing and e-commerce (market is projected to get $650 billion by 2020) [8].

Industrial and technological development of China is provided by national strategy of development. Key priorities of China’s 12th Year Plan are sustainable growth, industrial upgrading and the promotion of domestic consumption. It is aimed to create favorable conditions for development of alternative energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, biotechnology, new materials, IT, high-end equipment manufacturing and clean energy vehicles [9]. In order to achieve these aims Chinese government should realize the next objectives: optimize structure, improve varieties and quality, enhance industry supporting capability, eliminate backward production capacity, develop the advanced equipment manufacturing industry, adjust the optimize raw material industries, transform and improve the consumer goods industry and promoting the enlargement and enhancement of manufacturing industries [10].

South Africa is the youngest member of the BRICS group. However it is the leading emerging market in Africa. The African continent plays an important role in intra-BRICS relationships. On the one hand, it serves as a source of raw materials and export market. On the other hand, the BRICS members contribute a lot to Africa’s development, especially though providing foreign direct investments in infrastructure and industrial development as well as in agriculture. Moreover it helps South Africa to advance its national interests and promote regional integration program.

Key industries of South Africa are mining, metal, iron and steel, automobile, machinery, textiles, and chemicals.  The country is the world leader in mining with significant reserves of mineral resources and accounts for about 18% of GDP [11]. South Africa is also the world's largest gold, platinum, manganese, chromium, vanadium, alumino-sillicates and titanium producer. Automotive sector contributes about 6% to the GDP and is well-placed for investment opportunities [11].

Within the National Development Plan of South Africa the Department of Trade and Industry is working on Industrial Policy Action Plan (2013-2016). Main objectives of the Plan are [12]:

1.        fight structural unemployment and create jobs;

2.        build competitive manufacturing with strong growth and employment multipliers;

3.        trade policy: standards, strategic tariff regions, clampdown on illegal/substandard imports;

4.        mineral and resources beneficiation, grow upstream/downstream value chains;

5.        deepen support programs in automotives, metals, agro-processing, clothing, textiles, leather and footwear;

6.        support green industries, renewables, energy efficiency, advanced manufacturing and materials;

7.        expand and deepen the industrial financing and incentives framework;

8.        competition policy: clampdown on collusion, price-fixing;

9.        leverage state infrastructure spend through localization program and designations.

Summing up the results of the research we should mention that all the national strategies of the BRICS countries are based on the results of industrial policies implementation. Thus the industrial development is reflected in GDP growth that leads to economic development along with rise of national market competitiveness, increase in exports and foreign direct investments, creation of new jobs places and improvement of legislative system.

 

Literature

1.             Brazil industry sectors [Electronic resource]. – Access mode:  http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/brazil/industry-sector-industries.html 

2.             Kupfer D. Case Studies of Successful and Unsuccessful Industrial Policies: The Case of Brazil / David Kupfer [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.iea-world.org/docs/Kupfer1.pdf

3.             Oil & Natural Gas Sector in Russia: Fueling Growth [Electronic resource]. – Access mode:http://www.thomaswhite.com/global-perspectives/oil-natural-gas-sector-in-russia-fueling-growth/

4.             Государственная программа Российской Федерации «Развитие промышленности и повышение ее конкурентоспособности на период до 2020 года» [Электронный ресурс]. – Режим доступа: http://www.gosprogrammy.gov.ru/Main/ClientBin/Passports/16/Государственная%20программа%2016.pdf

5.             FDI inflows into India in 2013 rose 17% to $28 billion [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/macro-economy/fdi-inflows-into-india-in-2013-rose-17-to-28-billion/article5631508.ece

6.             Narayan L. Industrial development in India / Laxmi Narayan [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.slideshare.net/luxminy/industrial-development-in-india

7.             The Manufacturing Plan [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://planningcommission.gov.in/aboutus/committee/strgrp12/str_manu0304.pdf

8.             Six high-growth industries in China [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/economy/2013/08/15/china-growth/index.html

9.             China’s 12th Five-Year Plan: Overview [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.kpmg.com/CN/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Publicationseries/5-years-plan/Documents/China-12th-Five-Year-Plan-Overview-201104.pdf

10.         China's Twelfth Five Year Plan (2011-2015) - the Full English Version [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://cbi.typepad.com/china_direct/2011/05/chinas-twelfth-five-new-plan-the-full-english-version.html

11.         South African Economy: key sectors [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.southafrica.info/business/economy/sectors/

12.         Industrial Policy Action Plan [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.thedti.gov.za/news2013/ipap_2013-2016.pdf