Eastward push for global trade

A substantial shift to emerging economies is pushing eastward the world’s economic centre of gravity, says global logistics giant DHL in its latest study.
The third edition of DHL’s Global Connectedness Index (GCI) indicates that emerging countries are now involved in the majority of "international interactions".
This is in contrast to pre-2010, when the majority of international flows were from one advanced economy to another.
Global connectedness, measured by cross-border flows of trade, capital, information and people, has recovered most of its losses incurred during the financial crisis, says DHL.
The proportion of interactions that cross national borders gained momentum in 2013 after its recovery had stalled in the previous year.
But the world’s largest supply chain provider warns: “Nonetheless, trade depth, as a distinct dimension of globalization, continues to stagnate and the overall level of global connectedness remains quite limited.”
Trade depth represents a country’s international flows relative to the size of its domestic economy.
However the good news, especially for air cargo, is that improved international trade connections would see “gains of trillions of US dollars”. 
Frank Appel, chief executive of Germany’s Deutsche Post DHL, said: “In the aftermath of the financial crisis, globalization has increasingly come under pressure and international trade negotiations face growing resistance.
“In this environment of uncertainty, the DHL Global Connectedness Index offers a comprehensive, fact-based understanding of globalization and demonstrates the huge potential for countries to further increase their connectedness.”
The 2014 DHL Global Connectedness Index draws on more than one million data points from international flows covering trade, capital, information and people accumulated over the last nine years. The ranking encompasses 99 per cent of the world’s GDP and 95 per cent of the world’s population.