International Elections that may impact your global sales strategy

Six emerging countries will be holding elections in the coming months. Will this affect your sales market there?

Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia, India, Turkey and Brazil will have elections that may affect their economies.

Three such markets are listed below.

Indonesia, the third largest democracy in the world will hold elections in April. The following rules may change or be eased with the new administration. As of now, Indonesia has implemented a new mining law limiting exports of certain raw, unrefined products.  If minerals do not meet the “level of purity” they will not be exported. Mineral exports will be subject to a 20% export tax which is set to rise to 60% in 2016. This will mean a loss of 1.5 – 2 Billion USD in sales and 100,000 jobs could be lost.

India – the world’s largest democracy will hold state elections in May 2014. India has been plagued by corruption scandals, elevated inflation and weak economic growth. It appears Modi, Prime Minister candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in popularity. His party is pro-business and will help grow the Indian economy and thus strengthen exporters looking towards the Indian market.

Brazil –South America’s largest economy has a busy 2014 coming with hosting the World Cup and state elections. The real, Brazil’s currency was the most devalued currency in Latin America resulting in a lack of confidence in the government’s economic policies. Brazil’s lack luster economy is being watched by many and hopes that the election may spark renewed economic growth. 

Mousa Kassis of Ohio’s ITAC at Youngstown State University is watching the elections in these emerging markets. Kassis helps manufacturers in Eastern Ohio grow and expand their products worldwide. Much of the information in this Blog came from his observations of global economies.

He notes that economic development organizations’ biggest concern is world poverty. If the divide continues to grow, the ability for countries to educate, innovate and grow will be reduced. If countries cannot support innovation and growth, world economies will fail to grow. The poor everywhere will impact US citizens if there are not markets for our products.

Currently this is being discussed at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. It is taking place in Davos Klosters, Switzerland until the 25^th of January. Being discussed is the growing divide of the haves and have-nots. The growth of poverty (85 people hold as much wealth as the 3.85 Billion poorest people in the world) and its effect on global growth will be addressed. Check out this YouTube video on the topic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ7LzE3u7Bw

I want to thank Mousa Kassis for sharing his knowledge with me to write this blog. Are you looking for export assistance? Inquire with ITAC http://development.ohio.gov/bs/bs_itac.htm or  http://www.ohiosbdc-ysu.com/ and email Mousa at Mousa H Kassis (mhkassis@ysu.edu).

About the Author
Linda Richardson is the President and owner of All Clear Translations, LLC. Their translations and localization transform websites, software, technical manuals and marketing materials into all languages helping to increase your sales. Their unique process can include Plain English to help companies increase understanding and comprehension while reducing translation and production costs of manuals. Their audio voice-over technologies enable spoken and written communication in many languages. Email Linda at
linda@allcleartranslations and visit their website http://www.allcleartranslations.com.