The extent of the gravitational shift of businesses towards emerging markets and the implications of such a shift for global business came under spotlight at a recent globalisation debate in London.

London Business School’s Global Leadership Summit was hosted by Evan Davis, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, and saw participation from key business and government leaders from Brazil, China, India and Africa.

Topics under debate included how societal trends and a low carbon future will fundamentally re-shape the future of work and how Western companies can best exploit the opportunities available to them in the emerging markets.

Amr Abdullah Al-Dabbagh, governor and chairman of the board of directors, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, gave an example of how the Kingdom was looking to take advantage of the global slowdown, by accelerating infrastructure development to take advantage of the depressed prices of building materials.

Savio Kwan, independent non-executive director, Alibaba Group, said: “Our dream is to help society. We look how to help. We want a world open, shared and responsible. We are pushing this idea through China and wherever we go. Instead of trying to buy companies, we are trying to revolutionise the way people do business.”

“We are now helping our Indian colleagues. Hopefully we will be able to do this in Brazil and other places,” he added.

A first for the annual event, this year’s summit was streamed live via webcast around the world and the interactive experience allowed viewers to use Twitter to “tweet” in their comments and questions for the panel.

Sir Andrew Likierman, dean of London Business School, said: “The summit is London Business School’s flagship event and the calibre of today’s speakers is a testament to this.  We’ve brought together a number of key people who shape the world we live in because we believe that London Business School is a place to hear and meet people that matter.”

“One of our values is an eclectic approach, which means in practice that we are not telling people what to think, but giving them an opportunity to draw their own conclusions from the argument – very much today’s approach,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service