Developing world's opportunities in recession

The financial crisis is pushing the world into recession. The US is in the midst of it, and Europe, Japan and other advanced economies are slowing to a standstill. But with the crisis come some important opportunities, particularly through trade and investment between and among developing countries.

After all, at least one third of the world economy - the developing world - continues to grow in spite of the financial turmoil and economic slowdown in the developed economies.

South-South trade, that is trade between developing countries, has been expanding faster than North-South trade for more than a decade. Today, developing countries export about as much to each other as they do to developed countries. South-South foreign direct investment (FDI) tripled in the past decade. Today, one out of every four transnational corporations worldwide is based in the developing world.