Asia’s four tigers are not burning as brightly as they once did.In 2023, Hong Kong recorded a real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.2%, Singapore 1.1%, South Korea 1.36% and Taiwan 1.31%.In contrast, growth in Asia and the Pacific was 5% for the year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting growth of 4.5% this year.The IMF’s economic outlook for Asia Pacific ranks the region as the world’s most dynamic in 2023, contributing nearly two-thirds of global growth.Whereas the growth of the Asian Tigers was driven by exports, both domestic consumption and exports, primarily of electronics, were drivers of economic activity, particularly in emerging Asia.Resilient consumer demand has created markets for South African fresh produce.The Far East and Asian markets are predicted to consume 33% of apple exports and 17% of pears from South Africa this year.According to agrihub, exports of pears to the Far East and Asia grew by 350%, from 1 800 cartons in 2023 to 48 180 in the 2024 season. In response to pressure over the unequal trade gap between China and the African countries it is wooing, China opened its market to South African avocados and meat this year.Kenya and Tanzania are the only two other African countries that meet the strict Chinese sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for avocados.After a short hiatus, China is on a drive to use its financial muscle to strengthen its relationship with resource-rich African countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping told the September 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that his country would be providing 210 billion Yuan ($51bn) in loans and investment over the next three years to support 30 infrastructure projects, and $140 million in military aid.The Chinese leader called for a China-Africa network of land and sea links and coordinated development.The IMF and others warn that risks remain.The Asian Development Bank is forecasting 4.8% growth in the Chinese economy this year.“A continued recovery in services consumption and stronger-than-expected exports and industrial activity are supporting the expansion, even as the PRC’s struggling property sector has yet to stabilise,” it states in its half year analysis of the region.“In the broader region, price pressures remain elevated in some economies. Food inf lation is still high in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, in part due to adverse weather and food export restrictions in some economies.” ER
