The ABICUS
Grouping
Australia
Britain
India Canada United States
The five biggest English speaking countries in the world by GDP: United Kingdom, India, Canada, United States of America and Australia, together account for approximately 1/4th of the global population and have a share of 1/3rd of the global economy.
India
|
United Kingdom
|
Canada
|
US
|
Australia
|
|
GDP
|
$2.182 trillion (7th)
|
$2.849 trillion (5th)
|
$1.462 trillion (10th)
|
$18.124 trillion (1st)
|
$1.223trillion (13th)
|
Global population (2015)
|
1,276,267,000
17.36%[1]
|
64,928,787
0.8%
|
35,749,600
0.4%
|
320,090,857
4.3%
|
24,062,000
0.32%
|
Total area
|
3,287,263km2 (7th)
|
242,495km2 (78th)
|
9,984,670km2 (2nd)
|
9,857,306km2 (3rd)
|
7,692,024km2 (6th)
|
Water
(%)
|
9.6
|
1.34
|
8.92
|
7.1
|
|
Gini (2013)
|
33.9
|
31.6
|
33.7
|
40.8
|
33.6
|
Table 1: Country Profile
Given the core values shared by these nations, it should be possible to accelerate the coordination between these nations on issues impacting global economy and security that could possibly result in accelerated growth, improved security and better climate management for the world.
The nations are undergoing
an extreme transformation from an economic, social, national security, internal
security and climate perspective. This transformation is being further
accelerated with rapidly evolving technology.
The key issues
that urgently require coordination, could be the following:
1.
Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)
Ongoing
and future mega-regional agreements will significantly influence in shaping the
future of global trade architecture and existing RTAs by incorporating a potent
mix of bilateralism, plurilateralism and regionalism. ABICUS has the potential
to play a key role in the opportunities generated by individual RTAs in deepening
and broadening global economic integration, particularly through involvement of
small and less developed economies which are not part of mega-regional agreements.
2.
4th Industrial Revolution driven by Extreme
Automation
Extreme
Automation is what is driving the 4th Industrial Revolution. Extreme Automation
will drive tectonic shifts in the international job market, leading to sudden
massive job destruction, with very little time to retrain the existing labour
market for the required higher level skills. The maturing of fundamental
technologies related to Extreme Automation in the next 5 years - cognitive,
IOT, driverless vehicles and robotic process automation operating in an
environment of pervasive compute and pervasive communication infrastructure, will
be the single most defining moment for this century. This impending
revolution provides a tremendous opportunity for ABICUS ‘Knowledge Economies’
to understand and address the key challenges globally and locally, related to
Extreme Automation.
3.
Asymmetric Warfare
As globalization
intensifies - aided by technology, an increasingly wired society and the fourth
industrial revolution, security of citizens and shared interests of ABICUS stands
exposed to higher degrees of risk. The Global Risk Report (2016)[2]
by the World Economic Forum (WEF) suggests that “chronic and resurgent violence,
conflicts, and economic and social volatility will remain prominent features of
the current and future reality.” Key threat drivers and ‘increasing’ amplifiers
of asymmetric warfare - geo-strategic interests, climate change, demographics,
energy and governance, will shape a complex interplay in future conflicts. Given
the above scenarios, advanced models of collaboration among ABICUS to
strengthen technological innovation and international security will offer
significant opportunities to understand and deal with incidents of future
asymmetric warfare.
4.
Energy recalibration
For ensuring the
sustainable development and increasing energy efficiency, these 5 countries are
taking multiple initiatives for increasing their dependence on smarter
solutions and using alternative sources of energy. Driven by technologies, the
countries are evolving their energy mix away from coal and oil, thus securing
overall economic and climate security. Moreover, the tropical countries appear
to be well poised to benefit from the Tropical
Advantage due to the economically feasible exploitation of solar energy, to
the extent that solar energy could be costing almost nothing, once the
equipment is fully depreciated.
5.
Trans-national transportation
Promotion of trans-national
transportation networks has a significant impact on the citizens and economies
of these 5 nations. A trans-national transportation network centered on the
‘shared interests’ of ABICUS is a key element for future competitiveness and
employment, as also for ensuring sustainable transport, including through major
technological projects. Transport infrastructures (national &
trans-national), unlike other sectors, are dependent on public funding,
essentially from national budgets and hence mandate the agreement and
cooperation of individual countries. Additionally, it is imperative that
innovation is embedded in the quest to attract private investment to large-scale
trans-national infrastructure projects.
6.
Urban transport
The countries are
working to build reliable, intelligent and sustainable public transport systems
for increasing citizen mobility and accessibility. The smart cities of tomorrow
are a network of interconnected systems, including employment, health care,
retail/entertainment, public services, residences, energy distribution, and not
least, transportation. Electric vehicles (EVs), in particular, represent one of
the most promising pathways for ABICUS to unlock innovation and create new
advanced industries that spur job growth and enhance future economic prosperity.
7.
Rapid Job destruction
Current trends
reveal that the pace at which the jobs are being destroyed is more than the
pace at which the jobs are being created.
Way forward
Given the
commonalities between the 5 nations and their combined ability to drive change
in the world, it would be valuable to start a 5 nation dialogue on the issues
outlined above. Given the geographic positioning, where the 5 nations are laid
out over four major landmasses, spread across the globe, the cooperation would
provide the axis of stability and growth that is required for the world. The
grouping may evolve into opting in South Africa, as the South African economy
grows.
