The report divides its main analysis into two sections – firstly identifying the key drivers of the rise of the south and secondly, raising future issues that need to be addressed to maintain this process. Both contain factors that will impact on sustainabililty. The three key factors driving the growth of the south are:
- A proactive developmental state;
- The tapping of global markets;
- Determined social policy innovation.
All three of these ‘key drivers’, emphasise an interventionist and active regulatory role for the state rather than merely leaving key choices in the hands of the free market. Indeed the report explicitly notes that the best-performing southern economies ‘diverge from the unfettered liberalization espoused by the Washington Consensus’. Thus, discussing the ‘tapping of global markets’
The Report has five main conclusions for the future:
- Rising economic strength in the south must be matched by a full commitment to human development – a commitment that is as much to do with economic necessity as the moral case for human potential.
- Less developed countries can learn and benefit from the success of emerging economies in the south – it cites recent Chinese and Indian joint ventures and start-up manufacturing investments in Africa as an example of this.
- New and stronger institutions are needed to promote trade and investment and accelerate experience sharing across the south.
- Greater representation for the south can accelerate progress on major global challenges – the report cites the emergence of the G20 as an example of this process but points out that India – a nuclear power, an economic giant and soon to be the most populous country in the world still has no permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
- The rise of the south presents new opportunities for generating a greater supply of public goods – the report cites climate change as an example of the kind of issue that the south’s new power may help to solve.
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