Will Mist (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey) Unseat Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) for the Most Interesting International Investments? Is This Idea Merely a Myth or Possibility?

Will MIST (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey) unseat BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) for the most interesting international investments? Is this idea merely a myth or possibility?

BY

ABDULKAREEM ABDULRAZAQ KAYODE (ZGA 110010)

FOR

DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC POLICY (ZIGP 6115)

LECTURER: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR SHARIFAH M. ALHABSHI

OCTOBER 2012

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

Investors have always been looking for a “safe heaven” to invest their fund for short, medium and long term investments. International investment is no doubt growth machinery both for the host nation and the investors. The dynamics of searching for investment location where investment will generate a multitude of benefit has been interchanging as investors do serious forecasting of economic, political and socio- cultural stability of the proposed host country before making their choice because these factors are the basic drivers moving a country’s image to investors. Therefore, the edge countries have over one another may arise from differences in “country natural endowments, government regulations, transport costs, macroeconomic stability, and cultural factors” (Anyanwu, 2012). Iran is an economy with several bans imposed most especially economic has been put upon therefore, it in no way attracting investors even though it is categorized amongst the N- 11. Also, the Sub Saharan African countries have received low investment funds partly due to political instability in the region over the recent years. Therefore, investors are always seeking a “safe heaven” that would yield better than even expected.

Investment/portfolio managers have been so instrumental in helping investors locate where to invest their funds through a powerful forecasting technique. Therefore, in an effort to boost investment and tailor the mind of investors to where they can actually get the maximum benefit for their investment, Jim O’Neill an employee at Goldman Sachs which is one of the leading...