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em>Amid the faltering global economic recovery, many emerging economies are exploring South-South economic cooperation, particularly in trade, in search for untapped opportunities in new growth markets.

The Jakarta Post’s Linda Yulisman recently talked with Patricia Francis, executive director of the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations that provides support and facilitation of exports for small businesses in developing economies, about the revival of South-South ties and other issues. Here are excerpts from the interview.

Question: The International Trade Center is endorsing more South-South cooperation. Can you elaborate on why this is so important?

Answer: It’s something that has been talked about for a long time, something that has accelerated because of the financial and economic crisis in the North.

Project forward and look at, for example, Europe, which has an aging population. You’ll find not quite such an aging population in the United States, but almost as serious as in Europe. You may think about how this aging population is going to remain dynamic for the future; where is the energy to drive these economies in the next 30 years? Unless they change their immigration policies, it’s difficult to see where that’s going to come from. That’s one issue.

Compare that to the South, where you have young populations, a growing middle class, a greater level of spending capability and new consumers. There is also the big trend you look at, the profit of companies in the North is coming from the profit generated in the South.

So, you have these trends that are taking place. At this point in time, it’s mainly not our own companies benefiting from this expansion of trade in the South, but they should be if you think about the future. The South should be thinking about taking control of its own destiny. We should be looking at how we cooperate among ourselves for our own benefits. This is, of course, not to the exclusion of people in the North.

So, South-South cooperation and South-South trade is also a trend that we have been seeing and observing over a number of years. At this point in time, resource-based exports from Africa into Asia mainly comprise oil and gas commodities, which are driving industrial development in China, Indonesia, Japan and also Brazil and all the countries in South America. But these new markets that are developing and that Northern companies are exploiting are opportunities for indigenous companies in the South to invest in and take advantage of. South-South is about the market, but it’s also about the South grabbing new opportunities and not letting them pass by.

I think South-South is the future. We have spent a lot of time with the North-South and, in fact, the barriers to trade are greater between South-South than North-South. So now, we have to look at what we must do to break down some of those barriers, begin to work together, and see how we can prosper and take advantage of the future because markets in the North are stagnating.

Based on what we can see, it will take 10 to 15 years before they can recover. So, are we in the South going to reverse our progress? In order not to reverse our progress, we need to begin to move into the markets in the South.

Will we see more integration between South and South in the next few years?

Yes, absolutely.

Regarding South-South trade, Indonesia has been trying to boost exports to non-traditional destinations, such as Africa and South America. In what ways will its efforts most benefit the country?

Like everything else, when you enter a new market, you have to understand the nuances and the culture of that market.

Today we can see, based on what happened with North American and European companies coming into Southeast Asia and Asia as a whole, and South America, those who succeeded were those who adapted to local circumstances.

How do you make yourself local?