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Emerging economies need access to world markets to avoid trade fragmentation, global leaders say

Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah. AN Photo
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Updated 17 February 2025
Nirmal Narayanan
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Emerging economies need access to world markets to avoid trade fragmentation, global leaders say

Updated 17 February 2025
Nirmal Narayanan

RIYADH: Fragmentation in global trade can be resolved only if emerging economies gain access to international markets and contribute to discussions shaping the economic landscape, several finance ministers said.

During a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies organized by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Wale Edun said that emerging economies should also try to create a friendly environment to attract domestic and international investments.

According to the EU, global trade fragmentation in the form of increased barriers and higher trade policy uncertainty could significantly reduce global output in the long term, with low-income countries likely to be more negatively affected. 

“We need world trade; we need open markets. As emerging economies, and developing countries, we need access to markets for our products, particularly for value-added manufacturing products. World trade growth is a tide that leads to all boats. It is definitely something which we advocate and which we look forward to achieving,” said Edun. 

He added: “This is a wake-up call. We need to reform our economies, need to stabilize, reduce inflation and create a conducive environment for investment, particularly domestic investment as well as foreign direct investments.”

Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah said that emerging economies are less capable of formulating strategies to combat issues surrounding trade tensions. 

“I think we have been going through several trade shocks last year, and we saw the beginning of fragmentation and tension for many reasons. I think, in emerging markets, we have more poor pockets than in these big countries that are designing the rules of trade and dynamics of the trade,” said Fettah. 

She added: “I think this fragmentation is beneficial to the biggest players in the economy and not for the middle class and the lowest in crisis.”

Fettah said that emerging market economies need globalization much more than advanced economies.

During the same panel discussion, Ukraine’s Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko stated that trade tensions are one of the most pressing and uncertain issues emerging market countries are working to resolve.

He added that emerging markets are less capable of formulating strategies to combat trade tensions as they have limited opportunities and resources. 

The Ukrainian minister also praised Saudi Arabia and said that the Kingdom is a good example of how an emerging economy can successfully combat trade disruptions and march ahead in the journey in a resilient manner. 

“The Kingdom is a good example for all of us to be tested and prove that we are good enough and strong enough to trade and be resilient,” said Marchenko. 

Edun further said that reduced financial inflows into emerging economies are one of the crucial factors that negatively impact these nations’ economic conditions. 

“I think the latest figures show that there is net outflow from emerging economies of $50 billion. For African economies, the latest figures show a deficit of $20 billion, and that is a very worrying trend, alongside the closing down and the tightening of world trade,” said the Nigerian minister. 

The vitality of participating in trade conversations

Fettah also emphasized that emerging markets should have opportunities to participate in international talks that shape global trade rules and regulations. 

“In this fragmentation, many emerging markets are not part of the conversation of the changing regulations and rules. We need to ask for permission to be part of the conversation. We never have a chance to have a transition or an adaptation plan to these new rules, and this needs to be changed,” she said. 

Edun echoed similar views and said that emerging economies still need to seek permission to enter such conversations despite the crucial importance of these countries in the global trade landscape. 

Marchenko supported the views of both the Nigerian and Moroccan ministers and said that world trade discussions are necessary and that Ukraine would like to be part of such conversations. 

Edun further said that emerging economies in Africa should increase trading with countries on the continent to boost development and the economy. 

“There have been huge inflows, relatively cheap and competitive Chinese products in our markets. In Africa, intra-African trade is just 14 percent of the total trade. I think the figure for other emerging markets is higher. In Asia, it is 40 percent. And that is where we look to find our response and increase the capacity to trade with each other.”

Geopolitical tensions

During the talk, Marchenko said the ongoing war with Russia negatively impacted Ukraine’s export trading capacity. 

“The impact of war is very devastating. For our exports to Nigeria, the impact was very huge. We lost up to 60 times our potential for exports in 2023. Nigeria did not receive wheat from Ukraine. The same with Morocco, 12 times decrease of our exports,” said the Ukrainian minister. 

Fettah also underscored the importance of global stability and peace and said that uncertainty due to geopolitical issues is affecting investments in emerging economies. 

“The most difficult thing is the uncertainty, which affects local investors but also all the FDIs. Everyone is waking up in the morning and seeing what has been announced the night before and how it will affect the future. We need peace to trade and we need peace to develop. We need visibility,” said Fettah. 

She added that countries should plan for mid and long-term goals, and they should develop a discipline to achieve this. 

“Day-to-day shocks and crises need immediate and expensive responses,” said Fettah. 

Future outlook 

Regarding the future outlook, Edun said that Africa could become the workforce of the world, considering its growing population and the availability of young talents. 

“Africa, in particularly countries like Nigeria, we have a very young population that is going to export services, and that will in fact be the workforce of the world because the population in Nigeria is expected to double from 200 million now to 400 million by 2050,” said the Nigerian minister. 

Marchenko said that Ukraine has shown its strengths both in the military and economic sectors during the tough times of war, adding that the IMF has provided the country with the necessary support whenever needed. 

“I want to praise our cooperation with the IMF. It provides us with necessary relief and it provides us anchor for any possible negotiations with our partners. We would like to have solutions through free flow of goods and services,” said Marchenko. 

Regarding the present and future outlook, Marchenko said: “Ukraine is trying hard to stabilize and manage to provide some kind of support for our business which operates in Ukraine. We are also trying to attract foreign direct investments.”

Topics: AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies

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World must prioritize resilience over disruption, economic experts warn

Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan urged policymakers and investors to “mute the noise” and focus on resilience.
Updated 23 January 2026
Nadia Al Faour
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World must prioritize resilience over disruption, economic experts warn

  • Al-Jadaan said that much of the anxiety dominating markets reflected a world that had already been shifting for years
  • Pointing to Asia and the Gulf, Al-Jadaan said that some countries had already built models based on diversification and resilience
Updated 23 January 2026
Dalal Awienat Nadia Al Faour

DAVOS: Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan urged policymakers and investors to “mute the noise” and focus on resilience, as global leaders gathered in Davos on Friday against a backdrop of trade tensions, geopolitical uncertainty and rapid technological change.

Speaking on the final day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Al-Jadaan said that much of the anxiety dominating markets reflected a world that had already been shifting for years.

“We need to define who ‘we’ are in this so-called new world order,” he said, arguing that many emerging economies had been adapting to a more fragmented global system for decades.

Pointing to Asia and the Gulf, Al-Jadaan said that some countries had already built models based on diversification and resilience. In energy markets, he pointed out that the focus should remain on balancing supply and demand in a way that incentivized investment without harming the global economy.

“Our role in OPEC is to stabilize the market,” he said.

His remarks were echoed by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim, who said that uncertainty had weighed heavily on growth, investment and geopolitical risk, but that reality had proven more resilient.

“The economy has adjusted and continues to move forward,” Alibrahim said.

Alibrahim warned that pragmatism had become scarce, trust increasingly transactional, and collaboration more fragile. “Stability cannot be quickly built or bought,” he said.

Alibrahim called for a shift away from preserving the status quo towards the practical ingredients that made cooperation work, stressing discipline and long-term thinking even when views diverged.

Quoting Saudi Arabia’s founding King Abdulaziz Al-Saud, he added: “Facing challenges requires strength and confidence, there is no virtue in weakness. We cannot sit idle.”

President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde stressed the importance of distinguishing meaningful data from headline noise, saying: “Our duty as central bankers is to separate the signal from the noise. The real numbers are growth numbers not nominal ones.”

Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva echoed Lagarde’s sentiments, saying that the world had entered a more “shock prone” environment shaped by technology and geopolitics.

Director General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the global trade systems currently in place were remarkably resilient, pointing out that 72 percent of global trade continued despite disruptions.

She urged governments and businesses, however, to avoid overreacting.

Okonjo Iweala said that a return to the old order was unlikely, but trade would remain essential. Georgieva agreed, saying global trade would continue, albeit in a different form.

Georgieva warned that AI would accelerate economic transformation at an unprecedented speed. The IMF expects 60 percent of jobs to be affected by AI, either enhanced or displaced, with entry-level roles and middle-class workers facing the greatest pressure.

Lagarde warned that without cooperation, capital and data flows would suffer, undermining productivity and growth.

Al-Jadaan said that power dynamics had always shaped global relations, but dialogue remained essential. “The fact that thousands of leaders came here says something,” he said. “Some things cannot be done alone.”

In another session titled Geopolitical Risks Outlook for 2026, former US Democratic representative Jane Harman said that because of AI, the world was safer in some ways but worse off in others.

“I think AI can make the world riskier if it gets in the wrong hands and is used without guardrails to kill all of us. But AI also has enormous promise. AI may be a development tool that moves the third world ahead faster than our world, which has pretty messy politics,” she said.

American economist Eswar Prasad said that currently the world was in a “doom loop.”

Prasad said that the global economy was stuck in a negative-feedback loop and economics, domestic politics and geopolitics were only bringing out the worst in each other.

“Technology could lead to shared prosperity but what we are seeing is much more concentration of economic and financial power within and between countries, potentially making it a destabilizing force,” he said.

Prasad predicted that AI and tech development would impact growing economies the most. But he said that there was uncertainty about whether these developments would create job opportunities and growth in developing countries.

Professor of international political economy at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Elizabeth Thurbon, said that China was driving a Green Energy transition in a way that should be modeled by the rest of the world.

“The Chinese government is using the Green Energy Transition to boost energy security and is manufacturing its own energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports,” she explained.

Thurbon said that China was using this transition to boost economic security, social security and geostrategic security. She viewed this as a huge security-enhancing opportunity and every country had the ability to use the energy transition as a national security multiplier. 

“We are seeing an enormous dynamism across emerging market economies driven by China. This boom loop is being driven by enormous investments in green energy. Two-thirds of global investment flowing into renewable energy is driven largely by China,” she said.

Thurbon said that China was taking an interesting approach to building relationships with countries by putting economic engagement on the forefront of what they had to offer.

“China is doing all it can to ensure economic partnership with emerging economies are productive. It’s important to approach alliances as not just political alliances but investment in economy, future and the flourishment of a state,” she said.

The panel criticized global economic treaties and laws, and expressed the need for immediate reforms in economic governing bodies.

“If you are a developing economy, the rules of the WTO, for example, are not helpful for you to develop. A lot of the rules make it difficult to pursue an economic development agenda. These regulations are not allowing the economies to grow,” Thurbon said.

“Serious reform must be made in international trade agreements, economic bodies and rules and guidelines,” she added.

Prasad echoed this sentiment and said there was a need for national and international reform in global economic institutions.

“These institutions are not working very well so we can reconfigure them or rebuild them from scratch. But unfortunately the task of rebuilding falls into the hands of those who are shredding them,” he said.

WEF attendees were invited to join the Global Collaboration and Growth meeting to be held in Saudi Arabia in April 2026 to continue addressing the complex global challenges and engage in dialogue.

Topics: WEF 2026

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