The Russian stocks driving growth through innovation

ON EMS

Emerging economies have traditionally thrived on commodity exports and low-cost manufacturing, but some markets are shifting towards innovation and design for new growth, explains Mirabaud's Neville Shaw.

One of the trends is where growth is shifting away from the more traditional aspects of emerging economies - such as commodities and low-cost manufacturing - towards value added services, design innovation and domestic consumption. This shift towards domestic consumption and innovation was evident to me on a recent trip to Russia. Like many emerging markets, Russia has seen lower economic growth, reinforced when the government recently revised down its short and long-run GDP growth forecasts to 1% and 2.5% respectively. Despite the tough macro conditions, however, there remain a numbe...