The World Our Children Inherit

The World Our Children Inherit

As the world entered the new century, events happened at a higher speed, particularly during the last decade of 20th century. Previous concepts about the future are now obsolete. The prevalent forecast about the 21st century is that the well being and high living standards, which were once special to Western countries, are seen in developing countries, Asian nations for example. Given the amazing speed of technology advancements, we would witness the elimination of restrictions in the way of using technology by developing countries. Given the recent scientific and technological advances in Western and Far Eastern countries, the human vision has been broadened and in all fields of science, man has achieved such advancements that it was impossible to predict 50 years ago. Discovering DNA, genetic mapping and reaching out into galaxies.

Third-World Countries and Living Standards

The income and production rate in industrial countries would rise sharply in the next century. In 1995, 25% of the world were industrial nations, but this small group holds most of world income and produces more than the rest of the world. High rate of population growth is seen in developing countries and high economic development in industrial nations, but it is believed that in the next century this proportion would change. According to the latest statistics, 17.6% of the world population, mainly from the industrial countries hold 82% of the world production and the world income. This is while from the total world trade which is over $12,000 billion, the developed countries have a share of $8,500 billion. But it is predicted that the Third-World countries would have more access to production tools; therefore, they can exploit their resources more effectively and raise their living standards.
In the past years, we witnessed the formation of large alliances: in Europe, the Common European Market and in America NAFTA were formed, which is an indication of the fact that they are preparing themselves to fulfill the necessities of the future world.

The important issue is that in the next century the thoughts of people are not at the service of one particular nation

Banks Merger

Volks Wagon from Germany and Rolls Royce Motor Cars Ltd. from England have opted for merger. Also the Daimler Benz from Germany and Chrysler from the United States were merged into a larger company. Another merger was between British Petroleum and U.S. Amoco. In Japan, banking systems were merged in order not to fall behind the rest of the world.
We are now witnessing formation of new large economic associations; a process that stopped because of Marxist activities for almost four decades, is now gaining momentum again. This would be a driving force behind the world development in the future; a growth not only in the economic field, but also with politics as a determinant.
Developing countries, particularly those located in the Middle East, are far behind the industrial world: They lack sufficient trade relations among themselves, their companies cannot exchange their products to other countries freely. This restriction is the reason for formation of small companies in these countries. If the entire world can participate in joint associations, then Iran should admit that it is yet to gain a proper status in such formations.
The world in this 21st century is a world of economic growth. The markets would get larger and this necessitates a larger business. In 1960s and 1970s “small was beautiful” but in the future, large manufacturing companies with high capabilities and the power to monopolize the market are orders of the day. If this happens, the developing economies could sustain heavy losses.
Smaller businesses are expected to be replaced by larger ones not only in the industry but also in the service sector and this is the most significant issue we would witness in the next century.

Insurance Companies

Insurance companies, large investment enterprises and banks would merge with each other in order to enjoy more power. European countries now are considering the merger of their stock exchange centers in different countries, while in Iran, the Parliament approved of a motion to set up local stock exchanges. This is against the global economic trends.
Those who cannot understand the globalization of economy would fall behind the world and lose many opportunities. In today’s world, economic power means producing more and this would bring higher living standards. Economic power would eventually translate into political power. Manufacturing units without high production potentials are not economical anymore. Some of insightful managers in Iran have been able to understand this message: Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation (MJF), announced that it intends to merge its affiliated manufacturing units into large economic firms. In this line, traditional management styles should be discarded and new global enterprises must be managed based on state-of-the-art leadership techniques.

Where Iran Stands

Iran already knows that its population in the years to come will constitute 1% of the total world population. Will it also be able to hold 1% of total world trade? Sixteen percent of the world oil reserves are in Iranian territory. This country also enjoys large mineral resources such as copper, iron, etc. It boasts a variety of climates: when a certain crop is reaped in some part of the country, in another part, another crop could be sown. This is possible only in such countries as the United States and China. In spite of all advantages, Iran is one of the second wheat importing countries in the world. If it does not prepare itself for the future development, it would face many threats in face of new global arrangements.
Iran has to adapt itself to prevailing world conditions – at least to economic ones. The only way to do so is to believe that the world counts on Iran’s 93 billion barrels of oil. This means Iran provides the fuel for the world. But the country has other resources, which it does not make proper use of. The energy price is very low here; labor is cheap and skilled human force is abundant.
There is a continuing competition between countries for attraction of investments. To win such a competition Iran should change its managerial outlooks. Sixty-four Iranian students who won international olympiads are studying at the United States’ universities. Many foreigners who “think different” are holding key positions in that country and contributing a lot to its growth and economic development.

People Do Not Think Alike

People are not always in harmony with the beliefs held by ruling systems. The world is moving toward globalization. No matter if people think Iranian, Pakistani or American; the important issue is that in the next century the thoughts of people are not at the service of one particular nation; thoughts of people belong to the whole world. A major weak point of nationwide development plans implemented after the Islamic Revolution has been that Iranian experts residing in foreign countries were not involved in their development.

Globalization of Economy

In the future, goods can be exchanged freely across geographical borders: A car may be manufactured, using spare parts made in Africa if they are cheaper there. One may not be surprised because physical borders are not a barrier for free trade in the next century.
Commodities would travel across the globe freely as ideas may do so. In the future, people would have closer communications and make use of each other’s achievements. Iranian scientist and philosopher, Avecina said one thousand years ago: The leader of man is his brain and the brain is a follower of the thoughts and beliefs in it.

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