S. Korea, five other emerging economies to lead economic power shift: World Bank

By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, May 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and five other emerging economies will account for more than half of all global growth by 2025, driving a major economic power shift, a World Bank report said Tuesday. The report, titled "Global Development Horizons 2011, Multipolarity: The New Global Economy," projects the economies of South Korea, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Russia will grow on average by 4.7 percent a year between 2011 and 2025. "These successful economies will help drive growth in lower income countries through cross-border commercial and financial transactions," the report said. Advanced economies such as Europe, Japan and the United States are forecast to grow by 2.3 percent over the same period, the report said, noting they "will remain prominent in the global economy, with all playing a core role in fueling global growth." "The fast rise of emerging economies has driven a shift whereby the centers of economic growth are distributed across developed and developing economies," said Justin Yifu Lin, the World Bank's chief economist and senior vice president for development economics. "It's a truly multipolar world. Emerging market multinationals are becoming a force in reshaping global industry, with rapidly expanding South-South investment and FDI inflows. International financial institutions need to adapt fast to keep up." FDI stands for foreign direct investment; South-South investment refers to investment between developing countries. The report also suggested that the international monetary system will no longer be dominated by the greenback by 2025. "Over the next decade or so, China's size and the rapid globalization of its corporations and banks will likely mean a more important role for the renminbi," Mansoor Dailami, manager of emerging trends at the World Bank, said. "The most likely global currency scenario in 2025 will be a multi-currency one centered around the dollar, the euro, and the renminbi." China overtook Japan to become the world's second biggest economy last year, with some analysts forecasting China will surpass the U.S. within a couple of decades. China has been promoting the use of its currency renminbi, or yuan, to settle payments with other countries with the aim of reducing dependence on the U.S. dollar.