FX.co ★ How new business clusters are born

According to forecasts of the chief economist of the consulting company Knight Frank James Roberts, in the future, the number of urban residents in the world will increase by 380 million. This will require the creation of new transport and energy systems and the modernization of infrastructure. According to many experts, construction projects in developing countries help to master vacant territories. Analysts identified the main international projects that contribute to the creation of new large-scale business clusters.

The rapid development of business clusters in China helps to expand rail routes to Russia, Iran and Turkey. In order to fund infrastructure projects abroad, a $40 billion Silk Road Fund was created. The government plans to unite Kunming (south of China) and Singapore with the help of railway lines. It is expected that the route will pass through Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

A number of large-scale projects are being implemented in Africa. For example, the transport corridor LAPSSET in Kenya. The railway, highway and oil pipeline will connect the port and the refinery in Lamu with Nairobi and the borders of Ethiopia and Southern Sudan. Now in Lamu preparations for construction are going. The new railway line between the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, and the Red Sea will start functioning in 2016. Large-scale railway construction projects started in Nigeria too - a line with a length of 1,400 km will connect Lagos and Calabar. In Lecky, east of Lagos, a new port is being built.

Experts at Knight Frank forecast the emergence of new business clusters around super-airports. For example, the cargo capacity of the international airport of Al Maktoum in Dubai is planned to increase 16 times from the current 1 million tons of cargo per year. Now Dubai International Airport is the busiest airport in the world with the capacity of 72 million passengers a year. The international airports of Singapore and Hong Kong will be adapted to pass 82 million and 102 million passengers a year.

India is building a giant industrial corridor of Delhi-Mumbai, along which "smart" cities, new ports and 6 airports will be built. One of such places will be Dholera, having received the status of a special economic zone. The Indian authorities are counting on a threefold increase in industrial production and a fourfold increase in exports. IBM and Cisco have signed a contract to create a "smart" city in Dholera. The leading transport artery of the industrial corridor will be the railway.

The expansion of the Panama Canal will increase the carrying capacity of vessels passing through it to 13,000 containers. Now only Panamax vessels carrying 5,000 containers pass through the canal. International ports will be adapted to receive ships of the Post Panamax class, which requires the expansion of their capacities. The Suez Canal, doubled in size, also contributes to the development of port infrastructure.