AALEP SEEKS EXPANSION ABROAD

AALEP is looking at the new economies of the world for expansion because it is convinced that collaborative efforts with local lobbyists will provide opportunities to build mutually beneficial knowledge and trust. Today the top ten largest economies in terms of total GDP measured at purchasing power parity (PPP) are the USA, China, Japan, India, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK), France, Brazil and Italy. PPP is a method of measuring the relative purchasing power of different countries' currencies over the same types of goods and services, thus allowing a more accurate comparison of living standards. By 2020, there will be major shifts in the world economic order in which emerging economies will become more important. China will overtake the USA to become the largest world economy in 2017 and the top 10 largest economies by GDP in PPP terms will be the following: China, USA, India, Japan, Russia, Germany, Brazil, UK, France and Mexico. The rise in importance of emerging economies will have implications for global consumption, investment and the environment. Large consumer markets in emerging economies will present enormous opportunities for businesses. The rise in economic importance of emerging countries will also lead to a rise in their global political influence and hence lobbyists have a role to play. Based on the predicted shift on the global economic balance of power AALEP holds the view that lobbyists must develop global public affairs capabilities. This means the development of a global public affairs network, building relations with policy makers, getting a better understanding of emerging markets and local specific public affairs practices. It means increasing their knowledge of global public affairs concepts and their application to the profession. As justly remarked by Delip Cherian, one of the foremost lobbyist practitioner in India, “lobbying has gone global and lobbyists cannot act in isolation any longer when their clients’ interests are rapidly expanding internationally. Lobbyists need to forge strategic alliances with other local lobbying firms to help their clients compete successfully and operate internationally, understanding and dealing with complex government policies and shareholder demands”.    Increasingly lobbyists need to operate strategically in a globalized world. Indeed, globalization has contributed to the exponential growth in the demand for cross-national lobbying- global lobbying. AALEP has just started initiating promising contacts in key countries for the development of sustained cooperation.