Three GCC firms tipped to make global impact

Three companies in the Gulf region have been named in a list of 100 Global Challengers from emerging markets that are tipped to reshape industries around the world in the future.

The list, compiled by Boston Consulting Group, named Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Saudi Basic Industries Corpoeration (SABIC) among the 100 companies that are growing so quickly overseas that they will impact global industries.

Also included was Egypt's El Sewedy Electric.

SCG said the 100 companies were spending $1.7trn a year to fuel growth—creating opportunities.

In its report Allies and Adversaries, BCG found that these companies are outpacing household names in the US and Europe and are having a profound impact on the global economy.

They came from 17 countries — with companies from Colombia and Qatar joining the list for the first time.

In the past five years, these companies — many of them little known in the West — have added 1.4 million jobs.

Their average revenue was $26.5bn in 2011, the most recent year for which figures are available, the report said.

It added that in the same year, they purchased more than $1.7trn of goods and services and invested more than $330bn in capital expenditures.

“If ever there was a wake-up call for business leaders in the West, this is it,” said David C Michael, co-author of the report and head of BCG’s globalisation practice.

“We have been monitoring the rise of global challenger companies for nearly a decade, and the ambition of these companies — what we call the accelerator mindset — has never been stronger.”

The report calls on business leaders in the West to follow the example of other multinationals that are working with this new generation of companies.

Twenty-six of the companies were new to the list in 2013, having displaced other companies whose attempts to globalise were met with obstacles.

Several of the displaced companies were from the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Once home to 84 challengers, these nations now account for 69 companies on BCG’s list.

The report was based on a comprehensive screening of thousands of companies from emerging markets conducted by BCG experts in each such market.

Companies generally needed to have annual revenues totalling at least $1bn and overseas revenues of at least 10 percent of total revenues.

The report also named oil giant Saudi Aramco and Dubai's Emirates Airline as former global challengers that have graduated to sustain prominent global positions.