Global trade is moving beyond old routes. Here’s where it’s heading

Dubai: Globalisation is shifting shape, with new trade and investment corridors strengthening links between Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, even as traditional routes face strain. The transaction is being described as a structural change in how growth, capital and influence now move across borders.

Opening the Emerging Economies Forum, Manoj Ladwa, Founder and Chairman of India Global Forum, said economies long described as emerging are now central to global growth dynamics.

“They are no longer peripheral to the global system. They are absolutely central to the system,” Ladwa said, noting that emerging economies account for close to half of global GDP growth and host the world’s youngest and fastest-urbanising populations.

Shifts in geopolitics, supply chains and capital allocation have accelerated the move away from dependence on a narrow set of markets. Growth strategies anchored to a single currency, corridor or region are becoming harder to sustain in a more fragmented global environment, he added.

UAE–India partnership in focus

Against that backdrop, he cited the UAE–India relationship as an example of how regional collaboration is evolving through trade, capital and people-to-people ties. Ladwa said the partnership reflects how economic integration is increasingly driven by networks that cut across regions.

“This relationship has evolved into one of the most dynamic partnerships in the world,” he said, pointing to the role of people in sustaining momentum. India’s global diaspora of more than 30 million, including a large community in the UAE, acts as what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described as “a living bridge connecting economies, cultures and ideas”.

Diaspora networks, Ladwa said, are playing a growing role in linking capital with opportunity and supporting businesses expanding across borders.

Digital infrastructure as a growth enabler

Digital public infrastructure featured prominently in the discussion on how emerging economies are reshaping global integration. India was highlighted for building nationwide platforms spanning identity, payments and service delivery that have brought large sections of the population into the formal economy.

“That’s not just innovation,” Ladwa said. “It’s indigenous, relevant innovation at its most potent. Solutions designed with skill, scale and speed and, most importantly, affordability, but with global relevance.”

Similar approaches are emerging across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, where technology is being used to support inclusion, reduce costs and improve delivery at scale.

Huda Al Hashimi, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Strategic Affairs, echoed this sentiment, saying the global development narrative has shifted, with economies increasingly shaping systems aligned with their own strengths and constraints.

“Today, emerging economies are no longer asking, how do we catch up? They’re asking, how do we design forward,” she said, adding that growth models detached from domestic institutions leave countries exposed to external decisions.

Clarity, she said, has become a critical economic asset. Governments that align policy, regulation and investment behind measurable goals send stronger signals to markets. In the UAE, that clarity is anchored in the We the UAE 2031 vision, which includes targets to double GDP, expand non-oil exports and grow foreign trade.

Speed and capital

Al Hashimi also pointed to bureaucracy as a constraint on competitiveness, saying complexity slows investment and discourages entrepreneurship. The UAE’s zero government bureaucracy programme, which eliminated thousands of procedures and sharply reduced service delivery times, was cited as an example of how simplicity can improve economic outcomes.

Capital markets, she added, remain essential to sustaining momentum. Transparent regulation and resilient financial systems help economies attract investment while supporting inclusion and stability.