Is Southeast Asia where it’s at in business these days?
I was watching a youtube video of Scott Eddy a few weeks ago. He is an American who likes living overseas. He’s lived in Spain, Michigan, Miami, a few other places, and now in Thailand. He is a serial entrepreneur, master Twitterer, marketing aficionado, and very inspiring as a motivational speaker as well. In any case, he is of the opinion that Southeast Asia is the best place to be in the world from a business standpoint. He sees a different mentality there, fast growth, and excitement.
India & Taiwan
I agree with Scott on this point. I see it in my own way of course. I have not lived in Thailand before, but I spent some time in Taiwan and India of all places. I have witnessed the economic growth, and I have seen the passion for business growth. Taiwanese breathe business. It is not something they do — they live for it and die for it. In India, every time I went, there were visible signs of economic improvement.
There were better cars, newer buildings, and people were trying new types of cuisines and even wines. I didn’t see the passion for business in India. India is divided by caste, and it is more the Gujaratis and Sindhis who are talented at business. I didn’t meet that many people from those communities as I was mainly with South Indians. But, in India, the quick rise in standard of living, prices, and the quick change in lifestyle was all around me.
America — the land of lost enthusiasm
What I will say, is that I see America as a place where there is not much burning passion for business. I meet a few people once in a while who have the love, but most people are just getting by and thinking small. People’s goals here are to grow their business, buy a nice house, and fly to Vegas for the weekend. Thinking big and being willing to sacrifice doesn’t seem to be an American way of existing.
The quality of the work in America has really gone down too in the last few decades. I don’t see America being a wealthy country for that much longer. The government will go belly up soon, and the people don’t have the drive to really recover from what is going to happen to us.
Dubai & the Arab World
The Emirates is a very unique part of the world. The Northern Arab countries like Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq are divided by religious sects and their countries have been ravaged by genocide and war.
Meanwhile, the Gulf Arabs all have countries with huge expat communities from around the world. Instead of dividing themselves by sect, they seem to unite the world under their Halal umbrella. Although the Saudi’s are not quite as welcoming to their foreign guests, expats in the Emirates (which is where Dubai is) and other gulf countries report having a great lifestyle.
The think that attracts me to Dubai is that there is an atmosphere of business exuberance. There are many people with lofty goals who are passionate about growing their business to heights unheard of. The architecture of Dubai reflects this passion. The tallest building in the world is in Dubai. The Sheikh made sure it was much taller than originally planned so that they could out-do everyone else. Their airport is
one of the busiest in the world. New buildings are popping up all over the place. Those who are not financially responsible have to abort their construction half-way through which is disastrous. But, at least the passion is there. When I look around America, there is not much new going on other than what Apple and Samsung are doing — and a few new frozen yogurt places perhaps. There is always a new social media site that is hot, but that is about it.
Summary
Basically, Asia is bustling throughout the continent. Each country is growing and dreaming their own way, but they are almost all growing. America seems to have lost its passion and is going further into debt. I want to travel and spend more time in the countries where the action is. That spirit of business is contagious and it can rub off on me. Maybe I can rub off on them in a good way too!
As far as answering the question of whether Southeast Asia the best place to be in the world for business right now — I’d have to say that it is one of the better places. It really depends what industry you are in and where you gel the most. But, I will say that as far as business inspiration goes, America is definitely no longer the place.