CHAPTER 2 BUILDING GLOBAL SKILLS

1. What was the total value of U.S. imports from last year? Of U.S. exports to Belgium?

The total value of U.S. imports from Belgium last year is 17.3 billion US $ and U.S. exports to Belgium is 29.4 billion US $.

2. What is the total level of U.S. investments in Belgium? Of Belgium investments in the United States?

The total level of U.S. investments in Belgium is 70 billion US $ and Belgium investments in the United States is 88.7 billion US $.

3. Profile the economy of Belgium. What is its GDP? What is its per capita income? How fast is its economy growing? What are its major exports and imports? Who are its major trading partners?

The modern, private enterprise economy of Belgium has capitalised on its central geographic location, highly developed transport network, and diversified industrial and commercial base. The first country to undergo an on the continent of Europe in the early 19th century, Belgium developed an excellent transportation infrastructure of ports, canals, railways, and highways to integrate its industry with that of its neighbors. Industry is concentrated mainly in the populous in the north, around Brussels and in the two biggest Walloon cities, Liège and , along the sillon industriel. Belgium imports raw materials and semi-finished goods that are further processed and re-exported. Except for its coal, which is no longer economical to exploit, Belgium has few natural resources other than fertile soils. Nonetheless, most traditional industrial sectors are represented in the economy, including steel, textiles, refining, chemicals, food processing, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, electronics, and machinery fabrication. Despite the heavy industrial component, services account for 74.9% of GDP, while agriculture accounts for only 1% of GDP.

With exports equivalent to over two-thirds of GNP, Belgium depends heavily on world trade. Belgium's trade advantages are derived from its central geographic location and a highly skilled, multilingual, and productive work force. One of the founding members of the European Community, Belgium strongly supports deepening the powers of the present-day European Union to integrate European economies further. About three-quarters of its trade is with other EU countries. Together with the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Belgium is also one of Benelux member states.

Belgium's public debt is about 98% of GDP. The government succeeded in balancing its budget during the 2000–2008 period, and income distribution is relatively equal. Belgium began circulating the euro currency in January 2002. Economic growth and foreign direct investment dropped in 2008. In 2009 Belgium is likely to have negative growth, growing unemployment, and a 3% budget deficit, stemming from the worldwide banking crisis.

The GDP of Belgium is $419.6 billion and its per capita income is and its economy growth at the rate of -0.2%. The major exports of Belgium are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs and the major imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transport equipment, oil products. The major trading partners of Belgium are Germany 18.0%,France 16.1%,Netherlands 13.0%,United Kingdom 7.3%,United States 5.3%,Italy 4.4%,Netherlands 20.9%,Germany 14.2%,France 10.6%,United States 6.1%,United Kingdom 5.5%,Republic of Ireland 4.4%.

4. Profile the people of Belgium: What languages do they speak? What is their average educational level? What is their life expectancy? How fast is the population growing?

Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, which used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states. The region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, which covered more or less the same area. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture. From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, the area of Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, causing it to be dubbed the "Battlefield of Europe,"[10] a reputation strengthened by both World Wars.

Upon its independence, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution[11][12] and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa.[13] The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Flemish and the Francophones fueled by differences in language and the unequal economic development of Flanders and . This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement, and several governmental crises, the most recent — from 2007 to 2011 — being the longest.

The people of Belgium speak Dutch, French, German. Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians.[127] Among OECD countries in 2002, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in postsecondary education, at 42%.[128] Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over functional illiteracy.[126][129] The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world, being significantly higher than the OECD average.[130] Education being organised separately by each, the Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German- speaking Communities.Mirroring the dual structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the Liberal and the Catholic parties, the educational system is segregated within a secular and a religious segment. The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly Catholic branch education, is organised by religious authorities, although subsidized and supervised by the communities.

The Belgians are known to enjoy good health. According to 2012 estimates, the average life expectancy is 79.65 years.[63] Since 1960, life expectancy has, in line with the European average, grown by two months per year. Death in Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular disorders, neoplasms, disorders of the respiratory system and unnatural causes of death (accidents, suicide). Non-natural causes of death and cancer are the most common causes of death for females up to age 24 and males up to age 44.

Healthcare in Belgium is financed through both social security contributions and taxation. Health insurance is compulsory. Health care is delivered by a mostly private system of independent medical practitioners and hospitals. Most of the time each provided service is directly paid by the patient and reimbursed later on by health insurance companies.[144] Belgian health care system is supervised and financed by the federal government, the three Communities and the three Regions, i.e. six distinct Ministries (the Flemish Community and Region have merged).

Belgium had a population of 10,839,905 people on January 1, 2010, an increase of 601,000 in comparison to 2000 (10,239,085 inhabitants). Between 1990 (9,947,782 inhabitants) and 2000 the increase was only 291,000. The population of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels on January 1, 2010 was 6,251,983 (57.7%), 3,498,384 (32.3%) and 1,089,538 (10.1%), respectively.

CHAPTER 2 CLOSING CASE

1. Why has India been able to build a thriving software industry? What are the country’s advantages in this market? What are the country’s disadvantages?

India has been able to build a thriving software industry due to its good educational system which has enabled India to produce a large number of well and highly qualified soft ware engineers. India’s low labour cost has also contributed to the growth of the soft ware industry by increasing the demand for software experts by foreign firms. e.g. USA and European firms import Indian software experts due to the low wages (labour cost).

The country’s advantages in the market include the economic reforms which has made industry a powerful force for modernising Indian’s economy, the industry has also improved India’s economy inform of increased GDP through foreign direct investments.

However, India's lack of infrastructure and low standard of living make it difficult for programmers to remain working in India and the economic policies have failed to fully utilise the increasing talent from the University graduates which has led to increased brain drain or influx of It experts into America and the European countries, this high influx may affect India’s economy negatively in the long run, another disadvantage is the India’s overburdened telecommunication infrastructure and electrical grid which has made most industries look for alternative sources of energy,

2. How important is it for India to stem the flow of skilled engineers to countries like Canada, the United States and those in the EU?

Research on the issue of Indian brain drain remains divided. One view is that southward migration does not seem to pose a problem when it comes to the number of movers. This is supported by Zhao, Drew and Murray (2000) and more recent research by Helliwell (SRI-2006) and Finnie (SRI-2006a). The flow number is relatively small; much less than one per cent of the population per year, and the departure rate is decreasing, while return migration has been increasing since 2000.4 Data from the U.S. census supports the notion of brain exchange or brain circulation. It shows an increase in the temporary stays of Indians in the United States since the 1990s. More Indian-born people, especially those with university education, are living in the United States under temporary working arrangements. On the other hand, India receives large inflows of highly educated immigrants from non-OECD countries that are much larger than outflow of highly educated Indian-born emigrants to the United States (Gera and Songsakul, SRI-2005). From this perspective, the brain drain problem is marginal.

On the other side of the Indian brain drain issue, researchers including Harris (SRI-2004) and Harris, Easton and Schmitt (2006) see it as the "quality" concern arising from imperfect substitution between immigrant professionals (mainly from developing countries) and emigrating Indians. This is particularly pertinent in certain occupations such as physicians and scientists where the idea of "superstars" leaving India for the United States remains a contentious issue. It is nevertheless clear that the number of these workers was small, relative both to the total Indian labour force and to historical rates of out-migration. There are not many "superstars"; what makes these workers potentially so important is that, because of production externalities, they may make many of the workers around them more productive. A top executive who creates and chooses product lines that other entrepreneurs do not see, can generate immense amounts of wealth, not just for himself or herself, but for many thousands of workers, suppliers and customers associated with him.

The Indian labour force is subject to the immigration and emigration of the mobile workers, particularly in the high-skilled segment, as outlined above. The next question is what motivates highly skilled workers to move and what influences their choice of location. The next section reviews and discusses the fundamental drivers of skill migration.

3. What can India do to slow down its “brain drain”? Should the government sponsor programs like India Venture 2000 (discussed in “Wiring the World” on page 69

Developing countries, especially South Asia, are now the main source of migration to developed countries. This trend has led to concerns that the outflow of professionals is adversely affecting the system in developing countries and, hence, the health of the population. As a result, decision-makers in source countries are searching for policy options to slow down and even reverse the outflow of healthcare professionals. Is it possible to do so? Maybe not, bearing in mind the current political and economic situations of the source countries and globalization. The increasing demand for in the higher income countries is fuelled to a large extent by demographic trends, e.g. the ageing of the baby-boom generation.

The opening up of international borders for goods and labour, a key strategy in the current liberal global economy, is accompanied by a linguistic shift from ‘human capital flight’ and ‘brain drain’ to ‘professional mobility’ or ‘brain circulation’. Solutions should therefore be based on this wider perspective, interrelating health workforce imbalances between, but also within developing and developed countries.

At current levels, wage differentials between source and destination country are so large that small increases in healthcare wages in source countries are unlikely to affect significantly the supply of healthcare migrants. According to the results of a study in Pakistan, a small proportion of people funded for a doctorate face on return major nonfinancial disincentives for good performance. Thus the financial component of such flows is only part of the picture and in some cases not the major push or pull factor. Moreover, there is a need to review the social, political, and economic reasons behind the exodus, and to provide security and opportunities for further development locally. Lowering of standards should not be accepted; instead local conditions should be reviewed and rectified.

The troublesome is the potential acceleration of the India’s “brain drain”. By some estimates more than half the 100,000 engineers produced annually by India’s universities and technical institutes emigrate to the United States each year. Very few of these talented individuals make their way back home---less than 1 percent, claim government experts. This exodus of India’s precious human capital may worsen, harming the country’s development prospects,because the United States and Europe are contemplating reducing their immigration barriers for skilled foreigners.

CHAPTER 1 CLOSING CASE

1. As the internet becomes increasingly prevalent in international business, are there some industries that will be more affect than others? Why?

The Internet has had a powerful democratizing effect on modern society, and it's far from finished in reshaping industries. Here are the some industries.

HEALTHCARE

It's pretty embarrassing that in 2011 we're still talking about automating healthcare. It's an industry that thrives on the latest scientific research and cutting edge equipment to improve people's health, but can't adequately transfer patient information between healthcare providers and remains snowed under an avalanche of inefficient paperwork that drives up costs and wastes time -- at least that's the case in the U.S. However, the U.S. government is trying to push for an electronic medical record (EMR) for everyone in the U.S. by 2014. Although this latest push has already been over two years in the making, the details are still working themselves out and there are some legitimate concerns about it. Nevertheless, the move to electronic medical records -- and a portable EMR that the patient (not the healthcare provider) controls -- is long overdue. And, when it happens, it will not only shift the investment in healthcare dollars away from old processes and products and into a lot more IT systems, but it also has the potential to give patients more ownership of their own healthcare experience, which could have unforeseen consequences for pricing, provider choice, and provider accountability.

BOOK PUBLISHING

Amazon has completely changed the way most people buy books, and it's done it in two ways. First, it made it fast and easy to buy books online, and at a huge discount. Because of Amazon, book-buying was one of the first things people become comfortable purchasing over the Internet. A big part of that was because Amazon offered deep discounts like the big chain stores, Barnes & Noble and Borders, but carried a much larger selection of obscure titles like many of the independent booksellers. Second, Amazon's Kindle has popularized e-books, which takes the process of delivering paper goods completely out of the equation. Instead, the Kindle delivers electronic files over the Internet to an e-reader, tablet, or smartphone. While this has been a revolution for consumers, the Internet has done very little to revolutionize the publishing process for books. It is still ruled by publishing houses, who serve as the gatekeepers and filters for what gets published and decide which titles deserve the most promotion (and potential sales). However, just as it did for news publishing, the Internet is about to completely democratize the publishing process for books. The combination of e-readers, electronic audiobooks, and print-on-demand have lowered the barriers to entry and made it so that authors no longer need publishing houses. They can take their work straight to the masses -- or, more accurately, straight to their niche audiences, in most cases. This completely changes the economics of book publishing for an author by making it very profitable to sell only 5,000- 10,000 books. In the old publishing world, that's about the average for most books and the author makes hardly any money and the publishing house considers it unsuccessful (the big titles are responsible for most of the sales and most of the payments for authors). In the new Internet world, there are going to be a lot more books published (as e-books) and lot more titles to sort through, but it's also going to become a much more democratic process and there will be room for more people to make a living as niche authors. The traditional publishers will morph into promotional agents for the really big titles.

FINANCIAL PAYMENTS

It's not that financial transactions have been completely unaffected by the Internet. Stock trading has been totally revolutionized. PayPal and eBay have had a major impact on the peer- to-peer exchange of goods between people and how they pay each other for them. Most people now use online banking to track their accounts, and a lot of them use it to pay their bills. However, the way most people pay for stuff have been largely untouched by the Internet. Most of us still carry a wallet full of plastic cards with magnetic strips in order to connect with a merchant and tell it which account to draw from in order to pay for a purchase. That's about to change, thanks to a combination of smartphones and the mobile Internet. In what is sometimes called the "electronic wallet" or "digital wallet," consumers will soon be able to carry all of their accounts as digital tokens in their smartphones and then interface with a merchant to verify identity (with two-factor authentication) and choose which account to pay from. There are lots of systems and standards that are competing for a way to make this work. Near Field Communications (NFC) is a technology that is designed for this, but it requires new chips that would have to be integrated into all future smartphones. Visa is running digital wallet trials, but they'll want to take their traditional cut of the action. I have to think that both merchants and consumers will look for a way to cut Visa (as well as Mastercard and American Express) out of the picture and find a standard transaction system that can work using existing smartphones, which now make up 40% of all cellphones in the U.S. (and an even higher percentage in parts of Europe and Asia). This phenomenon will also make it easier for small businesses to quickly and inexpensively go into business and be able to accept payments. So again, this is the Internet having another democratizing effect on modern society. 2. Are certain kinds of firms (varying by size, industry, age, and other characteristics) more likely than others to be affected the growth of international e-commerce? Why?

Having a global presence, going global and globalization are all expressions that we have been hearing and reading about a lot lately. While it may seem obvious that they all pertain to launching products and services on a worldwide scale, globalization itself can be further broken down into internationalization and localization—two concepts that have and will continue to have a huge impact on translators.

Globalization has dramatically increased the demand for translation in recent years. As translators, we can expect not only to be called upon more often to provide translation services, but also to be asked for input into cultural aspects. An American business research institute estimated that one third of the $11 billion (US) world translation market in 1999 was in globalization; for this reason alone, translators and language specialists have a vested interest in finding out what this rapidly expanding business area involves.

As most of us are aware, the Internet has been a catalyst in breaking down conventional trade barriers, and it would appear that never before has it been easier to access new markets. With the advent of the World Wide Web, followed by e-commerce, retailers can now sell their wares around the globe simply by having a Web site. In fact, by virtue of having products available on- line, a retailer is, in essence, global. However, this does not necessarily guarantee the product’s success in an international market. As many companies have painfully learned, reaching a new international market requires more than speaking the language of potential clients. It also requires an in-depth cultural knowledge of the market in question.

To illustrate the importance of having linguistic and cultural knowledge of the target market, we have only to look at one failed attempt. The example often cited is the botched effort of marketing the Chevy Nova in Mexico. Obviously, the people in marketing did not realize that "No va" literally means "doesn’t go" in Spanish. For marketers, organizing a marketing campaign from their home country is no easy task. As a result, a number of companies started offering globalization solutions, which are in fact services to help other companies access international markets. The term globalization has become pervasive in recent years because of the large number of high-tech companies using globalization solutions to launch software products worldwide in a number of languages simultaneously.

Globalization is an extremely complex process requiring input from software engineers, user interface specialists and linguists. It involves both internationalization and localization, which are essential for successfully entering global markets. Internationalization is a multistep process whereby a product is pared down to a neutral or basic form so that it can be quickly and easily modified to suit any target market. This is by no means new in the world of international marketing; however, the process itself has become highly sophisticated with the development of software internationalization solutions. Any Web site selling products on a global scale must also be internationalized so that it can display different fonts, characters (Chinese, Arabic), accents, dates, currencies, addresses and number systems ("." as a place holder instead of ","), to name just a few. In addition, it must provide enough space to allow for languages that require more space than the source language. Internationalization provides the necessary framework so that a product can in turn be localized. To understand how important internationalizing Web sites is, just think of having your heart set on buying something on the Net, only to find out that the Web form doesn’t have a code for your province or won’t accept your postal code.

Localization is the other part of the process. It involves adapting a product so that it appears as though it has been produced locally. Translation is a large part of the localization process but additional emphasis is put on integrating target market cultural elements. A well-localized product will use a translator and a marketing specialist from the target market to ensure that the language conventions (spelling, capitalization, punctuation), jargon, colloquialisms, colours, symbols, humour, images and graphics, etc. will be well received and, above all, will not be offensive.

Localization studies have revealed interesting information on language and cultural aspects in global marketing. A personal favourite is that some companies have miraculously discovered that certain marketing campaigns are more successful if regional spelling is used. For example, an English Canadian may not continue reading promotional material if a different regional spelling is used. The reason is simple: when the spelling is not adapted to the market, potential customers assume that the product is not intended for them. It seems big business has finally understood that market and language are not interchangeable.

Studies have also shown that our own cultural bias may lead us to believe that certain cultural aspects are international. With respect to the use of colour, some hues should be avoided at all costs in certain markets. It has been noted that purple signifies grief and mourning in Mexico and Brazil, whereas light green used in a humorous context in Muslim countries may be offensive because it has a religious connotation. The use of red may also not go over very well in former Soviet Bloc Eastern European markets. The use of symbols is another area of focus. In the past, an American-type mailbox was used in localization projects, but it was later found that in European markets, the mailbox was often interpreted as a garbage can. The rose to many is symbolic of courtly love, and although it does have this connotation in France, it is also the symbol of the French socialist party.

There are a number of cultural issues that can be resolved only by employing translators and marketing specialists who are native members of the target market. Consequently, companies