THERE is no escaping global megatrends because it is almost certain that nobody can, says FMF group of companies managing director Ram Bajekal.
Mr Bajekal highlighted this while speaking at the 45th Fiji Institute of Accountants congress at the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa in Sigatoka yesterday.
He made a presentation to the more than 450 delegates on the five global megatrends and it’s applicability and adaptation from a Fiji perspective.
The global megatrends include: technological breakthrough; demographic and social change; shift in global economic power; climate change and resource scarcity; and rapid urbanisation.
“All the megatrends that are seen globally apply to Fiji and it’s just rapidity which is the differentiator,” he said.
“Some of them come in faster, some of them slow but for sure they are all coming here.”
Mr Bajekal also reiterated that we are able to cope with them, how well we predict and forecast them, what sort of impact and our assessment in taking steps to mitigate the negative effects and benefit from the positives the megatrends they could.
“So whether its urbanisation, whether its demographic changes, technology and digital revolution, whether its climate change and resource scarcity,” he said.
“I think all these trends are there for sure.”
Mr Bajekal said for example, technology was like a double edge sword which brought both opportunities and threats.
One such threat, he said, was the threat of technology on human labour.
“It will be taken away by shared platforms, artificial intelligence and robotics and it may come faster than we believe,” he said.
Mr Bajekal however stressed the need to spend more time focusing on the future and looking at how these trends are and its impacts on people.
“And the good thing is there are lessons out there in the global arena,” he said.
“So it’s just about trying to smartly assess what they can mean and putting in place plans that can help us to benefit from them rather than suffer the consequences.”
