The emerging global market, combined with continued industrialization of developing countries, will create significant opportunities for engineers and the companies that employ them, according to a report released by ASME International. Titled The Globalization of Engineering Practice, the report also cautions engineers to be mindful of all the unique challenges of doing business across borders.

The report assesses nine emerging markets-South Africa, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, India, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico-based on each country's economic growth and stability, openness to new ideas and demographic information like population growth and the number of engineers and scientists employed.

The report says that Hong Kong's bilingual ability translates into an excellent environment for selling consumer products, engineering services and heavy machinery. India's long-term plan to expand power generation capacity opens it up for engineering opportunities. And in China, current state-guided development plans emphasize energy, transportation and telecommunications.

Advanced telecommunications worldwide, as well as the Internet, will help "promote collaborative learning," and "make it cheaper and simpler to conduct business across national borders," the report says.

In order to fully benefit from the opportunities, the report urges engineers to let go of any nationalistic attitudes. "No engineer can recognize and seize opportunities while viewing the world as an 'us versus them' proposition," says the report, which also points out that engineers will have to increase their understanding of multilateral trading and financing systems.

Differences in technical standards and intellectual property protection are also discussed at length in the report.

The Globalization of Engineering Practice was prepared for ASME by Global Foresight Associates, a network of professional futurists. The report (No. AF0198) is available to ASME members for $15 and non-members for $25 by calling 800-843-2763.