Does Malaysia know what its sitting on?

I’m here in Kuala Lumpur for Malaysia’s World Internet Summit and I’ll be speaking later today about the exciting potential for Viral Spiral Marketing in this country.

I’ll be interested to learn what delegates think of their impending position in the Internet Marketing community because it seems to me that Malaysia and Singapore are sitting on the mother of all gold mines in this industry.

Today’s newspapers spoke again of the impact on the world of increasing oil prices. For the third time in a generation, we are told, we are heading towards an oil crisis with global implications as the price per barrel teases the symbolic $100 mark.

But this time it is different. This time the price increase is driven by demand. Previously it has been caused by political pressure or constricted supply either in the Middle East, or Russia.

China’s consumption of oil has trebled since 1980. The current oil price, and potential increases in the future, are in correlation with the rise of the middle class in China and India as it steadily replaces mass poverty.

Look at these charts to see how oil consumption in China compares with Europe and the Americas:

And what else, aside of oil, do middle class consumers need?

Information… The Internet.

I believe the staggering increase in oil shown in China over the past 20 years is nothing compared to the forthcoming increase in Internet use in that country.

And when it comes to Internet Marketing, who in the world is best placed to teach them?

The cultural and language differences between China and the western world make it difficult for the main-stays of Internet Marketing to have a role in China’s growth. It seems more likely that it will come from her neighbours, in particular Malaysia and Singapore.

I’ll be speaking about this later today to the delegates of World Internet Summit Malaysia, and I will be interested to gather how prepared they are for their role in China’s Internet growth.

Most Commented Posts

• A Few Minutes With Tim (264)
• Part 2: Broadening The Funnel (36)
• Build it FAST Lesson 1 (29)
• Thanks for visiting! (24)
• The Freedom Class: Here’s how it is… (24)