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From the Editor...

Ed Slack, Editor of IBI MAGAZINE
Questions to answer?
Ed Slack Recently a boatbuilder told me that he was constantly being quizzed about market recovery in the marine industry and whether he had seen evidence of any ‘green shoots’. His less than sanguine response – that it was ‘brown’ rather than green shoots making themselves evident – had become well-rehearsed over the numerous business functions and boat shows he’d attended since the crisis hit. The message was clear – seed and fertilize as much as you like but nothing will grow in a drought.

Come the Spring and that drought appears to be over. The established marine markets on both sides of the Atlantic have stabilised – sure the message continues to be mixed but those green shoots are there. The industry has been forced to re-evaluate the potential of the emerging markets such as Russia, China, South Korea and India – the capacity for growth (exponential in some cases) remains as it always has but the reality check of the last 18 months means those trying to establish themselves will have to play a much longer waiting game and be patient.
Governments are still eager to attract marine investment – not least as a boon to tourist development – but the bold plans have largely been scaled back or shelved ready to be dusted off when prosperity returns. One region that’s emerged quickest and brightest from the gloom is Brazil, which could yet realise its long-standing leisure marine potential on the back of an economy that has faired better than most recently.

Waiting, hawk-eyed for those signs of recovery was the easy bit. Now as the industry shifts to the precarious, but potentially rewarding stage of second-guessing where that growth will be fastest and in terms of new markets, where’s most likely to mature most fully, a whole new set of complex questions look set to test our boatbuilder.