Jim O'Neil
Jim O'Neill has said that Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey could be the new faces of the global economy in the coming decades. Reuters

Jim O'Neill has hailed Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey (Mint) as the new frontier of the global economy, which that could replace his well-coined acronym for the emergent Bric economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

According to O'Neill, who first referred to Bric economies in 2001, as the new economic powerhouses will typically be Mexico, Nigeria, Indonesia and Turkey.

O'Neill, who is presenting a four part series for the BBC Radio 4 that profiles each of these new countries, said that Mints had a number of advantages which would bring them to the top of the economic table if they reached their potential.

These countries have young populations, they are well placed geographically and three of them are commodities producers, in contrast to the Brics.

In an article for BBC news website previewing his programme, O'Neill expanded on the advantage that the Mints have.

Mexico was fortunate to be next to the United States while Indonesia was in a prime position as it is in Southeast Asia; the centre of global growth in recent years, and ties to China, he wrote.

Three of the Mints including Mexico, Indonesia and Nigeria are also commodity producers compared to two of the Brics that were Brazil and Russia that if developed properly could be beneficial said O'Neill.

Mexico and Nigeria in particular are reforming their energy markets, he noted.

Mint versus Bric

Mexicans and Turkish people earn about the same level of money per head annually at $10,000 (£6,100, €7,343), while those in Indonesia earn $3,500 per head, with Nigerians earning about the same level per head as workers in India, at about $1,500.

Meanwhile a person in Brazil earns $11,300, a Russian $14,000 and in China $6,500.

Nigeria and Turkey had the best chance of surprising the world according to O'Neill as many of their problems are already known while Mexico might disappoint due to the high expectations of it.

Yet, he saw challenges for Indonesia as it needed to improve its infrastructure and be more dynamic in its entrepreneurialism more outside commodities.

O'Neill said that he thought that it might take 30 years for the Mints to join the world's 10 largest economies.