Emerging markets expert Mark Mobius expects stock markets in those countries to begin a recovery this year.

"We take a five-year outlook, but I believe (2009) will mark the beginning of the next bull phase for emerging markets," the executive chairman of Temple Asset Management told Bloomberg TV.

Monetary stimulus around the globe will trigger this rally, he says.

"The amount of money being pumped into the system, whether in the United States, Japan, Russia, or China, has to find a home," he explains.

"Now that home is in the vaults of banks. As interest rates come down, banks will be forced to start lending. Then money will find its way into the economies of these countries."

In the meantime, Mobius says, "we're having a wonderful time buying tremendous bargains."

For value investors, this represents a once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunity.

"We've been through this before in different degrees," Mobius notes.

There have been nine bull and bear markets since 1987. "The key thing to remember is that the bull market lasts longer than the bear market, and the bull market goes up more than the bear market goes down," Mobius says.

Others are bullish on emerging markets, too.

"We're comfortable arguing for outperformance of emerging markets compared to developed markets over the next couple of years," Allan Conway, head of emerging markets at Schroders, told Marketwatch.