Saturday, April 20 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
THE 3D printer has gone commercial. Global toys retailer Toys ‘R’ Us ran off hundreds of 3D printed rubber ducks as (expensive) souvenirs for youngsters enjoying the appearance of a giant duck in Hong Kong Harbour in August. Developers are now looking to the next frontier – 3D printed food.
THE mobile Internet, the ‘Internet of Things’, automation of knowledge work, cloud technology, advanced robotics and 3D printing are among the elements that will shape tomorrow’s world, and could have an annual global economic impact by 2025 of between US$14 trillion and US$33 trillion, according to the McKinsey Global Institute . . .
CHINA is grappling with rising unemployment among its university graduates. They learn by rote, which lends itself to plagiarism, says former investment banker Timothy Beardson in a book which lifts a veil on real challenges facing the emerging giant . . .
ONGOING globalisation, led in part by new technologies which create new supply chains, will see continuing growth in the air cargo industry, says the man who built Emirates into the world’s largest air cargo carrier . . .
135 million middle-class consumers spending US$1.8 trillion by 2030
APINDO’s Sofjan Wanandi on Indonesia’s weaknesses
INDONESIA is looking outside ASEAN for future markets, but will push to restrict exports of some agricultural products when it hosts the WTO meeting in Bali in December . . .
CHINA is becoming the largest market for everything, says Morgan Stanley equity strategist Jonathan Garner. He believes China’s domestic consumption is already at 46 per cent of GDP, not 35 per cent as claimed in official statistics . . .
CREATIVE economy has been defined as creating economic value from existing knowledge and/or technology, says Mari Pangestu, who has added this new responsibility to her Ministry of Tourism portfolio, to nurture future growth . . .
WESTPAC, which recently opened a full Branch in Mumbai, says it is customer-led, and future expansion will follow Australia’s trade flows into Asia. Westpac is also moving into new areas of trade finance . . .
INVESTMENT in national resources industries was the major catalyst for revival of the trade finance market . . .
HONG KONG – A new HSBC survey has found that 54 per cent of Chinese businesses will offer discounts of up to five per cent for transactions settled in RMB.
“There are very real monetary benefits for businesses using the RMB – a five per cent saving across a buyer’s total China spend could be quite significant,” says Simon Constantinides, HSBC’s Regional Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance.
FROM January 2014, Singapore’s income tax authorities will be able to access client information from banks and investment trusts. Global tax compliance is being tightened . . .
POLITICS, says Narongchai Akrasanee, is holding the Thailand economy back, but a more deep-seated, underlying problem is the nation’s education system. Narongchai, a former Thai Commerce Minister and well-known economist on the international stage, says that between 10 million and 15 million Thais are not fully employed because Thailand’s education system is not able to produce the workers required by industry. And stop-gap solutions, such as companies filling staff needs by establishing their own education centres, will not solve the long-term problems of the country. He also worries that political fighting will break out again . . .
A FLOOD of Chinese exports to Brazil and Chile has led to ‘de-industrialisation’ of their economies, according to a new analysis . . .
DUE DILIGENCE and regulatory compliance work is being undertaken on the first batch of some 10 Chinese companies — ranging from high-tech to manufacturing and logistics — to list on Australia’s newest exchange, the Asia Pacific Exchange (APX).