McKinsey estimates that net material savings in a Circular Economy on a global scale could reach US$1 trillion by 2025. The benefit would be highest in the automotive sector, followed by machinery and equipment . . .
TrendLines
August 28, 2015
THE bottom line is that Australian companies need to look at Singapore not as a destination in itself but as a springboard to the wider Asian region . . .
August 10, 2015
THE World Bank is taking a sanguine, but cautious view of likely reaction to the first upward movement of US interest rates. It believes the first real impact will be on interest costs, which could impact emerging and developing economies over coming months . . .
August 10, 2015
DATA measured over 40 years from 26 countries in the Asia-Pacific should stimulate debate among policymakers and societies to consider the
consequences of relentless growth . . .
July 24, 2015
MYANMAR will be the rising star of intra-Asian investment , according to a new research report from the Economist Intelligence Unit which says 42 per cent of 525 senior executives intend to open a new factory or office there over the next five to 10 years . . .
July 24, 2015
CHINESE companies can potentially add up to five per cent to their quotes in foreign currencies to capture the cost of bearing exchange risk. If RMB is used, these costs can be removed . . .
July 24, 2015
ONE environmentalist describes it as the most dramatic turnaround of any global green villain ever seen, but Indonesia’s Asia Pulp and Paper, part of the Sinar Mas Group, confirms it is now committed to sustainability – even, perhaps, with a sense of stewardship. Danilo Benvenuti, APP’s Regional Sales Director for Europe, explains why . . .
July 24, 2015
HONG KONG — Chief Financial Officers and Treasurers are increasingly willing to go mobile in their professional lives, discarding decades-old methods of transferring funds —such as banker’s drafts and cheques — in favour of payments executed on smartphones and tablets. Corporate customers have used HSBC’s mobile corporate banking platform, HSBCnet Mobile, to make a staggering US$50 billion in payments.
Since the launch of the first mobile banking app, banks have primarily invested in mobile innovations focussed on retail banking customers. HSBC says the process of checking a balance or transferring cash has become increasingly intuitive — in some instances, another person’s mobile number is all that is needed to make a payment.
June 29, 2015
MEETING client needs in Australia and China is an enduring need for both China accounting major, ShineWing, and the Melbourne accounting firm, Moore Stephens, as they watch the burgeoning increase in two-way trade and investment between the two countries . . .
June 16, 2015
WITH the online share of China’s retail market up 11-fold in six years, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is warning that China’s large department stores face the prospect of credit rating downgrades . .
June 16, 2015
THE Postman is ringing twice (with apologies to Jack Nicholson). As its traditional business model, based on letter deliveries, begins to fade into history, Australia Post is embracing the opportunities created by a strategic decision 10 years ago to enter a logistics joint venture with China Post.
Fulfillment of e-commerce business — the ability to consolidate orders and deliver parcels quickly to any consumer — is one of the hottest games in town today. And with China emerging as the world’s biggest e-commerce market, China Post and Australia Post are well-positioned to win further market share, both in China and in broader Asia. Both entities are committed to further investments in their venture.
Australia Post has also established alliances with Alibaba and China UnionPay to open the door for Australian exporters to some 180 million active online consumers in China . . .
June 15, 2015
THE Perth-based education and management training company, AAMC Training Group, has stepped up its presence in four Asian countries – India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore — following success in clinching a three-year MOU with India’s Gujarat Knowledge Society and the signing an agreement with the Government of Gujarat.
June 15, 2015
THE devil is in the detail. Lawyer Jim Harrowell, Chairman of the Australia China Business Council, says the focus of the China-Australia FTA in terms of services seems to be on the Shanghai Free Trade Zone – and no-one yet knows just what the benefits will be. But he says farmers and more broadly regional Australia should benefit . . .
June 3, 2015
NEW Chinese e-commerce platforms are significantly lowering the barriers to entry for global brands – and beginning to edge out the middleman. For niche producers, an estimated 300 Chinese online consumers offer a
market for what, in many cases, can now be direct sales . . .
June 3, 2015
CORPORATIONS don’t want their offshore managers acting as silos – they need to be globally intelligent and able to enhance stakeholder value . . .
May 22, 2015
DESPERATE to conclude its Trans Pacific Partnership trade negotiations as it watches China driving a conclusion to its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with ASEAN and six other Asian countries, Washington finally seems willing to renew Presidential authority for fast-tracking of international trade agreements . . .