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Economy in Asia

  • Golden Rule Why Beijing Is Buying gold

    CHINA, 2014/10/10 If China were to convert a relatively modest part of its $4 trillion foreign exchange reserves into gold, the country’s currency could take on unexpected strength in today’s international economy. It would be a gamble, of course, for China to use part of its reserves to buy enough gold bullion to displace the United States from its position as the world’s major holder of monetary gold. (As of spring 2014, U.S. holdings amounted to $328 billion.) But the penalty for being wrong, in terms of lost interest and the cost of storage, would be modest. For the rest of the world, gold prices would certainly rise, but only during the period of accumulation. They would likely fall back once China reached its goal. The broader issue -- a return to the gold standard in any form -- is nowhere on anybody’s horizon. It has few supporters in today’s virtually universal embrace of fiat currencies and floating exchange rates. From presently on gold has appropriate properties that no other currency, with the possible exception of silver, can claim.

  • Senior Lenovo VP: ‘Israel Is An Important High Tech Innovation Center’

    CHINA, 2014/10/10 During a recent visit to Israel, Senior Vice President of Lenovo Dr. Peter Hortensius, met with hundreds of startups, stating that Israel is one of the world’s most significant centers of high tech innovation. Dr. Hortensius made the statements as part of Lenovo’s considerations to open a research and development center in Israel. During his trip, Dr. Hortensius as well visited other major technology companies with offices in Israel, such as Google and Intel stating,

  • The World Bank downgraded its increase estimates for developing East Asia

    ASIA, 2014/10/06 The World Bank downgraded its increase estimates for developing East Asia citing moderation in China's economic expansion caused by structural reforms. Developing East Asia is estimate to expand 6.9 % this year and the next, the Washington-based lender said in its East Asia Pacific Economic Update, released Monday. In April, the bank projected 7.1 % increase each for 2014 and 2015. Excluding China, increase will pick up the next year as a gradual recovery in high-gain economies boosts request for exports from the region, the bank estimated. The increase in developing nations excluding China is expected to bottom out at 4.8 % in 2014 before rising to 5.3 % in 2015.

  • INDIA'S economic increase has remained subdued,

    INDIA, 2014/06/05 INDIA'S economic increase has remained subdued, due largely to a slowdown in the manufacturing sector, official figures have shown. The economy grew at an annual rate of 4.6 % between January and March, below analysts' forecasts and the same pace as the previous quarter. For the full 2013-14 financial year, increase was 4.7 %, the second straight year of sub-5 % expansion. New Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to boost increase.

  • Pakistan is wracked by economic instability and security problems

    PAKISTAN, 2014/05/31 Pakistan is wracked by economic instability and security problems that affect the life of each citizen. These interlinked problems are eating away at the Pakistani national and, if left untreated they will create additional fragility which is good neither for Pakistan, the region, nor the rest of the world. While some argue that Pakistan is simply ‘muddling through’ its multitude of political, security, economic, and social crises, alarmists talk of Pakistan’s impending ‘national failure’ or a return to military dictatorship. In 2013, Pakistan ranked 13th on the Fund for Peace’s (FFP) annual Failed States Index — most of its indicators having worsened or remained constant. The FFP categorises Pakistan as a ‘high alert’ country, in the same company as Iraq and Afghanistan. Pakistan fares particularly poorly at the same time as it comes to ‘group grievance’ (ethnic and sectarian violence), ‘security apparatus’ (militancy, military coups, bombings), and ‘external intervention’ (this includes the presence of foreign aid and peacekeepers).

  • The constant change in leadership and policy [is] taking a cumulative toll on Thailand’s economy

    THAILAND, 2014/05/30 Thailand, once prized in Southeast Asia for its relative economic stability, is in danger of inheriting the “Sick Man of Asia” tag. The new coup by the military to end a stalemate between Yingluck Shinawatra’s government and its opponents threatens to send investors scurrying to other nations in the region. The economies of Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are expected to grow additional than 5 % this year, while Thailand, whose gross domestic product shrank by 0.6 % in the initial quarter, may fall into a recession. Credit Suisse Group (CS) recently estimate that Thai stocks will underperform other markets in the region for one to three years, saying the May 22 “coup leaves investors little reason to remain .” Moody’s Investors Service (MCO) estimated that economic increase could drop 2 to 3 % points from its precrisis 4.5 % if the political instability lasts for a year.

  • As India’s economic increase has fallen into a tailspin in recent years,

    INDIA, 2014/05/28 As India’s economic increase has fallen into a tailspin in recent years, corporate titans and foreign investors have pointed fingers at New Delhi – blaming bureaucratic gridlock, internal Congress party bickering and renegade ministers for dragging the economy down. Campaigning for the premiership, Narendra Modi vowed to end such administrative chaos, portraying himself as a decisive man of action, capable of bringing vigour and efficiency to the government apparatus, kick-starting increase, creating millions of jobs and spreading prosperity. “If you ask, ‘what are the binding constraints to Indian increase’, the answer from the BJP [Bharatiya Janata party] and most people in the market is ‘dysfunctional decision-making in Delhi’,” says Jahangir Aziz, chief Asia economist of JPMorgan. “It is a widely held belief.”  

  • Zambia has taken up the chairmanship of the Landlocked Developing Nations

    ZAMBIA, 2014/03/20 Zambia has taken up the chairmanship of the Landlocked Developing Nations (LLDCs), a grouping of 32 nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, for a two-year term. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic handed over the chairmanship to Zambia on Monday at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Zambian Mission at the UN disclosed in a statement Tuesday. Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Richard Nduhuura said it was befitting that a woman had taken up the position of LLDCs chairperson.

  • Sri Lankan democracy winds back in 2013

    SRI LANKA, 2014/01/05 In 2013 the Sri Lankan economy continued to recover slowly from its economic slump last year, which saw increase fall from several years of 8 % plus to 6.4 %. The IMF is presently predicting increase of 6.5 % for 2013 and 2014. However, it was the island’s politics that was the major story this year. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa rubs his eye during a media briefing on the final day of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Conference (CHOGM) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, 17 November 2013. (Photo: AAP) While construction continues to be a strong feature of increase in the north as the region recovers from civil war, and foreign investment is as well robust, there the good news ends. Two events illustrate that the nepotistic, authoritarian Rajapaksa government is struggling to maintain the island’s reputation as a democratic, liberal polity.

  • Asia on the fast train to growth

    ASIA, 2014/01/05 Conventional rail has been around for additional than a century and a half. Economic historians have shown extensively how the building of railways throughout the world in the 19th century brought large decreases in travel times. Even additional beneficial was the contribution of railways to increasing the size and spatial shape of markets for outputs and inputs, which in turn allowed for better potential request, better division of labour and economies of scale. It as well produced a lot of ‘agglomeration economies’, where increased spatial and geographic density in production has positive effects like knowledge spillovers. Thanks to improvements in track, vehicles, signalling, alignments (long straight-rail lines above ground are best for speed) and the minimisation of stops along corridors, HSR can achieve maximum speeds of 300 kph or additional, a good 100–150 kph additional than maximum speeds on regular rail.
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