Investment Options Asia

West Asia Region Projected to Collect $90 Billion by 2020

Tian Tan — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 07:18:48 +0000

A recent survey launched by the Airport Show reveals that the West Asia region has extremely high potential for growth and investment over the next five years. In fact, $90 billion is projected to go into the industry between 2013 and 2020.

The survey, which was held just before the inaugural Global Airport Leaders’ Forum, shows that 64.4% of the respondents voted for the West Asia region. 16.7% voted for Asia Pacific, while Central Asia and African regions won 5.2% of the votes.

The West Asia region is expected to handle 400 million passengers over the next seven years, including 98 million by Dubai airport.

The survey said: “An investment of $90 billion is projected to go into aviationindustry in the Middle East by the year 2020.”

Airport Show event director Daniyal Qureshi stated: “Senior executives from across the international aviation industry have contributed to the survey and we believe the survey results will contribute significantly to the important discussions at the Global Airport Leaders’ Forum and help highlight the key challenges and opportunities industry leaders face today.”

Asian Development Bank President Steps Down

Tian Tan — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:08:57 +0000

Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda has stepped down from his position to serve as governor of the Bank of Japan. Having worked at ADB for eight years, Kuroda was the longest serving president at the bank.

During a speech, Kuroda said he hopes that the ADB will continue to support Asian countries while taking advantage of growth opportunities and responding well to crises that may arise.

“Much remains to be done in a region still faced with many challenges,” he said. “I have every confidence in ADB’s continued success in addressing them.”

According to P Chidambaram, Indian Finance Minister and Chairman of the ADB Board of Governors, Kuroda played a critical role in the bank’s journey to becoming the region’s leading development institute.

“His extraordinary vision and leadership have enabled ADB to significantly advance its mission of poverty reduction and sustainable economic development in Asia and the Pacific,” he said.

Steven Leonard of EMC On the Big Data Market

Tian Tan — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:06:27 +0000

EMC Corporation is a leading IT storage and hardware solutions company that deals with ‘Big Data’, or cloud computing and software services.

The Big Data market is growing rapidly, and is expanding especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Rico Hizon of Asia Business Reports recently discussed the industry with EMC’s Steven Leonard.

Zarsha Leo Popular in Hong Kong

Tian Tan — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:07:05 +0000

Zarsha Leo’s Hong Kong branch is especially successful thanks to its traditional American menu. It offers popular American dishes including hot dogs, burgers, onion rings and French fries, attracting both tourist and locals.

“Our classic menu is a sort of novelty in the area,” explains Zarsha Leo CEO Evan Burschkopf.

“We attract American tourists as well as Hong Kong residents with our All-American atmosphere, great music and live sports broadcasts.”

Asia Leads Investments in Watershed Projects

Tian Tan — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:57:29 +0000

A new report has revealed that Asia is the leading entity when it comes to investing in and protecting drinking water and other natural resources. The report states that all the region’s countries invested over $8 billion to enhance water security back in 2011.

Conducted by US non-government organization Forest Trends, the “State of Watershed Payments of 2012” study was released last Thursday. It reveals that $7.46 billion were invested in 83 watershed projects in Asia alone.

This approach, known as investments in watershed services, or IWS, considers the natural landscape and the social and economic conditions. These factors often impact the health of the natural environment.

The projects go by other names as well, including payments for watershed services, reciprocal agreements for water, water funds, eco-compensation, benefit-sharing arrangements, source water protection, green infrastructure investments, etc.

Michael Bennett, senior researcher at Forest Trends, explained:

“Growing pressure on limited freshwater resources is one of the factors why there is an increasing trend in watershed investment in Asia and the rest of the world.”

He added that water is especially critical in China, and has a significant impact on their future economic growth.

Seth Fischer Oasis & Other Funds Take Hong Kong By Storm

Tian Tan — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 07:19:03 +0000

Hong Kong’s hedge fund world is fast taking center stage on the financial scene. In December of 2007 at the 5^th Annual Hedge Funds Conference, Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury, Professor KC Chan said that he thinks Hong Kong is becoming the hedge fund hub of Asia. He quoted figures that showed that the hedge fund presence in Hong Kong has moved from about 160 funds in 2001 to about 1240 in the first half of 2007.

As he said, “Hong Kong got the largest number of new Asia Pacific hedge funds launched in 2006 as well as in the first half of 2007, ahead of Singapore, Japan and Australia. We have adopted various tax measures to promote the growth of the industry. Since 2006, offshore funds have been exempted from profits tax. This brings us in line with other major financial centres such as New York and London. More importantly, the measure helps attract new offshore funds to come to Hong Kong and encourages existing offshore funds to continue to invest in Hong Kong.”

As he continued, “We have also abolished estate duty since last year to encourage local and overseas investors to invest in Hong Kong. To further enhance our competitiveness, the Chief Executive announced in his Policy Address in October this year that our profits tax will be reduced from 17.5% to 16.5% in 2008-09. Given our already low and simple tax regime, these measures will further enhance our attractiveness to overseas fund managers.”

Real Estate Sector Attracts Investors to Indonesia’s Capital

Tian Tan — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 09:16:10 +0000

China’s real estate market has been booming for quite some time, but new speculations are now pointing investors towards more southern regions.

A real estate forecast by PriceWaterhouseCooper and Urban Land Institute has revealed that Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, will be the top place to purchase property in 2013, with the market surpassing even Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

International investors have taken an interest in the region thanks to Indonesia’s remarkable economic turnaround over the past several years.

The survey says:

“Interest rates and inflation are under control, and while GDP is growing at around 6.5% annually, foreign direct investment is increasing at a much higher rate- 39% in the first half of this year. Driven by increased demand from foreigners and locals alike, office rents shot up 29% year-on-year in the third quarter, according to DTZ.”

The city’s growth and rising demand have bumped Jakarta up ten spots since its 2011 ranking. However, PwC warns that the market still has its risks. Inexpensive bank loans are a rarity, and it can be difficult to find a trustworthy partner. Disputed land may also pose a challenge.

Hong Kong Moves to Number 1 Spot in Index

Tian Tan — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:08:15 +0000

Hong Kong is, today, one of the top financial markets in the world. In 2011, they took the number one spot on the World Economic Forum’s 2011 index of financial market development. And they were the first Asian financial center ever to do so.

The report looks at 60 of the world’s leading financial systems with over 100 variables evaluated. Hong Kong jumped from its previous fourth place status with concerns swirling about the financial stability in the United States and lower scores in the UK for their IPO activity. Certainly, this is great news for business people in the area. This includes entrepreneurs like Daniel Lam, CEOs like Andrew Brandler, and hedge fund managers like Seth Fischer, Hong Kong business people who will all benefit from this news.

The top 10 list remained relatively unchanged, other than the dramatic shift for Hong Kong; although Belgium did fall out of the top 10. It was replaced by Norway. The top ten, in order included:

1. Hong Kong

2. United States

3. United Kingdom

4. Singapore

5. Australia

6. Canada

7. Netherlands

8. Japan

9. Switzerland

10. Norway

As Kevin Steinberg, COO of World Economic Forum USA said in a statement that accompanied the report, “Hong Kong’s ascent to the top of our index marks a major milestone, the first time in the report’s history that the United Kingdom or the US didn’t come out on top.”

Asia and Europe Discuss Economic Crises

Tian Tan — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:20:24 +0000

As the threat of global economic fallout looms nearer, Asian and European leaders meet to discuss their options.

The meetings, which began in Bangkok this week, come as Asia’s economies begin to buckle under strains from the European debt crisis. Previously viewed as the strong points in a global crisis, the region’s concerns are deepening.

“With the ongoing economic difficulties of some countries in the Eurozone, I believe that our cooperation is even more crucial than ever,” said Kittiratt Na-Ranong, the Thai Finance Minister.

“Because Asia and Europe are closely knitted in terms of international trade and investment, one spark of crisis could cause turmoil in the other side of the world,” he continued.

Europe is dealing with internal arguments as well, amid talks of whether austerity or pro-growth measures will solve the region’s problems. According to a statement from Host Thailand, officials “expect that the European economy will gradually recover from the current crisis.”

Many agreed that the only solution demands that Europe pursue “growth-friendly fiscal consolidation as well as growth enhanced policies and further structural reforms. Ministers stressed the role of emerging economies in the global effort by further strengthening private consumption and implementing structural reforms to help boost domestic demand and growth.”

Asset Managers Flock to Singapore and Asia

Tian Tan — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 09:57:56 +0000

The recent capital flow to Asia is pushing leading asset managers to hire analysts and bond traders in the region.

BlackRock Inc., for example, has made Singapore its home base for trading regional debt and currencies. Manulife Asset Management, Aberdeen Asset Management and Western Asset Management have also made plans to expand their staff and focus in the region.

BlackRock Asia-Pacific chairman Mark McCombe explained:

“Quite recently, our Asian fixed-income capability was quite underdeveloped and so the decision was made to try to build a world-class capability. The regulatory framework, the living and working environment as well as the kind of rich base of investors make Singapore a very attractive place to do business.”