G20 leaders meet to Strengthen to World economic system

SEOUL, South Korea – America’s move to flood its sluggish economy with $600 billion of cash, has triggered alarm in capitals from Berlin to Beijing. This has created tensions over currencies and trade gaps which are growing before the summit of global leaders this week.

The Group of 20 developing and rich nations are attempting to reform the world economy in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Two years ago the group’s leaders met for the first time. They set out an ambitious agenda to ensure stable economic growth and to strengthen financial supervision to prevent further meltdowns and to give developing countries more of a say in what’s going on.

The Federal Reserve’s decision to buy $600 billion of Treasury bonds over the next eight months helps tolower interest rates to spur growth and cut the high unemployment rate. However, this decision  is complicating  discussions on achieving those goals at the summit Thursday and Friday in Seoul

At the center of the discussions is the understanding that a decades-long global economic order centered on the U.S. buying exports from the rest of the world and running huge trade deficits while other countries such as China, Germany and Japan accumulate vast surpluses is no longer reasonable after the crisis.

The attempt to remake the world economy received some of its momentum from the rise of countries such as brazil, India, and China to become economic and political giants in their own right. The G-20 meetings themselves show the great changes since the crisis. They mark the end of a system in place since the 1940s in which the world economy was managed mainly by a small group of rich nations led by the United States, Europe and later Japan.

Panamanian President to visit three countries in Asia for investment

Ricardo MartinelliPanama’s president, Ricardo Martinelli, begin on Friday a tour of Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan to strengthen relations with these countries and attract investment, said the Panamanian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela.

Martinelli will meet with the presidents Sellapan Rama Nathan (Singapore), Lee Myung-Bak (Korea) and Ma Ying-jeou (Taiwan), with whom he seeks bilateral relations on economic issues, according to Carlos Varela.

“The president’s visit (Martinelli) is to bring bilateral relations and encourage foreign investment in the country,” Varela told reporters.

Varela said the tour, which will take 9 days, seeks to promote Panama as “a logistics center and convergence” of passengers and cargo for distribution in the continent.

Hedging Gains in Asia

Most Asian markets fell on Friday. MSCI Asia Pacific Index was on the morning down 0.5 percent after reaching its highest level in two years the day before.

– Sentiment among investors is uncertain. Macro figures from the U.S. was a bit weak. “This week we’ve had a couple good days and investors may use this opportunity to take profit,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney to Bloomberg News.

Masaaki Shirakawa, Governor of the Bank of Japan said the U.S. contributed to the downside risk for the economy while the South Korean central bank explained its decision not to raise interest rates by weak growth in the European and U.S. economy in addition to a strengthening of its currency, reported Bloomberg News.

Among the few exceptions to the broad decline on Friday, the Chinese domestic stock markets rose by 2.23 percent in Shanghai and 1.01 per cent in Shenzen.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank was among the winners in the banking index after Citigroup announced that Chinese banks will be required to show solid earnings growth for the third quarter, reported Bloomberg News.

A report from the Chinese Commerce Ministry on Friday that showed that foreign investment in China rose in September helped to further strengthen confidence in the outlook for the Chinese economy, writes Bloomberg News.

In South Korea, LG Electronics was up 2.4 percent and LG Display up 1.0 percent after another positive update from a brokerage house, wrote CNBC.

The mining company Rio Tinto also went against the trend and was up 1.1 percent driven by the company’s strong production report that was presented on Thursday, and signs that the company’s iron ore joint venture with BHP Biliton met resistance among EU regulators.

Key indicators: (at 7:06) Note: The market closes at different times)
Nikkei 225 (Japan) 9489.80 -0.98%
Topix (Japan) 825.82 -1.33%
Kospi (South Korea) 1899.35 -0.02%
Taiex (Taiwan) 8205.30 -0.12%
Straits Times (Singapore) 3217.06 0.69%
Shanghai Composite (China) 2950.81 2.47%
Shenzhen Composite (China) 1215.83 0.78%
Hang Seng (Hong Kong) 23747.36 -0.44%
Bombay Sensex 30 (India) 20393.43 -0.51%
S & P / ASX 200 Index (Aus) 4689.00 -0.21%

Keep Your Eye on Korea

Seoul- For those who prefer more exotic destinations in the fastest growing region today, Asia, one of the most interesting options is South Korea. With growth expected to exceed 4 percent in 2010, and strong domestic demand. In fact, since Ecotrade has opened a strategy on the main Korean stock index, Kospi 100, which so far this year up to 8 percent maximum currently listed.

One attraction of this market is that it has internationally recognized firms. An example is Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motors, where experts recommend the purchase of shares. For the former, the market consensus expected to close the year with a net profit of over 10,000 million euros, and even increase your cash in 2011 to almost 13,000 million, 40 percent more than expected gain in 2010. The proximity to China and strong domestic demand will allow surfing the uncertainties of the market. Lost in the exercise less than 5 percent.

A similar story is seen in the case of car maker Hyundai. Experts believe that net income will increase slightly in 2011 to over 3,200 million euros, and will feature a box of 4,600 million. Representing an increase of close to 19 percent if one takes into account the forecasts of experts who handle cash in 2010.

Deloitte Grows in Asia

Revenues in Asia Pacific grew 9 percent, making it the region with the fastest growth for the sixth consecutive year. Korea and India are part of the member firms that have grown over 20 percent. Deloitte China has grown by 8 percent. The market share of the Fortune Global 500 rose 2 percentage points in the Asia-Pacific. The Deloitte member firms have also contributed to the achievement of some of the largest IPO on the markets.

Venture Fund Actively Attracts Foreign Capital

Korea Venture InvestmentSmall Business Administration Executive Director Gim Dong Seon has said: diversification of  venture capital investment funds and venture companies to the globalization of foreign investments that have been promoted since last year  has led to tangible results , resulting in a competitive small and medium enterprises.  Venture investment is expected to be more and more as time continues.

AJUIB funds held by the General Assembly, the Korea Venture Investment (NYSE Celltrion ), and the Belgian Solvay ( chemicals Specialized Group ) Saga investment cooperation MOU signed last April for 20 Billion Dollar. The Solvay predecessor fund investment and South Korea invested 100 billion.