ASIA2015 (ATI October/November 2014 issue)

Asia Today International Magazine
ASIA2015: October/November 2014

Risk, fragility in the ebb-tide for growth – The attention deficit of a multi-tasking United States, China’s growing assertiveness and the amoebic spread of militant Islamism are the over-arching risk issues facing governments and business today. As the tide of global growth goes out, the sharp rocks of risk are being exposed.
Al-Queda puts India on notice – warning that it will raise the flag of Jihad across the Indian sub-continent.
When risk is reality – How business is rewriting the rules of mitigation.
The tributary States – Why China needs to treat neighbours as Sovereigns as it becomes more aggressive in its energy focus on the South China Sea.
Past the ‘use-by’ date – Attacks on Hong Kong’s identity spark revolt.
Watch that brand – Anti-Trust probes in China seen to target foreign firms.
Abe’s Third Arrow reform – Noted economist Robert Feldman says the first two arrows have led to Japanese companies making more money today than they did in the bubble years of the 1980s .
The honeymoon over – Relations across the Taiwan Strait may briefly have been the best in six decades, but that period has come and gone.
The jobs drought – Samsung reflects the woes of South Korea’s majors.
Spending in free fall – China’s anti-corruption campaign has slashed spending in sectors of its domestic economy, but is impacting on global business, too. The cost to China could be as 1.5 per cent of GDP growth.
Start-up entrepreneurs – Bringing a new source of FDI to Hong Kong.
Notching up a gear – PM Narendra Modi wants to double growth in India’s manufacturing sector. ‘Make in India’ is the new catch-cry.
Doubling up on GDP – Sri Lanka harvests ‘peace dividends’ as FDI flows in.
Minority Rules – Incoming President Jokowi faces challenges in heading minority Government in Indonesia.
The Military beds in – Thailand’s military Government is settling in for the long haul as it dismantles Thaksin’s power base and recentralises control.
Enter the Graduate – Benigno Aquino III has shaken off the Philippines ‘sick man of Asia’ stigma.
Secular turn in Asian currencies - Asia is shifting into a market environment where reserve currency attributes will be highly prized
Trade growth to hit 8% from 2016 – HSBC says world trade will expand by around eight per cent in 2016.
China third in global M&A – Chinese companies increased their cross-border investments by 15 per cent to US$101 billion in 2013.
The brave new world of BEPS - Base erosion and profit shifting is emerging as a major issue for financial planners.