Just days prior to the G20 summit this weekend, top executives at some of the world’s largest private equity firms that met in Hong Kong, Asia’s commercial capital agreed that Asia has surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s most attractive place for investment.

TPG Capital’s David Bonderman and Carlyle Group’s co-founder David Rubenstein, both told Reuters that while getting hit by the financial crisis, Asia was well suited to withstand it, thanks in part to banks’ relative lack of exposure to risky sub prime mortgage securities which sparked the global financial crisis.

Edgerley, Bain’s Managing Director was optimistic too, saying the region was in a better position to weather the financial storm, based on the growth of its consumer market and burgeoning middle class. Bain’s Asia focus is on China, Japan and India he told Reuters.

(more…)

FDI into Thailand dropped by as much as a third during 2007 from 2006’s figures of US$9.6billion, and will struggle to reach US$3 billion for 2008, according to figures released by the Thai Finance Ministry. While much of Asia continues to boom, Thailand’s political problems continue to dampen investor interest in the country.

Thailand’s political problems have now become so acute that the government has been ousted from its own government house in Bangkok by protestors against the regime, and is now running the country holed up in executive suites at the old Don Muang International Airport. Quite how Thailand got itself into this position is a long and tortuous story. What should be a wealthy, attractive destination and a key regional business and transportation hub is fast turning into an Asian basket case. (more…)

The whir of sewing machines slowly grinds to a halt, the buzz of electricity powering packed work floors gradually dies as small and medium companies shut shop - the financial crisis has hit home. Emerging Asian giants are being hit by the global downturn and now its only the financially fittest that will survive.

“SMEs have less access to capital, both debt and equity, and they don’t have large, untapped credit lines or the sizeable cash reserves that larger and more mature corporates have,” Scott Bennett, a Singapore-based fixed income fund manager for Aberdeen Asset Management told Reuters.

(more…)

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, the Warren buffet of Asia, has bought heavily into bank of East Asia after stocks of the Asian bank plummeted more than 11 percent.

Warren E. Buffett, the America’s most famous investor and one of the world’s richest men, announced on Tuesday that he would invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs, the embattled Wall Street titan, in a move that could bolster confidence in the financial markets.

Following his lead, Li Ka-shing, who has built a massive empire ranging from shipping to education in Asia and beyond, on Thursday reportedly swooped in to buy Bank of East Asia’s shares, bolstering confidence and Asia and helping Hong Kong’s fifth-ranked lender stay afloat.

(more…)

Is it the deadly combination of a failed economics and politics that’s tarnishing Shining Asia’s rise to the top?

Coups, protests and resignations have been the flavor of the past month in Asia, which has seen uprisings spread across the region, from Pakistan to Japan. The potent combination of a rudderless society crippled with inflation woes, and plummeting stock markets has suddenly left Asia in limbo.

Stocks fell around the world Monday, led by Asian exchanges as concerns about a slowing global economy weighed heavily on the markets, AP reported. Adding to the crisis, were analysts who expect further near-term volatility and are warning foreign investors to stay away until the year-end.

(more…)

China and India recently concluded one of the largest yet most closely guarded energy deals in Asia. Last Monday, officials of Shanghai Electric, one of China’s largest mechanical and electrical equipment manufacturing enterprises signed a more than US$1 billion deal with Reliance Infrastructure, India’s largest power utility enterprise, Shanghai Electrics; Zhu Denian, Vice president Shanghai Electric told 2point6billion. .

The two energy companies signed a framework agreement for long-term cooperation, wherein Shanghai Electric would help Reliance Infrastructure set up manufacturing of power plant equipment such as boilers, turbines and generators (BTG) in India.

(more…)

China will enforce Antitrust laws (anti monopoly laws or competition laws) from Friday, August 1st, while India will put the same laws into place by the end of this year. Antitrust laws are expected to delay or thwart high-profile cross-border mergers and acquisitions, in the burgeoning economies, lawyers and business executives warned the Financial Times.

China and India both will implement Antitrust laws based on the European Union model, which will essentially prohibit agreements or practices that restrict free trade and competition between business entities. The law will help control monopoly practices by firms which might use predatory pricing, price gouging, refusal to deal etc. The aim of the law which is to promote fair competition by supervising mergers and acquisitions of large corporations, including some joint ventures, is a cause for concern of many multinationals in the region.

(more…)

(Click on image to enlarge)

India and China’s growth is now certain and in many ways predictable, in other words, its old hat. For those who have their eyes set on future powers, they are keenly watching developments in Central Asia. Energy demands for burgeoning economies now mean that Central Asia is emerging as the new powerhouse.

Analyzing soft powers in the region reveal many hard truths. Evaluating he magnanimous changes sweeping across Central Asia, the Times of India reported – that heavy-duty Chinese bulldozers groan day and night, building motor able roads that will connect towns with cities in Kazakhstan. In the countryside, Russian engineers are busy putting new cables on newly-erected towers to put a fresh spark into the rusty, unreliable electrical grid.

On the streets of Tashkent and Dushanbe, Bollywood numbers incite local people to break into impromptu jigs. And in the war-torn dust bowls of Afghanistan, American workers are building schools and hospitals in the middle of non-stop gunfire. The Indians are doing the same, at the risk of their lives. However, this is the soft side of the story efforts to woo the Central Asian republics with humanitarian charm.

(more…)

Plans are afoot to build and trade on a pan Asian commodity derivatives exchange by 2009 in Singapore. The new exchange, called the Singapore Mercantile Exchange, will provide a platform for futures and options trading on precious metals, base metals, energy, agricultural commodities, currency pairs, carbon credits and commodity indices said the Indian firm, spearheading the project - Financial Technologies.

The exchange, according to the Economic Times will have an initial capitalization of 50 million Singapore dollars (US$ 37 million). “We expect Asia to lead the growth in the commodities markets in the next few years,” the chairman of the advisory board of SMX, Leo Melamed, said in a press release.

“Market participants around the world will benefit from price discovery of these commodities in Asia. The SMX will be a barometer for the dynamic demand-supply fundamentals in this region.”

(more…)

The economic powerhouses - India, China and Brazil are not just guzzling oil and gulping steel, they are also minting millionaires. The rich are getting richer - the number of millionaires jumped 22.7 percent in India last year, 20.3 percent in China and 19.1 percent in Brazil, according to the 12th annual World Wealth Report, prepared by US investment bank Merrill Lynch and information technology group Capgemini. On the whole, the number of millionaires worldwide rose 6 percent last year to 10.1 million.

The report which highlights the rising clout of emerging market countries on the global financial stage, attributed the increase in such areas to gains in commodity exports, “paired with growing international acceptance of emerging financial centers as significant global players”, AFP reported.

Emerging markets also figured prominently in initial public offerings last year, during which more than 1,300 IPOs raised about 300 billion dollars. Emerging markets captured seven of the top 10 issues, the study said.

(more…)