2point6billion.com discusses investment news and events from the emerging markets of Asia - including India, China and the ASEAN countries. It is produced by the Asian foreign direct business advisors at Dezan Shira & Associates from their offices across emerging Asia.
May 21 – The Myanmar government has brought forward the date of permitting foreign banks access to the country by 12 months, Nay Aye, one of the two deputy governors at the country’s central bank said on Friday. Banks from the ASEAN region will be allowed to set up operational branches by 2014, while banks from other countries will be able to establish joint ventures within the same time-frame, he was reported as saying. Continue reading
Op-Ed Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis
May 18 – As the United States has just eased its financial sanctions against Myanmar, now seems an appropriate time to take a look at the actual situation on the ground there and the opportunities for foreign investment. Our practice, Dezan Shira & Associates, has a strong presence throughout Asia and with seventeen offices just between China and India alone, Myanmar – sandwiched right between these two Asian giants – seems an appropriate place to target. However, having visited the country and taken soundings, much remains to be done before Myanmar is even suitable for foreign investors to enter without either huge resources or strong doses of entrepreneurial commitment. It is not, as others have suggested, a destination that foreign investors should be running to. Such talk is hopelessly naive. Continue reading
May 15 – India is expected to overtake China as the world’s largest rice exporter this year as the Indian harvest has had a major boost from both the weather and the government, pushing prices to record highs. This means India is likely to overtake not just China, but also Vietnam and Thailand as the biggest shippers, with exports anticipated to rise to 7 million tons in the year to August. That would be more than double the amount shipped over the previous 12 month period, according to the International Rice Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Continue reading
Apr. 12 – The International Monetary Fund approved a three-year US$987 million loan to Bangladesh on Wednesday to help give a boost to the country’s foreign exchange reserves which have been falling recently under budget and inflationary pressures.
“Macroeconomic pressures have intensified in Bangladesh since late 2010 due to a negative terms-of-trade shock, rising oil and infrastructure-related imports, and accommodative policies,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Naoyuki Shinohara said in an e-mailed statement, according to Bloomberg. “More recently, a weakening in external demand and a surge in oil prices have further weakened Bangladesh’s balance of payments and added to fiscal and inflationary pressures.” Continue reading
All four BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will be among the top five grocery markets by 2015
Apr. 5 – China overtook the United States last year as the world’s top food and grocery retail market with its sector valued at 607 billion pounds (US$964.5 billion), according to a report released yesterday by IGD. It is also estimated in the report that China’s grocery sector will continue to grow over the next few years at an average annual rate of 10.9 percent from 2011 to 2015 when it is expected to hit 918 billion pounds (US$1.46 trillion).
Although China’s double-digit GDP growth has slowed down in recent years, the consumer demand for groceries continues to rise at a consistently fast pace. Continue reading
1000 kyat, now about US$1.20
Financial reforms see new currency regime commence as reality of reform appears apparent
Apr. 3 – Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) Party has won 43 of 45 contested parliamentary seats in Myanmar’s bye-elections. The official results are still to be officially unveiled, however it seems certain that Suu Kyi will finally take public office after spending much of the last 21 years in political detention. The NLD had previously contested elections that went in its favor back in 1990, but this was rejected by the ruling military regime which subsequently banned further elections and placed Suu Kyi on house arrest. Continue reading
Mar. 29 – The U.S. Department of Commerce has just run a highly acclaimed series of events in the United States, titled the “Hot Markets Watch.” Included were two keynote presentations given by Chris Devonshire-Ellis, principal of Dezan Shira & Associates, concerning changing China trends, in addition to discussions about the development of India and the role of emerging ASEAN.
These live presentations were attended by several hundred CEOs through various presentations. These two presentations have subsequently been combined and were re-broadcast live as a webinar yesterday from the new Dezan Shira & Associates liaison office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Online attendance was excellent and we have had many requests to post the entire event – a 45 minute broadcast, plus live Q&A – on our web site. Continue reading
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Dezan Shira & Associates provide a range of services for companies looking to undertake foreign direct investment into Asia, These include corporate establishment, accounting, tax, payroll, audit and due diligence. To learn more about the firm, please contact one of our specialists at china@dezshira.com, download our corporate brochure or visit at us www.dezshira.com
