Markets

2012 Budget Highlights for SMEs in Singapore

Feb. 24 – Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam delivered the 2012 budget address to Parliament on February 17, 2012, in which he presented a series of tax changes, some of which are highlighted below:

For individuals, with effect from year of assessment (YA) 2013, the amount of enhanced earned income relief (EIR) and handicapped EIR will be increased to encourage elderly workers to stay employed and to provide more support to handicapped workers. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Featured, Markets | Tagged Singapore 2012 Budgets, Singapore Policy, Singapore Regulatory Update, Singapore Tax | Leave a comment

Report: China Top ‘Emerging’ Market, Vietnam Top ‘Frontier’ Market

Feb. 13 – China has topped the list of most promising “emerging” markets for investors and Vietnam has been labeled the most attractive “frontier” market according to a new set of rankings published in the March 2012 issue of Bloomberg Markets. In the report, countries are divided into either emerging or frontier economies and are ranked based on various measures of the investment climate: including GDP growth, government debt as a percentage of GDP, and the ease of doing business.

Countries are classified based on their presence in the FTSE Frontier 50 Index, the FTSE Emerging Index, the MSCI Frontier Markets Index, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the S&P Frontier Broad Market Index or the S&P Emerging Broad Market Index. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Foreign Trade, Markets | Tagged Bloomberg, China, Emerging Markets, Frontier Markets, India, Thailand, Top Emerging Markets, Vietnam | Leave a comment

Mark Mobius Upbeat on Emerging Asia

Burma, Thailand and China all looking good

Feb. 10 – Mark Mobius, the investment guru of Franklin Templeton Investments and a renowned player in asset management, has been waxing lyrically about the opportunities in emerging Asia. Stating that emerging markets are growing four times faster than developed countries, he stated in The Nation that Asia would be immune from any financial crisis as the debt-GDP ratio was very low, forex reserves are high, and interest rates are low, each of which were major factors in protecting Asia from much of the fallout of the Global Financial Crisis. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Finance, Foreign Trade, Markets | Tagged ASEAN, Burma, China, FDI, Thailand | 1 Comment

India and China’s Retail Industries Compared

India the new retail darling as China loses some luster

By Chris Devonshire-Ellis and Cindy Tse, Dezan Shira & Associates

Feb. 2 – As big-name retailers like Best Buy and Home Depot exited China last year, India has just liberalized its single brand retail to permit 100 percent foreign investment. A comparison of India and China’s retail markets reveals some lessons for retailers in both markets. The key points? Second and third-tier cities. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Featured, Foreign Trade, Markets | Tagged China Retail, India FDI, India Market, India Retail, Second-Tier Cities, Third-Tier Cities | 3 Comments

Euro Zone Crisis Endangers Asia-Pacific Credit Ratings

Jan. 19 – The financial crisis in the Eurozone may affect credit ratings in the Asia-Pacific region, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services recently warned.

Last Friday, the firm downgraded Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus by two notches and France, Austria, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia by one notch. Germany, Finland and the Netherland’s AAA rating did not change. Experts predict that the Eurozone states may face further downgrading in the future. Continue reading →

Posted in Featured, Finance, Foreign Trade, Markets | Tagged Eurozone, Global Financial Crisis, Sovereign Debt Crisis, Standard & Poor's | Leave a comment

United States Pushes China to Cut Oil Imports from Iran

Jan. 18 – U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner visited major Asian oil importers China and Japan last week, attempting to gain support for U.S. sanctions on Iran in response to its suspected nuclear weapons program.

On his two-day trip in Beijing, Geithner urged top Chinese authorities to sharply reduce imports of Iranian crude oil, and he informed China of a new U.S. sanction policy that would be imposed on countries which refuse to join U.S. efforts to curb Iran’s oil revenues. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Energy, Markets, Politics | 1 Comment

Call Your Broker – India Allows Individual Foreign Investors in Stock Markets

India moves ahead of China in stock market investment access

Jan. 17 – Starting from yesterday, India has allowed foreign individual investors to purchase stocks directly in Indian companies for the first time; previously, access to Indian stocks was only permitted through institutional investors. The move widens the ability of foreign investors to take advantage of India’s booming growth and is something the financial services lobby in India has been pushing for years. Back-end industries and analysts will also get a boost as interest from international individual investors and their brokerages in India will likely be huge. Continue reading →

Posted in Featured, Finance, Markets | Tagged Bombay Stock Exchange, India FDI, India Foreign Investment, Sensex | Leave a comment

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