Asia’s growth tigers are mellowing down according to the revised statistics on the regions growing economies released by the Asian Development Bank. According to the bank, The slowdown in the U.S. economy is now gradually impacting Asia’s developing nations which are expected to grow at 7.5 percent this year, the slowest growth in the region since 2003. The ADB also slashed the 2009 growth forecast to 7.2 percent from the previous 7.8 percent as it said the global slowdown, high inflation and tight monetary policy would cut back on expansion.

Reuters quoted the report - “If the sub-prime crisis worsens significantly, Asia is bound to suffer much more serious financial effects, including an abrupt reversal of the capital inflows that have held up well so far.” Experts also believe that the decline of the U.S. economy, could change global war politics and influence trade thereby slowing the rapid pace of globalisation we have witnessed in the least few years.

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The ease of doing business across Asia varies significantly. According to the ‘Doing Business Report 2009’ prepared jointly by the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, Singapore retains its number one position on the overall regulatory ease of doing business for a third consecutive year. While due to poignant regulatory reforms China’s rank improved from 83 from 90, out of 181 countries. India, however, slipped two notches to rank at 122nd, below its neighbors - Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan which have been placed at 121st, 110th and 77th place, respectively, in the overall ranking.

Among Asia-Pacific countries, the Philippines ranked 140th, lags most of Asia for ease of doing businesswas behind Cambodia at 135 and only ahead of Laos at 165 and East Timor at 170. The average ranking for East Asia is 8. Consequently, Bangladesh is ranked 110 and has reduced the time needed to register property from 425 to 245 days. Bhutan is ranked 124th. Read the rest of this entry »

After years of Asian films mimicking Hollywood plot lines, American film companies are now looking East. Western film companies are not only looking for a new story line, they are are also looking at expanding their audience and probably igniting a whole new genre of multi cultural films.

The latest cross cultural cinematic tie up is between Twentieth Century Fox and the Star entertainment and media group. The 50:50 joint venture will produce Asian-language films for worldwide distribution. The AFP reported that the new company, Fox Star Studios, will initially begin work in Mumbai India, the home of Bollywood, with later plans to expand into China and Southeast Asia. Both companies are units of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Fox star studios is not the first multi cultural cimematic tie up between Asia and Hollywood. Large movie moguls such as Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co. and Sony Pictures have all ventured East to indulge in this emerging genre.

Major Hollywood studios producing Asian movies include Sony Pictures Entertainment with its Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, which invested in Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning kung fu hit “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Later in 2007 Sony Pictures Entertainment produced its own Bollywood musical, “Saawariya.”

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Financial institutions, stock markets  and governments across Asia have applauded the U.S.  government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a move that came after several central banks in the region expressed growing alarm over the future of their vast investments in the two ailing mortgage lenders.

Japan, South Korea and China were the worst hit Asian economies when the real estate mortgage lending firms declared their losses earlier this summer. The Washington Post said Asian investors, led by central and commercial banks in China, Japan and South Korea, are among the largest holders of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s mortgage-related debt, the value of which has now effectively been guaranteed by the U.S. government.

The takeover sent markets from Taipei to Tokyo jumping on Monday and calmed what had been growing concerns of investor flight in South Korea. The key stock index in Tokyo jumped 3.4 percent on Monday. Hong Kong’s jumped 4.3 percent, Seoul’s 5.2 percent, and Taiwan’s 5.6 percent.

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With or without his 40 thieves, Alibaba is expanding and amassing wealth across Asia.

Frayed by China’s strengthening currency, weakening exports, and rising labor costs, China based Alibaba.com, is expanding into neighboring markets - Japan and India. The e-commerce company,which operates a business-to-business service targeting small and midsized importers and exporters, recently expressed its interest in expanding globally, while reducing its reliance on its home market.

The first stop on the global tour: Japan, China’s largest trading partner. The company in July launched a joint venture with Softbank, an Alibaba shareholder. In August, Alibaba signed a memorandum of understanding with three Korean partners to start a Korean-language service. And in May, Alibaba teamed up with Mumbai-based Infomedia India in an effort to attract small and midsized Indian companies. “China is getting a little less competitive,” Arthur Chang, vice-president for global sales at the company told Businessweek. “India is an obvious choice for us.”

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Senior Fellow and Director of the Institute of South & Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Centre for International Studies, Mr Wang Dehua is a renowned Asian scholar, who has spent a majority of his professional career aiding South Asian nations to work together. He is also the co-author of Long Xiang Gong Wu (Let the Elephant and Dragon Tango).

2point6billion.com, caught up with Mr. Wang at his Shanghai office to discuss the synergies in emerging Asia and the growth of India and China, through Chinese eyes.

2.6bn: What do think about India-China ties being the strongest ever since the 1962 war?
Wang: Both Indians and Chinese need to forget about the 1962 war. We need to forget the history of the border dispute and focus our energies on mutual growth and development. The people of both countries – India and China need to unite and together contribute towards peace and harmony.
The fact that India and China ties – political, cultural and economic are the strongest ever is a good thing. However, the two countries which are also the largest developing countries have many more issues they can cooperate on. The two countries suffered from the same history – that of colonial rule and both are developing now – we should aid each other so that both nations can prosper.
Further, I don’t understand why some people in India have a problem with China building railways in Tibet, if we reach the Indian border, this will only be good for trade of goods between India and China, and mutually benefit both countries.

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Asia is booming and there are hard facts to prove it. According to the Forbes report on Asia’s youngest billionaires,  the region is home to the world’s fastest growing population of the wealthy. According to the World Wealth Report, the population of China’s millionaires jumped 20 percent last year. The billionaire population grew even faster. The March Forbes‘ list included 42 Chinese billionaires, up from 20 the previous year. Keeping pace are Indian millionaires who’s presence jumped 23 percent last year. The billionaire count soared to 53 from 36 the previous year.

Also worthy of note, is that India’s four riches billionaires worth a gross of US$180 billion together are worth more than China’s 40 wealthiest individuals. Nonethless, the rich are growing richer faster in China than in India - China’s richest person, Yan Huiyan, is worth US$16.2 billion, seven times the net worth of last year’s No. 1, Wong Kwong Yu.

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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.

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Its the end of the Ganesh festival, the celebration of the elephant God. Revered across Asia, Ganesh or the  remover of obstacles, comes at the right time, when Asia needs him the most.

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is a day on which Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees. The festival, celebrated mostly in India, typically lasts for 10 days, in which devotees keep and pray to a clay idol of the Ganpati. On the last day, devotees chant ‘Ganpati bappa Moriya’ and dance while immersing the clay idol in water, making him one with nature.Worshiped in India, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Bali and Japan where currently chaos rules, Ganesh appears in different avataars across south east Asia. Spread by Indian traders who took the remover of obstacles on their varied voyages, Ganesh appears on temple motifs, currency notes and art.

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Man has a strange connection with trains, as parents reminisce in the pleasure of days spent watching the countryside whiz by, children remain transfixed at the speed and convenience of modern trains.

Today, as oil soars to above US$117 a barrel, and the cost of transporting goods across the world rises, Asian countries are re-investing in the railways. A recent report by Roland Berger consultants on behalf of Unife, the European railway industry association, says that the high speed train sector in Asia has grown 9 percent annually.

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