Analysis

The historic port of Chittagong on the Bay of Bengal is undergoing a renaissance as-infrastructure and economic development in the region drive rapidly expanding trade volumes through this major-export/import centre of Bangladesh. The bustling city of 3.5 million-has seen container volumes treble to more than a million containers a year over the past decade as the emerging economies of Asia – including neighbouring giant India – power their way into the 21st century. Developments such as the-Asian Highway –an international network of 141,000 km of standard highways crisscrossing Asian countries—are expected to further expand regional cooperation among the mainland countries of Asia and to further stimulate development in Chittagong,-a trading centre which dates from at least the fourth century B.C. when Malayan history chronicles the journey of the sailor Buddha Gupta from Chittagong to Malaya. It has evolved from ancient times as a major Arabian port, then Portugal’s Porte Grande and later as a-strategic site of allied operations during the Second World War. Trade is forever the city’s lifeblood, with most of Bangladesh’s export and imports counted among the 30-plus million tons of cargo handled annually at the rapidly modernising port, where a window berthing system was introduced in 2007 to facilitate accurate arrival and departure times for ship operators. “We can see container volumes easily trebling again in the next five years, reaching  two,three or four million containers or more” said local business leader and former Chittagong Ports Authority senior engineer Mr Zahirul Hoq. “Bangladesh’s own national export growth is sufficient to double or treble exports by itself over the coming decade, even allowing for the economic slowdown having its major effect in developing countries later this year and early 2010. Then there is the positive impact of the Asian highway, on which good political and physical progress is […]

In a comprehensive review of the wealth management markets across the leading Asia-Pacific countries China is rated as having the most attractive market for international players at the present time. China is the smart choice for international private banks, due to its burgeoning wealth levels and low service levels. While the macro business environment in China is still difficult for foreign players, there is a vast and ever expanding pot of wealth in the country which currently is not particularly well serviced. The market challenges in China should not, however, be underestimated, with real issues around market entry, availability of talented personnel and the attraction of HNWs in the country. The attractiveness of the wealth management markets in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and China were evaluated using the proprietary Wealth Management Opportunity Index. This market-leading index scores the overall attractiveness of country markets as well as their customer and competitor features, all from the point of view of international private banks. Australia is rated as being the second most attractive market for international players because it offers many of the comforts of home to Western players: a well developed economy, an attractive business environment and significant numbers of sophisticated high net worth individuals (HNWs). However, for all of its obvious appeal, high levels of competition and certain HNW characteristics make Australia’s wealth management market a dangerous one for international players, explaining why so many of the international private banks have chosen to give it a wide berth. Perhaps controversially, India places third in the rankings. It is let down by key macro and institutional variables and by the fact that its pool of wealth is still relatively small and concentrated compared to other countries in APAC. On the plus side, India has a number of wealth management market features […]