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When it comes to ‘saving globalisation’ world leaders are still missing the point

–Shuaihua Cheng Managing Director for China, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) As trade liberalisation and globalisation more broadly are called into question, G20 leaders could do with both interpreting the situation and changing it. It is not an easy task for the G20, which is a diverse group of developed and emerging economies, accounting for around 80% of GDP. In spite of their great success in launching a trade and investment working group and agreeing on guiding principles of investment policy-making, G20 leaders failed to address the emergence of anti-globalisation voices. Here are four things they got wrong – and three ways they can turn the situation around in 2017. When protectionism makes sense Here’s the first thing they got wrong when they met in China: their statement reaffirming their “opposition to protectionism on trade and investment in all its forms”. In fact, this is not only legally inaccurate, but it’s beyond their political mandate. In the World Trade Organisation’s current rule book, certain defensive trade measures are totally legitimate. That includes anti-dumping and countervailing duties, safeguard measures, and other restrictive policy instruments to protect public interest. The only caveat is these measures must be applied in a way that is consistent with the conditions and methodologies agreed by all members. Opposing all forms of protection unnecessarily raises public fears and is politically hazardous. Some protectionist measures are designed to function as indispensable safety valves, to ensure that nations have the right to restrict trade and investment in certain, clearly defined conditions, while still benefiting from progressively liberalised trade and investment. Far from being condemned, this type of protective trade measure should be guaranteed. In 2017, G20 leaders may wish to take a more legally sensible and politically nuanced approach. They could instead, for example, call on all members […]

FARO: Outlook 2017

QUAH Beng Chieh, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific, FARO Technologies How does FARO see the current business climate? The global business climate is expected to remain bearish in the months ahead, but we are optimistic about growth across Asia. In the past year, FARO has been expanding its capabilities and enhancing its product solutions through acquisitions of new companies and technologies – like BuildIT Software & Solutions Ltd. and Laser Projection Technologies. Inc. This growth strategy has worked for us and we will continue to explore relevant industries to expand into, such as Public Safety Forensics, Factory Automation, and more. What have been the highlights of 2016 for FARO? Is business strong for the company? 2016 has been a good year for FARO all round. Earlier in March, FARO restructured its business into 5 vertically focused teams – namely, factory metrology, product design, construction BIM-CIM, public safety forensics, and 3D solutions and services applications. This restructuring exercise was motivated by our desire to develop and deliver industry and application specific solutions to our customers. In line with the restructure, the company launched a record number of new solutions for users from the 5 industry verticals, including the FARO BIM Scan Localizer, FARO Design ScanArm, FARO Laser Scanner Focus S, FARO Cobalt Multi-Array Imager, FARO Vector RI, FARO Tracer M Laser Projector, and the FARO Laser Tracker Vantage E. With this new direction, our customers now have access to different solutions that cater to their specific needs, rather than generic ones. We have received very positive feedback from the market and the sales of our new products have been steadily growing since their launch. How does FARO see the market changing? In the last decade, we have observed a shift in demand among our customers – from contact to non-contact measurement methods. […]

Asian Manufacturing Expansion Marred By Rising Prices

After seeing only marginal growth in the third quarter, business conditions at Asian manufacturers have continued to improve at a modest pace in the fourth quarter. However, there are significant variations in performance across the continent as well as sharply higher input prices. At 50.8 in November, the Asia Manufacturing PMI (an aggregate based on national Nikkei and Caixin PMI results compiled by Markit) was slightly down from 51.0 in October. However this was still the second-strongest growth seen since manufacturing initially moved back into expansion five months ago. As a whole, the region has shown signs of stronger demand in the first two months of Q4. New orders in Asia’s manufacturing economy continued to rise at a quicker rate than the Q3 average. Greater inflows of new business in China and Japan contributed to the latest improvement. Encouragingly, an upturn in export demand was sustained in the middle of the fourth quarter as sales from abroad increased for the third straight month in November. Rising material prices Meanwhile, there were signs of inflationary pressures intensifying over the month. There were concerns over higher costs for raw materials, especially for items such as metals, plus there was a surge in futures prices during the month. While the Asia Manufacturing PMI Input Prices Index hit a five-and-half-year high, reflecting sharply higher prices for pre-production materials, suppliers were far from overwhelmed, as they can be if demand increases. This suggests that price pressures are being constrained to some extent by a lack of fundamental supply-side drivers. China accounts for half of Asian manufacturing and its recent improvements have helped lift business activity in the region. The Caixin PMI showed that Chinese manufacturing expanded for the third successive month in November, albeit modestly. With the economic restructuring still underway, large layoffs at traditional […]

Top firms recognised in Singapore

Singapore, 14 October, 2016 – Frost & Sullivan has recognised top firms in Singapore at the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Singapore Excellence Awards banquet held at the Conrad Centennial Singapore on 13 October 2016. Mr. Nitin Bhat, Partner & Head of Consulting, Asia-Pacific at Frost & Sullivan said that the award recipients showed great innovation, visionary and smart strategies needed to succeed in the competitive Singapore market. “We certainly hope that the recognition will spur companies in Singapore to continue their best in expanding their business locally and regionally,” he noted. The recipients of the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Singapore Excellence Awards were identified based on in-depth research conducted by Frost & Sullivan’s analysts. The award categories offered annually are carefully reviewed and evaluated to reflect the current market landscape and also includes new emerging trends. The shortlisted companies were evaluated on a variety of actual market performance indicators which include revenue growth; market share and growth in market share; leadership in product innovation; marketing strategy and business development strategy. Frost & Sullivan congratulates all the outstanding recipients of the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Singapore Excellence Awards: AWARDS AND AWARD RECIPIENTS Singapore Pediatric Nutrition Market Leadership Award – ABBOTT NUTRITION INTERNATIONAL Singapore Iot In Manufacturing Entrepreneurial Company of The Year – ARCSTONE PTE LTD Singapore Facilities Management Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award – CBM PTE LTD Singapore Facilities Management Growth Excellence Leadership Award – CBRE Singapore Warehouse Services Provider of The Year – CWT LIMITED Singapore Smart Building Energy Management Entrepreneurial Company of The Year – EVERCOMM UNI-TECH SINGAPORE Singapore Power Plant Services Provider of the Year- JEL MAINTENANCE PTE LTD Singapore Facilities Management Company of the Year – JLL Singapore Solar Power Entrepreneurial Company of the Year – LYS ENERGY GROUP Singapore Overall Telecom Service Provider of the […]

The Seventh Sense

What if there was a revolution so big that no one could see it? What if you could? Endless terror. Refugee waves. An unfixable global economy. Surprising election results. New billion-dollar fortunes. Miracle medical advances. What if they were all connected? What if you could understand why? The Seventh Sense examines the historic force now shaking our world–and explains how our leaders, our businesses, and each of us can master it. All around us now we are surrounded by events that are difficult to understand. But every day, new figures and forces emerge that seem to have mastered this tumultuous age. Sometimes these are the leaders of the most earthshaking companies of our time, accumulating billion-dollar fortunes. Or they are successful investors or our best generals. Other times, however, quick success is going to terrorists, rebels, and figures intent on chaos. What if we could know the secret of those who can make sense of this age? What if we could apply it to the questions that worry us most? In this groundbreaking new book, Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of the international bestseller The Age of the Unthinkable, introduces a powerful way of seeing the world. The Seventh Sense is the story of what all of today’s successful figures see and feel–forces that are invisible to most of us but explain everything from explosive technological change to uneasy political ripples. The secret to power now is understanding our new age of networks–not merely the Internet but also networks of trade and DNA and finance. Based on his years of advising generals, CEOs, and politicians, Ramo takes us into the opaque heart of our world’s rapidly connected systems and teaches us what the victors of this age know–and what the losers are not yet seeing. But The Seventh Sense won’t merely […]

IoT Investors Day – connects the world!

The goal of IoT Investors Day is to contribute to the market development by organizing international business conference that will take place in Bangalore, India on 9th of December 2016. More than 500 attendees and 12 best experts across the IoT space will gather in order to discuss the latest IoT market trends and to identify ways of its further development. Professionals from around the world will meet in the city, which is the business center of one of the fastest developing countries in the field of IoT. Special feature of this conference is Start-up Pitch Deck where 10 teams with the most innovative ideas will come out. The culmination of the day will be determination of the most promising idea; as a result, the team will receive a grant from our investors for its implementation. Besides this, everyone can explore the IoT technologies that recently was possible only in science fiction books. In a specially equipped demo zone, leading companies will present the latest innovations of M2M market. Enter the new era of technology development with IoT Investors Day! For more information visit www.iot-investorsday.com or contact info@iot-investorsday.com

TechInnovation 2016 a success

TechInnovation 2016 attracted more than 2,700 participants seeking business opportunities from over 300 featured technologies. The fifth edition featured the new Enterprise Europe Network segment and Platform Technologies panel on Smart Nations. SINGAPORE, 3 October 2016 – TechInnovation concluded its fifth edition, with over 2,700 participants in attendance, nearly a 30% increase from last year’s turnout. The event also saw 120 exhibitors showcasing more than 300 emerging and ready-to-market technologies. The annual two-day technology marketplace is Singapore’s premier technology brokerage event that brings together international and local technology providers and seekers to explore technology and business collaboration opportunities through open innovation. Organised by IPI, TechInnovation was also an anchor event of the inaugural Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH). Guest-of-Honour, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Chairman of the National Research Foundation Singapore delivered the opening address. This year’s event, themed “Discover, Connect & Collaborate”, had its unique crowdsourcing segment, crowdpitching sessions and conference tracks on additive manufacturing and Internet-of-Things (IoT) security. TechInnovation also introduced a brand new segment on Europe-Singapore Partnership Opportunities, giving local enterprises the opportunity to expand their reach and connect to the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) partners from the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary and Spain. “We saw a strong attendance by delegates and exhibitors who came together to share innovation practices and emerging technologies at TechInnovation this year. SMEs accounted for over 70% of the delegate count. We are especially pleased with the number of technology providers who turned up seeking partnerships and collaborations with the SMEs. Commercialising these technologies will prove mututally beneficial for both sides. The success of this year’s event emphasises IPI’s commitment to its business-technology matching practices”, said Professor Lam Khin Yong, Executive Director of IPI. Over 400 business meetings were initiated over two days, […]

Mitsubishi Corporation Announces Start of Operations at New Elevator Plant in India

TOKYO – Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) have set up a new elevator plant in India at MELCO subsidiary Mitsubishi Elevator India Private Limited (IMEC). The new plant will start manufacturing elevators for the Indian market on September 15, 2016 and will mainly produce the “NEXIEZ-LITE” model, which is a key component of IMEC’s strategy of targeting low- and mid-rise buildings in India. With demand reaching 48,000 units for newly constructed buildings in 2015, India is now the world’s second largest market for new escalators and elevators, following China, and demand is expected to see continued growth. MC’s elevator business in India dates back to 1995, when it started to support a local sales agent. In 2012, MC and MELCO established an elevator distribution joint venture company in order to strengthen its business base for sales, installation and maintenance. The start of manufacturing will not only enable IMEC to achieve competitiveness in pricing and delivery lead time, but will also contribute to strengthening IMEC’s business capability to supply more market oriented products and after-sales services based on a streamlined structure for production, sales, installment and maintenance. IMEC is also planning to construct a 41-meter high elevator test tower and a field training center for installment and maintenance in an effort to enhance the capacity of engineers, all with the aim of improving the quality and reliability of MELCO’s products and services and further boosting customer satisfaction. As its escalator and elevator market continues to grow, India stands to be positioned as one of the world’s most important markets in this business. Through the construction of this new plant and additional shares acquired in IMEC in March of this year, MC will continue to strengthen its business foundations as a strong competitor in the escalator and elevator business […]

How much do countries invest in R&D?

As the UN General Assembly prepares to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UNESCO Institute for Statistics has released a new data tool showing the leaders and emerging players in research and development (R&D). “Innovation is key to achieving each of the Sustainable Development Goals. So it is essential to track R&D investment in the knowledge, technology and thinking that drives innovation in countries,” said Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. SDG 9 calls on governments to promote sustainable industrialization and innovation by ramping up spending on R&D and increasing the number of researchers. Both indicators are featured in the new data tool entitled: ‘How much does your country invest in R&D?’ The top five R&D performers in absolute terms (R&D expenditure) are all large economies: United States followed by China, Japan, Germany and Republic of Korea. But the ranking changes dramatically according to the data that will be used to monitor SDG 9 (R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP): Republic of Korea is the world leader followed by Israel, Japan, Finland and Sweden. Regions have been setting their own spending targets for some time: the best-known being the European Union (EU) target to raise overall R&D investment to 3% of GDP by 2020. According to UIS data, only six countries worldwide have managed to surpass the 3% target, and three are smaller EU economies: Denmark, Finland and Sweden. These, in turn, lag behind Japan with 3.6% and Israel with an impressive 4.1%. And all of them trail behind South Korea – the world leader – with 4.3%. Austria, Germany and Switzerland hover around 3% as does the biggest spender of all: the United States. Few countries in other regions compete with these proportions. In Central and Eastern Europe, Slovenia leads with 2.4% compared to […]

Manufacturing investment wanted in India

BEIJING — India wants to attract manufacturing investment following its latest market-opening initiatives, the country’s finance minister said Friday, despite business concerns about access to land, taxes and other issues. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened more industries to foreign ownership and streamlined official procedures, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He was in Beijing for the first meeting of the Chinese-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Changes announced Monday by Modi’s two-and-a-half-year-old government included allowing complete foreign ownership of airlines and military industries. They also eased investment in pharmaceuticals, food and retailing. “Being a fast-growing economy, I think we are one of the priority options that the world of investors has,” Jaitley said. India is known for software and other tech industries but has lagged neighbouring China in manufacturing. Investors see the country as Asia’s next major growth story as China’s explosive expansion of the past decade cools. Retailers and foreign investors are attracted by India’s economic growth — the highest of any major country last year at 7.4 per cent — but are frustrated by bureaucracy and market barriers. Modi came to power promising to overhaul the economy. “Whichever industries have come to India and invested in India have eventually ended up making India a hub for global manufacturing,” Jaitley said. Industrial investors have long been frustrated by the difficulty of gaining access to land due to requirements that local residents give their approval. Steelmakers Posco and ArcelorMittal have cited land-related delays in scrapping planned projects. The Modi government failed to reform land acquisition laws last year when its legislation stalled in the upper house of India’s Parliament, where Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party lacks a majority. The government has told investors it will be left to states to decide how to appropriate land for manufacturing. “I don’t […]

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