Business News

Smart science behind mass production of elite carbon-eating pine trees

A Rotorua, New Zealand company has developed the technology to quickly sprout entire forests of superior, carbon-capturing pine trees that have high disease resistance and grow faster and straighter than other trees. As a result, thanks to years of careful research, Forest Genetics CellFor Ltd is poised for significant growth producing high quality pine trees for forest growers in New Zealand and Australia. The company’s technology allows the production of millions of genetically superior young radiata pine trees from frozen tissue. The tree varieties have the potential to capture 25 per cent more carbon than existing radiata pine forests, helping to reduce greenhouse gases and improving environmental sustainability. The technology was developed with the help of $303,000 in funding from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology’s TechNZ business investment programme, with the research being completed six months earlier than expected. Forest Genetics used the TechNZ funding to build on technology developed by Canadian company CellFor Inc, while utilising New Zealand plant propagation expertise from researchers at Scion. Its potential has been confirmed with forest owners Kaingaroa Timberlands acquiring a significant interest in Forest Genetics, which also recently received investment from the Western Bay of Plenty Business Investor Forum. TechNZ business manager Shane Stuart says Forest Genetics is a shining example of long term research being applied to market needs. “Here are scientists with distinguished research careers applying many years of knowledge to providing new solutions to an industry that is vitally important to New Zealand,” he said. “Partnering with an established forestry company completes the mix of skills needed to succeed.” Timberlands Ltd, which manages Kaingaroa Timberlands forests, will source pine tree cuttings of improved varieties from Forest Genetics and contribute plant propagation expertise to supply other customers as a contract grower to Forest Genetics, as well as other […]

Airbus speaking of a stretch version of the super jumbo

While Singapore Airlines has been busy showing off its new A380 super jumbo, the giant’s manufacturer, Airbus, already is speaking of a stretch version of the plane that would even further expand the number of seats on offer. Even before the A380 tOOK to the skies on a commercial basis, Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy talked of stretching the giant lengthways. “Imagine if you put in a 100 seat stretch, it looks nicely balanced,” Leahy told reporters in Toulouse. “It’s really up to the airlines themselves. Some are pushing us to do it sooner. Others say, no, this is the right size.” Singapore Airlines chief executive Chew Choon Seng said his airline would be interested in a stretch model, but not immediately. “I think, if you look at it, the physical dimensions of the plane, it looks to be a candidate for stretch but that can come later,” he said. Even without a stretch version, the A380 alone will add significant capacity to the Australian aviation market, which has enjoyed bumper profits in the last 12 months, partly because of a seat shortage.Singapore has a firm order for 19 of the superjumbos and will fly them to Australia, while Qantas is receiving 20 and will fly them to the United Kingdom and the United States. Senior management has said in the past that the added capacity of the A380 fleet will be akin to having an extra flight to London each week. Then there is the Flying Kangaroo’s order of 65 Boeing Dreamliners, of which 15 will be used to further the long haul operations of Jetstar, Qantas budget carrier offshoot. Virgin Blue is similarly spreading its wings, with an extra 20 Embraer jets to be deployed on domestic routes and a fleet of six Boeing 777s to operate […]

Are your products getting to their market?

By Richard Maino Despite the best efforts of an international naval police force patrolling the Gulf of Aden and nearby seas, gangs of ruthless criminals can still capture highly valuable cargo ships and hold them to ransom. Most vessels hijacked by the modern pirates in the busy shipping lanes off the coast of Somalia have to be ‘reclaimed by their owners for an average of two million US dollars each. In an attempt to prevent that, an imaginative private security company in the UK has developed a new product that it believes can halt or hamper today’s pirates who use small fast boats to board the large vulnerable and slow-moving vessels. The novel defence system consists of a simple but strong net that can be draped over the stern or sides of a possible target vessel – creating a safety zone – and floated clearly on the surface for some distance to prevent the pirates getting their speed-boats close to the big ships they seek to capture. In the years of anarchy that Somalia has suffered since its government was overthrown in 1991, thousands of pirates now operate off its coast. Somalia’s 3,000-kilometre coastline – the longest in Africa – has become one of the world’s most dangerous waterways. No ship is safe. Pirates have hijacked aid shipments, kidnapped crews, and have even fired rocket-propelled grenades at cruise ships. The idea for the naval safety net came to Nick Davies, founder of the Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions company – based in Poole, south-west England – after he noted the way in which powerboat propellers can be badly fouled by fishing nets. He said: “In essence it [the anti-pirate system] is a fishing net that is deployed, then it floats on the water all around the ship and snags the propellers […]

Singapore most tax-friendly for entrepreneurs

A comparison of the taxes burden faced by start-ups in six economies reveals significant variation with Singapore coming out as the most tax-friendly jurisdiction. GuideMeSingapore.com released a report that compares the tax policies of six countries: UK, USA, India, Australia, Russia, and Singapore. Using the tax rates for the year 2009, the report performs a comparative analysis of the tax impact on a new firm incorporated in each of these countries. Among the six countries considered, the report finds that the tax burden imposed on new firms is the smallest in Singapore while it is the highest in India. If maximisation of take-home profits were the main objective, for an entrepreneur who has the flexibility to incorporate his or her business in any of these jurisdictions, Singapore offers the most rational choice — the report concludes. To illustrate its findings, the report considers the case of a hypothetical start-up firm that expects to make an annual income of US$300k. Such a firm will have a total tax bill of only US$34k in Singapore while it would face an approximate tax bill of US$60k in Russia, US$63k in UK, US$90k in Australia, US$100k in US, and US$102k in India. The authors of the study caution that each country’s tax policies differ from those of the others in the exemptions, incentives, and depreciation allowances that they permit. The major exemptions available to companies have been considered in this analysis but their esoteric nuances have been ignored. Jacqueline Low, the Director of Corporate Services at Janus Corporate Solutions — a leading Singapore corporate services firm that runs the GuideMeSingapore.com site — further emphasised the long-term attractiveness of the Singapore tax policies by adding, “The historical trend of corporate tax rates in Singapore over the last 5 years shows consistent reduction. Per government’s stated […]

Power lifting partnership provides energy generators with a model of crane safety and maintenance

As one of the powerhouses of Asia-Pacific economic growth, Thailand invests heavily in electricity generating capacity to service its burgeoning major industries, including automotive and electrical manufacturing and tourism. The country, which has the second largest economy in South-East Asia after Indonesia, plans to increase total generating capacity from about 30,000 MW in 2009 to more than 50,000MW by 2021. * (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, EGAT) Of this total, well over a third will continue to be provided by Independent Power Producers (IPPs), private investment vehicles that work with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, EGAT, to provide the infrastructure capital needed to build new infrastructure and ensure that existing assets are operated at peak efficiency and optimum safety. The global Konecranes group has become a long-term partner in this process with the Southern Thai KEGCO subsidiary of The Electricity Generating Public Company, EGCO, which is the first independent power producer in Thailand . This public company that owns and develops generation units which cover diversified fuels such as natural gas, coal, diesel oil, hydropower and biomass, in accordance with the government’s policy on fuel diversification to ensure energy sustainability. One of EGCO’s earliest acquisitions, through KEGCO, is the 824 MW Khanom power plant, a major base load generator in the Nakhon Sri Thammarat province in Southern Thailand, where it operates a combined gas cycle turbine (674MW) and two barge-mounted thermal plants (150 MW). As the first generating station in Asia to achieve IS09002 quality certification Ð and as a winner this year of its seventh consecutive EIA environmental monitoring awards Ð Khanom has set out to be a model of safety and efficiency. It has adopted ISO 14001 and TIS 18001 OHSAS 18001: 1999 in its operating standards. KEGCO has also been awarded National Safety Awards for eight […]

Latin America must see China as a trade threat, as well as a partner

Major Chinese investment in Latin America is now a regular event: Sinopec’s $7.1bn investment in Repsol’s Brazilian unit is just the latest example. Such deals are rightly celebrated with fanfare in Latin America. However, the long-run effects are uncertain – especially given that Latin American exports are losing badly to their Chinese counterparts in world markets. Latin America needs to diversify its exports – away from oil, iron, soya, meat and the like – if it is to grow sustainably. Unfortunately, as the region has focused on selling its commodities to China, Chinese firms have been outcompeting Latin American manufacturing exporters at a frightening pace. In the 1980s and 1990s, Latin America looked to the US as a core economic partner, adopting the Washington Consensus in order to attract US investment and gain better access to US markets. Alas, in the twenty years up to 2002, Latin America grew by barely one per cent a year in per capita terms. Enter China. It has served as a new and more dynamic destination for Latin American produce: buying $44bn worth of the region’s exports in 2009, ten times more than in 2000. In addition, Chinese demand for those exports – 80 per cent of which are primary commodities – played a key role in driving up global prices. Thus China has helped boost economic growth in Latin America. However, Latin America has lost sight of the need for export diversification. In our new book, The Dragon in the Room, Uruguayan political economist Roberto Porzecanski and I calculate the extent to which Chinese companies are outcompeting their Latin American counterparts. We draw on the methods of the Asian Development Bank to examine data for thousands of sectors and sub-sectors. A Latin American manufacturing export sector is classified as “under threat” from China, […]

Large growth in equities for Chinese high net worth individuals

The share of total funds that Chinese high net worth individuals hold in equities is set to increase strongly, according to the latest research. Chinese high net worth individuals (HNW) currently hold a lower proportion of fund in equity compared to peers in the Asia-Pacific region. Datamonitor research* shows that this will change, with strong growth in equity holdings forecasted over the next two years. “Chinese HNWs have a large proportion of their wealth as cash or near-cash products. This will change over the next two years, with equity holdings becoming the most important component of Chinese HNW portfolios instead. This movement of funds will provide opportunities for the financial services industry,” says Petter Ingemarsson, senior financial services analyst at Datamonitor. Equities currently constitute a fifth of Chinese HNW portfolios, but will in two years have reached a proportion of 46%. This is a higher percentage than in other countries in the region. The Datamonitor survey was carried out in China, India, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong. The main driver for the growth in equity holdings is a growing number of Chinese HNW looking for higher risk investments. Chinese HNWs are becoming more polarised in their risk attitudes. Around half of HNWs in China will have a significantly higher appetite for risk in two years, which contrasts strongly with the broader APAC area. However, a fifth of Chinese HNWs are expected to have a significantly lower appetite for risk.

Global materials handling leaders focus on Chittagong

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 […]

Flydubai secures aircraft financing

Flydubai, Dubai’s first low cost airline, has announced aircraft financing worth more than US$750m in deals with GECAS (General Electric Capital Aviation Services) and BBAM. The financing will take care of the next nine aircraft flydubai is due to receive and secures all the airline’s financing requirements until June 2011. Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said: “I am delighted to be able to announce this aircraft financing today. These deals are very significant for flydubai because this committed money secures the next nine aircraft we are due to receive and mean all our financing requirements until June next year are taken care of. “We already have agreements in place with both GECAS and BBAM and it is clear from their willingness to enter into further ties with us that they have been pleased with what flydubai has delivered so far. These are some of the largest aircraft financers in the world and their faith in flydubai is a huge endorsement of us and our success since our launch. “When we went out to the markets this time to seek financing for our aircraft we were overwhelmed by the response. At the end of the day we received offers for far more aircraft than we needed to finance, which is a very nice position for a young and ambitious airline to be in. I believe this is a reflection not only of our position but also of the confidence the financial community around the world has in Dubai.” Both deals are eight year term sale and leaseback agreements. The agreement with GECAS is for six aircraft, taking the total number of flydubai aircraft GECAS finances to 10. BBAM are adding another three aircraft to make their total commitment six. Norm C. T. Liu, President and CEO of GECAS, said: “During […]

China attractive at present

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 […]

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