Business News

By Professor Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abd Razak, Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Sains Malaysia. Originally published in ‘The Edge Malaysia’ on the 10th January 2011.   In November last year, the UN reported that there are many more people with cellphones in the Indian population than those with access to a toilet.  It was estimated that there were more than 670 million cellphone connections in India by August last year, with the number said to be growing by close to 20 million a month, based on official government data. The cellphones are mostly sold in the malls and neighbourhood outlets patronised by the working class. It is a frenzy involving more that half of the present Indian population of about 1.2 billion. By comparison, the UN data showed, only 366 million Indians had access to a private toilet or latrine in 2008, “leaving 665 million to defecate in the open”. About 18% of India’s urban population and 69% of its rural dwellers defecated daily in the bushes, the beaches and open fields, according to a World Health Organisation and UN Children’s Fund report. It underlines the perplexing disparities and priorities of the country which experiences vibrant economic growth of about 8% a year. While it is true that tens of millions have benefited from India’s emergence as an economic power, the basics are clearly in need of more attention. Just last month, a study by the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Programme found that the lack of toilets costs India more than US$50 billion a year — mostly through premature deaths and hygiene-related diseases. It suggests that India bear a higher economic cost than other Asian countries — Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia — from inadequate collection of human excreta. Consequently, the study noted more than three-quarters of the premature […]

CNPV Solar Power SA, a leading integrated manufacturer of solar photovoltaic products, has passed the OHSAS 18001 international standards for occupational health and safety after auditing by TUV Rheinland. CNPV continues to charge through the certifications accreditations as part of its commitment to business excellence. Barely pausing to breathe, determined to succeed, the Company continues to invest in its systems and people. Recognising that the rigours of external assessment bring much higher benefit that the approval itself, the Company continues to stretch its targets and “punch above its weight”. Never a Company to take the easy option, it instructed TUV Rheinland to audit against OHSAS 180001 after making internal preparation over a period of six months. The announcement is not only the achievement of OHSAS 18001, but the first Chinese PV Company to achieve accreditation for ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 from TUV Rheinland, one of the most respected certification bodies in the world. The lead auditor for TUV Rheinland confirmed, “As a result of CNPV’s accreditation for this Health and Safety standard, and a collective review of our database, we can confirm that this is the First Chinese PV Company to have achieved accreditation for Quality, Environmental and EHS systems from our organisation. We are delighted to work with them as they proceed onto their next qualification, which judging by the speed of their recent commitment, will be in the near future.” “Fantastic,” confirmed Mr. Zhang Shunfu, CNPV’s CEO and Mr B. Veerraju Chaudary, CNPV’s COO & CTO. “To be able to confirm from TUV Rheinland that our commitment to the health and safety standards of our employees is on the right track is very fulfilling. Our choice of TUV Rheinland, one of the most reputedand challenging certification bodies, was driven by our wish to test our […]

J-REP, a specialist provider of Japanese logistics solutions, majority owned by Macquarie Goodman Japan Pte Ltd, has commenced the refurbishment of an existing 15,586 sqm warehouse and construction of a new 17,523 sqm logistics facility for Nippon Express in Moriya City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan (“J-REP Logistation Moriya”). J-REP is refurbishing an existing warehouse and developing a new purpose-built warehouse for Nippon Express, a leading Japanese logistics service provider, in response to their specific business and logistics requirements. The facility will be used by Nippon Express as their integrated document storage centre servicing the greater Tokyo region. To celebrate the commencement of construction a ground-breaking ceremony was held on site. J-REP Logistation Moriya is situated in Moriya City, enabling Nippon Express to provide same day and next day services to its clients across Greater Tokyo.  It is ideally suited for use as a document logistics hub, with its location approximately 50 kilometers north-east of Tokyo on the Joban Expressway, and providing easy access to the Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Ibaraki Prefectures. J-REP Logistation Moriya provides 33,000 sqm of high specification warehouse space. The property will consist of two four storey reinforced concrete buildings and its purpose-built design includes high ceilings and increased floor loading to facilitate the efficient storage of paper documents. The facility will also be equipped with a nitrogen fire extinguisher system having regard to the specialised cargo inside the warehouse, and perimeter fencing to ensure the high-level security of the site.

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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.