Category: Uncategorized

Chaim Zach-Managing Director and CEO-Agric International Technology and Trade; Kabiru Rabiu-Group Executive Director-BUA Group; and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed-Managing Director

Cruise tourism is docking in PNG

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Steady growth in global cruise tourism is reaching the South Pacific, and Papua New Guinea is no exception. In 2014 some 22.1m passengers boarded cruise ships, up from 21.3m in 2013, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which forecasts 23m for 2015. (oxfordbusinessgroup.com) One of the fastest-growing source markets is Australia, where passenger numbers rose 130.3% in the five years to end-2013. While most global cruises head for the Caribbean (37.3%), the Mediterranean (18.9%) or Northern Europe (11.1%), Asia, though it made up just 4.4% of 2013 traffic, was expected to see the highest surge in ship deployments of any region in 2014,

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

PNG’s export of raw logs supports growth

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Second in the agriculture segment to the palm oil industry in export value, Papua New Guinea’s forestry sector continues to expand on the back of strong regional demand for raw materials. The rate of growth for the industry has accelerated over the past decade as the government has allocated large swaths of land for agricultural development which has allowed companies to fell increasing amounts of valuable tropical hardwoods for export. A very diverse range of timber species are harvested from PNG forests, with no single species generally representing more than 15% of production. This has propelled the country to its current status as the second-largest

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

PNG promotes SME development

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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are to receive new incentives in Papua New Guinea, as the government aims for a 10-fold increase in the number of such businesses, from 50,000 to 500,000, and a fivefold increase in the segment’s contribution to GDP, from 10% to 50%. This builds on a 12-point stimulus package launched in 2012, which included financial support and subsidised lending for SMEs. New Government Body New legislation passed in February 2015 established the Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation (SMEC), which replaced the Small Business Development Corporation as the lead agency charged with developing and promoting SMEs. The SMEC has been placed under

Stuart Tait-Regional Head of Commercial Banking-Asia Pacific

Filling the gap: External financing helps to support infrastructure development

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Africa’s economies have posted impressive growth rates in recent years, giving rise to the narrative of “Africa Rising”. The continent’s GDP growth of roughly 5% annually comes in spite of its lack of infrastructure, but the deficit cuts growth by an estimated two percentage points and productivity by 40%, according to the World Bank. According to an assessment by the African Development Bank, there is an infrastructure deficit of $90bn annually; only around $45bn is financed currently (66% by governments, while 10% is official development assistance and 21% is private sector), leaving $45bn to be filled. While Gabon has traditionally benefitted from a comparative level

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

Luxury bed count: Increasing accommodation options alongside the broader expansion of the sector

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Steady growth in tourism is expected to continue in Gabon, with considerable potential for the hospitality sector. The government aims to increase the number of hotel rooms by 23%, from 5300 in 2013 to 8300 by 2025. Over 90% of rooms are currently located in cities. Though national parks account for only around 6% of Gabon’s hotel rooms, this is set to change, according to the National Agency of National Parks. Increasing Capacity Most growth in hotel capacity is in the capital, Libreville, and Port-Gentil, the country’s second largest city and centre of the oil industry. Ahead of the African Cup of Nations in 2012

Pham Hong Hai-CEO-HSBC Vietnam

Incentives offered to multinationals to set up local service centres in Trinidad and Tobago

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In 2008 the government established the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre (TTIFC) as a specialist agency to promote the development of the country as an international financial centre. Previously, this work had been undertaken by InvesTT, which promotes inward foreign direct investment across the economy. (https://easydmarc.com) The strategies being pursued by the TTIFC include Financial Institutions Support Services (FINeSS), which seeks to provide special incentives for foreign financial institutions that wish to establish service centres for their core middle- or back-office processes. FINeSS will also work with specialist business process outsourcing (BPO) providers. Varun Maharaj, CEO of the TTIFC, identified a number of general

Chaim Zach-Managing Director and CEO-Agric International Technology and Trade; Kabiru Rabiu-Group Executive Director-BUA Group; and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed-Managing Director

Closing the gap: The push to improve e-government still has some way to go

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The authorities in Trinidad and Tobago are taking steps to develop the country’s potential for e-government. State agency iGovTT was established to improve public sector connectivity and promote increased online transactions in government business. iGovTT reports to the Ministry of Science and Technology, and acts both as the ministry’s implementation arm and as an ICT consulting and client-facing unit for the whole government. Ranking Slip The government closely monitors a number of international ICT performance rankings, and in 2014 the country slipped to 91st in the world in the e-Government Development Index compiled by the UN Public Administration Country Studies. This was 24 places down

Mohammed El Etreby-Chairman-Banque Misr

Liveable space: Government programmes are in the works to boost the social housing segment through private sector collaboration

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With its economy expanding rapidly, one of Panama’s key challenges is to provide public services for its inhabitants. From housing itself to sanitation and energy, these areas are providing a host of opportunities for construction through concessions, tenders and public private partnerships. Housing, especially at a social interest level, has become a government priority and a fast-growing niche – Convivienda, one of the main developer associations, reported $826m in sales for the 2014 period, with over 7700 houses built and sold. Changes in legislation are

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

Capital requirements to drive tie-ups between local and foreign insurers in Indonesia

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Despite the talk of restrictions on foreign investment in insurance in Indonesia, international companies remain interested and active in the sector. A number of significant deals were completed in 2015, with others in the works, suggesting that the market’s potential outweighs the risk of ownership limits being put in place. For local insurance companies, capital pressures and competition in the sector are increasingly driving them towards deals with foreign insurers. While the recent international deals have been well below the current 80% ceiling for foreign ownership, majority acquisitions could face questions if the limit was reduced to 49%, as some in the country have suggested.

Xi Jinping-President of China

Education seen as the key to more skilled workers and wealthier consumers in Indonesia

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The burgeoning middle class has been a crucial growth driver for Indonesia over the past decade, helping mitigate investment risks and solidifying the foundation of economic growth. Expansion of this demographic is expected to continue, driving urbanisation and expanding a consumer class that will bolster growth across a range of sectors. However, incomes are still comparatively low in Indonesia, and the middle class remains highly vulnerable to price shocks, a sluggish global economy and natural disasters. The government is taking steps to reduce the barriers to socio-economic mobility, most recently with a revised 2015 budget targeting infrastructure investment and social spending. Class Size While the