Seeking Stability in an Unstable World
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on November 14, 2011 • Leave your comment • Tagged as: America, china, Donald Tsang, Fan Gang, instability, Luis Alberto Moreno
Image credit: APEC CEO Summit
“In this connected world, we are all in the same boat. If part of the boat has a hole in it you cannot say afloat.” The words of the chief executive of Hong Kong SAR, Donald Tsang, spoken at the APEC CEO Summit, could be said to embody the preoccupations of APEC as a whole. However well the Asia-Pacific nations are faring, they are aware that no one is safe from the chilly winds of crisis in today’s economic world.
As Tsang observed, no one can do everything but everyone can do something. For Hong Kong this has meant shoring up its vulnerable areas and developing a regulatory framework that has enabled Hong Kong to place second in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index.
Yet overall Tsang was not upbeat. After a lifetime working in the financial industry he described himself as a pessimist. And because Europe’s sovereign debt crisis and America’s problems are far from being resolved he foresees further difficulties to come. “There’s a strong likelihood that things will go worse for the first quarter of the next year, even a mild recession,” he said. “I fear there will be slower growth and even negative growth among major economies in the world.” Read the rest of the article
Hillary Clinton: “Women must play a bigger role in the world’s economy”
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on November 12, 2011 • Leave your comment • Tagged as: Arab Spring, Hillary Clinton, human rights, women
Hillary Clinton addressing APEC on Friday
Any country or company that wants to succeed in today’s economy must unlock the power of women’s potential. This was the message of the far-reaching speech that Hillary Clinton delivered to a rapt audience at APEC on Friday.
A host of statistics support Clinton’s case. When women are empowered, a nation’s stability improves and democratic participation goes up. It’s proven that when women have access to jobs and opportunities the positive ripple effects spread. Women are more likely to invest their earnings in their children’s schooling, better housing, or in savings, than men. Over the last ten years the growth amassed by women’s activity has been higher than that of China. Economists estimate that women will control $15 trillion by 2014 and by 2028 women will control two thirds of consumer spending.
So investing in women is “not only the right thing to do,” Clinton said. “It’s clearly the smart thing as well.”
Yet obstacles continue to block women’s full economic participation. Read the rest of the article
The Future. Redefined.
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on November 12, 2011 • Leave your comment • Tagged as: APEC, china, Dennis Nally, Eli Lilly, growth, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, PwC, Singapore
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore. Image source: Harvard Kennedy School
Michael Oreskes, a senior editor at the Associated Press, spends most of his time on the shores of the Atlantic but at APEC’s opening session today he said that being on the Pacific was a big relief. “The mood is so much better here.”
It was only partly a joke. In Europe and the US the euro crisis dominates, but at APEC the conversation is all about growth. PwC had conducted a survey of 300 CEOs before the APEC summit and their concerns reflected this change. Most of the CEOs thought APEC countries would be the main drivers of growth in the next three to five years, said Dennis Nally, PwC’s chairman.
As the balance of power shifts slowly east, the eyes of many are on China. Singapore’s premier, Lee Hsien Loong, said that China’s more local focus differs from that of the US. America is a hyperpower, its influence spread across regions. “I believe that America understands what a big stake it has in Asia. But you have interests all over the world,” he told Oreskes.
Internally China is facing problems of its own – a heated real estate market,disparities between rich and poor and massive urbanization. Its politicians are trying to move forward while ensuring that things don’t falls apart, but they are keeping an eye on the big picture. Read the rest of the article
APEC’s economic game-changers
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on November 10, 2011 • Leave your comment • Tagged as: APEC, Chile, growth, Indonesia, Peru, Vietnam
Senior officials meeting in Honolulu this week
As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gets ready for its CEO summit this weekend, all eyes will be on the leaders of those countries that are not just weathering the global downturn but booming. They are the economic champions, already changing the game while so many others falter: Vietnam, Indonesia, Chile and Peru.
Luckily the presidents of all four nations will attend the APEC summit — Vietam’s Truong Tan Sang, Indonesia’s Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Ollanta Humala from Peru and Sebastián Piñera from Chile. There is much that we can learn from them and their thriving economies.
Vietnam’s GDP grew about 5.8 percent in the first ten months of this year. Its population is 90 million and most of those citizens are under 35. Many now have disposable incomes, which in turn will fuel future growth.
Indonesia’s economy is buoyant, GDP rising 6.5 percent in the third quarter of this year. Consumption is strong and foreign direct investment went up 16 per cent. But the news isn’t all good. Read the rest of the article
Our leadership crisis
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on November 9, 2011 • Leave your comment • Tagged as: Argentina, Brazil, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Dilma Rousseff, euro crisis, George Papandreou, Greece, Silvio Berlusconi
George Papandreou, former Greek prime minister. Image source: Wikipedia
Over and again as the economic crisis ripples across the world, one has theme recurred: the need for leadership. When people are fighting adversity every day, they want politicians whom they trust, and if those don’t appear there is trouble. In Tunisia earlier this year, a 14 percent unemployment rate became the spark for the Arab spring. In Greece in recent weeks an indecisive government made the nation’s financial chaos and mental anguish even worse: the turning point (along with the end of his career) came when prime minister George Papandreou announced a referendum on the bailout deal that he had already agreed on, spreading confusion and even more tumult across Greece and the wider world.
Today two high profile premiers have resigned, Greece’s Papandreou and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy. Both men tried with some persistence to manoeuver their way through the greatest challenges their countries have faced in decades – and ultimately failed. In the short-term their careers are over. As George Bradt writes on Forbes.com, casting their actions in an approving light: “Sometimes leaders need to lead. Sometimes they need to follow. And sometimes they need to get out of the way of the pursuit of purpose.”
Meanwhile, though, there are nations that are coasting this financial wave. Read the rest of the article
APEC’s challenge: It’s still the economy
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on November 7, 2011 • One comment • Tagged as: APEC, Barack Obama, china, Eric Schmidt, Global Economy, Hillary Clinton, usa
Image source: APEC2011.gov
Last week saw the end of the G20 summit in Cannes, with the attendant focus on the Euro crisis. At the end of this week another meeting will be held which will hopefully have a more optimistic outcome: the APEC CEO summit, bringing together business leaders from the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation is made up of swiftly growing nations like China, Indonesia, Russia, Korea and Mexico and established economies such as Australia, Japan and the United States. These countries represent a weighty financial bloc. Together they make up 60 percent of the world’s GDP, 33 percent of its population, 47 percent of its trade volume — and, leaders hope, they will power the engines of the global recovery.
When the G20 winded down on Friday a fragile consensus had been reached, an “action plan” for the globe’s economy (albeit light on some of the detail). President Obama praised Europe’s politicians. “I think that there are going to be some ups and downs along the way,” he said, according to CNN. “But I am confident that the key players in Europe Read the rest of the article
Seven — a lucky number?
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on October 31, 2011 • Leave your comment • Tagged as: Global Food Security Forum, Marocco, OCP Group, population, seven billion, sustainability, The BCG Group
Image source: WoodleyWonderWorks via treehugger.com
Today on October 31st the world’s population officially hits seven billion. Seven is a suggestive figure. In many cultures it is lucky – in France, for instance, a cat has seven lives. Shakespeare said there were “seven ages of man” and seven is apparently the ideal number of hours of sleep a person needs. In this case though the vast growth in world population begs questions about resources and the future of our planet.
In 1959, when I was born, the earth supported 3 billion people, but extraordinarily, that number has more than doubled in the past fifty years. Half of those people survive on less than $2 per day. Seven is a milestone, not an end point, and the UN expects 8 billion by 2025 with substantial growth continuing after that. It is vital that we start to consider how we will sustain such a swift increase.
To mark this day we have compiled seven sets of facts about the world. Some are predictable but you will find a few surprises too. Read the rest of the article
A show of unity, at last
by RIchard Attias and NYF Team on October 29, 2011 • Leave your comment • Tagged as: Angela Merkel, bailout, euro crisis, Nicholas Sarkozy, Silvio Berlusconi
Angela Merkel and European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek earlier this month. Image credit: European Parliament
In Brussels last week European ministers reached agreement on the debt crisis (in fact they reached it at 4am on Wednesday morning). It had been thought that expectations might be too high. Already an earlier meeting of finance ministers had been canceled, sending shivers of anxiety through the markets.
It’s no understatement to say that Europe faces its greatest test since the EU’s formation and Angela Merkel went even further, describing it as the worst crisis since World War II. The world has been watching, because it is affected. Stocks fell on Monday and Tuesday amid concerns that the talks were stalling, and the US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said a resolution to this problem was the “biggest challenge to growth worldwide.”
Now, though, it looks like hope is in sight. Europe’s leaders have got banks to agree to take a 50 percent loss on Greek debt. They will expand the power of the Eurozone’s bailout fund although detail is still lacking as to how.
The New York Forum celebrates this moment and we congratulate Europe’s leaders on their decisiveness and strength. Read the rest of the article
The turning point
by Richard Attias on October 25, 2011 • One comment • Tagged as: euro crisis, Gilad Shalit, jobs, Morocco elections, Muammar Gaddafi, Tunisia elections
Libyans celebrating earlier this summer as they entered Tripoli. Image source: thevine.com.au
News of the capture and killing of Col. Muammar Gaddafi last week marked a turning point in Arab politics. Gaddafi was the longest serving leader in both Africa and the Arab world, and had ruled Libya since he was 27. He was a flamboyant but brutal figure, and his death this week shows that the Arab spring continues.
Change is still sweeping across the Arab world. The same week another nation has reaped the fruits of new-found freedom. On Sunday Tunisians went to the polls to vote for representatives of a Constituent Assembly, the first of the Arab Spring countries to do so. The representatives will draw up a new constitution and appoint a transitional government until more formal elections can occur. And more is to come. In November, Morocco will hold elections, and King Mohammed has said he will bring in a package of reforms.
Such political transformation is not easy or uncomplicated, but it is clear that in engaging with the wishes of their people, the Maghreb countries — which include Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia — are showing the world the way.
Elsewhere in the Middle East there are other signs of optimism. Read the rest of the article
