London Top City For Foreign Investment

London is the top city in the world for foreign investment. According to latest Global Cities Investment Monitor by KPMG, the capital of the U.K was followed by Shanghai and thirdly Hong Kong.

The fastest grower was Brazilian Sao Paulo, with a staggering 160% investment increase over the past two years. Other cities in the BRIC group also showed significant growth numbers.

Read the BBC Business article: London is top city for investment, KPMG report says >>

Top 20 Best Countries For Business

Source: Bloomberg

Bloomberg Ranking has executed an extensive research in order to find out the world's best countries to do business in. And the winner is: Hong Kong.

The small city-state scored the highest average on the 6 criteria. These included the cost of starting a business, the cost of labor and materials, and the cost of moving goods. Netherlands became second, United States third.

Surprisingly, from all the emerging BRIC-nations only China could be found on the list, on the 19th spot. Giants Russia, India and Brazil ended up on the 4th, 49th and 50th place respectively. Mainly due to less-developed consumer markets and intangible costs.

Read full article: Top 20 Countries For Business >>

Light-Weight BRICS

How IMF Voting Shares Compare With Global Economic Heft.

Many argue that IMF vote-shares (and the amounts countries are required to put into the fund's kitty) should reflect countries' relative economic heft. At the moment, however, that is far from being the case. Taken together, the economies of the European Union countries amount to just under 24% of the global economy.

The economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa together make up about 21% of world GDP. But the European countries have 32% of the votes in the IMF, while the BRICS have 11%. No wonder the BRICS' representatives to the fund issued a rare joint statement deploring Europe's lock on the top job at the IMF, which is made possible in part by the fact that Europe and America between them have nearly 50%of the votes in the IMF's board.

Proportionately, sub-Saharan Africa, (excluding South Africa) is the most over-represented region, with 3.1% of the vote but a mere 1.35% of the world economy.

Source: The Economist

Slowdown economic growth China

Worldwide economic expansion continued in February 2010, though some countries like China, faced a slower growth pace.

This was stated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in her Composite Leading Indicators report. The largest increase in growth was in the United States and Japan. Besides China, also France and Italy indicated signs of slower growth.




(C) GLOCONOMY 2010

China largest green investor

In 2009, China became the country investing the most money in green sustainable energy.

According to a research by The PEW Environment Group, an American NGO, China has spent 34.6 billion dollar on green energy last year.

Million Dollar China

While many nations struggle with the current economic crisis and some, like for example Iceland are on the verge of going bankrupt, China has once again underlined its new position as economic superpower. The number of billionaires in the country rose this year from 101 to a staggering 130. Only the United States have more billionaires.

Surprisingly, the list is leaded by two entrepreneurs in green technology. On top of the billionaires list is the owner of Build Your Dream, the successful electronic car manufacturer that is partially funded by super investor Warren Buffet. Wang Chuanfu has now over 5.1 billion U.S. dollars on his bank account. Number two is Zhang Yin, founder of the paper recycling company Nine Dragons.

The major catalyst for the enormous wealth growth is the domestic car industry. Despite the global financial meltdown, domestic demand in China is still rapidly rising. This has resulted in astonishing new financial figures. In the Capital of Beijing, there are now over 143.000 millionaires. That’s a medium sized city full of financial fortune. Peking beats the economic engine of China, Shanghai, which counts over 116.000 millionaires.

It is estimated that in 2013, China will have more millionaires than the current leaders, the United States. On the one hand, the explosive growth in China raises eyebrows with regard to several social and political issues. Will the distribution of China’s new health be distributed relatively evenly among its citizens and not result in enhanced domestic tensions? What is the role of corruption and the central party in this growth, and will the changing balance of power not be abused?

On the other hand however, this new distribution of wealth gives hope. First of all, because its shows that previously closed, relatively undeveloped countries can achieve wealth and prosperity by opening their borders and joining the global community.

Secondly, the fact that the two richest persons in China became wealthy because of their green, innovative firms indicates that emerging economies do not necessarily need to undergo a polluting, old fashioned industrial revolution. Instead, China is giving a clear and green example of how economic growth and green sustainable policy can go hand in hand. In this respect, the US can learn a lot from its inevitable successor.

Why India can't be(at) China

As the global economy stumbles, a new international balance of power becomes visible. While the economic crisis imposes a heavy burden on most of the traditional economic powerhouses, emerging giants take their chance. But not all of them seem to succeed in conquering their new spot on the economic world stage. China appears to be among the winners, while India struggles to keep up.

BRIC
After several prosperous decades for the Asian Tigers Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea and Taiwan, a new generation of rapidly developing economies has conquered the global charts of economic growth. Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) have become major contestants in the battle to outflank the United States as the world economic leaders.

Although Brazil and Russia have been restricted by domestic and international struggles with regard to political and social-economical issues, the two nations with the largest populations in the world, China and India, have become eminent economic powers as a result of sound economical and political policies and their fast growing domestic markets. Even though both countries seem relatively unharmed by the current financial climate, India appears to lose terrain to its Eastern neighbor.

China success

Currently, China profits from its powerful international profile and strong domestic market. Before the crisis commenced, the central leadership from Beijing was considered a disadvantage, as it interfered with daily issues in business and the personal life of the Chinese. Nowadays, although especially social issues remain questionable, China profits from its strong central leadership. A firm government creates stability for domestic as well as international businesses, investors and customers. The new state owned newspaper Global Times, published to strengthen China’s international profile, emphasizes this new trend.

China has recently received a significant amount of international attention because of its continuously growing economy and enhanced international influence. The foreign assets of the government have accumulated enormously over the past decade, and the U.S. financial system has partially become dependent on Chinese policy. Furthermore, the Chinese have extended their international influence by rising acquisitions and trade agreements, especially with Africa, a continent which is often approached with skepticism by the traditional large economies.

Additionally, China can counterbalance the decline in global demand by its rapidly growing domestic market. Over the past years, the country has developed significant economies of scale, which now proves to be helpful as competitive export products can be offered. The growing international importance of the Shanghai Stock Exchange is another confirmation of China’s current economic success.

India Failure
India on the other hand, seems to have profited less from the new global economic up rise, and now pays the bill during the recession. Unlike China, the country has no strong central leadership. Although India distinguishes itself as the largest democracy in the world, its superior system is currently blocking efficient economic response to the crisis. Central authority lacks the power to implement nationwide reforms and initiatives, at the cost of its sustainable advantages. The weak international profile has resulted in far less international attention compared to China, and thus less influence.

Furthermore, compared to China, India made a significant lower amount of international acquisitions and mergers, and has far less financial foreign assets. China’s main focus is on production, whereas India focused on the service sector, especially outsourcing services. As the world economy is shrinking, firms cut back on outsourced projects, whereas basic production remains relatively untouched. Recently, tensions between the two super powers rose, as a Chinese state firm witnessed spectacular rises in the sales of telecom products in India: a clear example of the new situation.

Recommendations India
In order for India to narrow the gap with China, strong action is required. Improvements in the central leadership from New Delhi, in order to be able to initiate nationwide political and economic reforms. Strengthening of India’s international profile, in order to gain influence, respect and stimulate new investments and export. Finally, a switch from offering outsourcing services to creating fundamental innovative services.

With its highly educated and fluently English speaking workforce, India can do far better than just taking orders. Enormous prospects lie ahead in development, research and innovation. India can never be China, but can at least attempt to economically match the red giant.