Bolivia: rumble over the jungle
The arrival of more than 1,000 Amazonian protestors in Bolivia’s chilly Andean capital has put Evo Morales between a jungle and a hard place.
The charismatic president rose to power as a champion of Bolivia’s repressed indigenous majority and the environment.
But lately indigenous protesters – and environmentalists – are causing him no end of grief. Morales wants to build a 185-mile highway through an Amazonian reserve as part of modernisation drive. Continue reading »
ICE: LatAm, a better punt than Europe
By Hal Weitzman
Intercontinental Exchange appears to have more confidence in Hugo Chavez than in George Papandreou.
ICE, one of the world’s biggest derivatives exchanges, announced on Thursday it will launch the world’s first clearing services for sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) later this month. Continue reading »
China: let a hundred muni bonds bloom
Much has been made about the huge debt-pile that China’s local governments have taken on to fund infrastructure projects over the past three years. But just how big of a headache has China’s municipal debt problem become?
Big enough it seems for Beijing to finally act.
In a move aimed at giving its cash-strapped local governments a much needed funding boost (and reduce the possibility of defaults), China’s finance ministry on Thursday approved a trial programme that will allow the cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as the provinces of Zhejiang and Guangdong to issue short-term bonds. Continue reading »
Tuncay Ozilhan: Turkey’s brew maker
Bloomberg
Tuncay Ozilhan, the man SABMiller has thrown its lot in with this week, has a classic CV for a member of Turkey’s go-getting business elite.
Ozilhan, whose Anadolu Efes SABMiller is taking a 24 per cent stake in, has strong ties to Turkey’s Istanbul-based establishment and has served as the chairman of Tusiad, Turkey’s biggest business grouping. But he was born in July 1947 in Kayseri, the Anatolian city that has produced many of Turkey’s most vigorous entrepreneurs.
Poland property: still sagging
It’s not enough that Polish real estate owners (many of whom have mortgages denominated in Swiss currency) have been battered by the soaring franc, they’ve also had to contend with a steady fall in the value of flats.
According to a new study by Ober-Haus, a central European real estate agency, that uses its internal data, apartment prices are continuing to sag. In September, prices fell month-on-month in most large urban centres – from a tiny 0.1 per cent in Warsaw to a steeper 1.2 per cent in the secondary cities of Poznan, Lodz and Katowice. Continue reading »
Ukraine: losing friends
Ukraine, ruled with an iron fist by president Viktor Yanukovich and his oligarch backers, seems to be getting on everyone’s bad side of late.
This month, the European Union threatened to put on hold free trade and associate agreements after Yulia Tymoshenko, the opposition leader, was sentenced to seven years in jail. The trial was widely seen as a politically-motivated attempt by Yanukovich to sideline her from politics. Continue reading »
Turkey’s monetary policy: in a bind
Just two months after the Turkish central bank surprised the markets by cutting interest rates by 50 basis points, it has changed stance again. Higher interest rates, not further cuts, are now on the horizon.
A statement issued by the bank on Thursday was more notable for what it didn’t say than for what it did. Notably, it omitted language the bank has been using up to now anticipating possible rate cuts ahead. Continue reading »
Bangalore metro: progress or white elephant?
After missing four deadlines, India’s outsourcing and IT hub, Bangalore, finally inaugurated South India’s first metro on Thursday amid great fanfare.
But whether the state-of-the-art urban railway system will do anything to alleviate the city’s infamous traffic problems still remains to be seen. Equally as important is the question of India should marshal its limited resources now that it is finally beginning to invest more and more in its failing infrastructure. Continue reading »
Vietnamese in the Czech Republic: fruit, veg and beyond
In the third of our occasional series, Ivana Kottasová talks to Tran Hung Quan, founder and editor of SecViet, an online magazine serving the Czech Republic’s community of 60,000 ethnic Vietnamese.
Andrea Accordi, the first Michelin star chef in the Czech Republic, was recently asked about his shopping habits. Where does he, the most famous Czech chef, get his fruit and vegetables?
He goes to a local Vietnamese shop. “Vietnamese vegetable sellers have the best selection of Czech fruit and vegetables. I have never had a bad experience with their stuff. Asians have a different relationship with vegetables, they have a better sense for it and can pick the best produce,” he said. Continue reading »
Sub-Saharan Africa is set to keep growing – so long as the rest of the world doesn’t let it down. The International Monetary Fund forecasts the region to grow by over 5.25 per cent next year if global growth hits 4 per cent, in its Regional Outlook report published on Wednesday.
As usual those countries lucky enough to have oil to sell will be picking up the slack by growing about 2 percentage points faster than their resource-poor neighbours.
However, the IMF’s report points to one way that Sub-Saharan countries can boost their growth rates and reduce their reliance on such volatile commodities – by increasing the sophistication of their exports. Continue reading »
Egypt: a $3.7bn gleam in the dark
Ahmed Heikal, one of Egypt’s best-known financiers, is pressing ahead with a $3.7bn refinery investment despite the political uncertainty surrounding the country.
But he started five years ago and has already invested considerable time, effort and money into the government-backed project. “It would be more difficult to start now,” he said, in a comment which speaks volumes about Egypt’s investment climate. Continue reading »
Samsung and Apple: tough love
Despite all the legal wrangling with Apple over technology patents, Samsung Electronics is expected to maintain its position as the Californian company’s leading supplier.
After attending the memorial service for Steve Jobs, Lee Jae-yong (pictured), Samsung’s chief operating officer, met Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, and talked about “promoting good relations” between the two companies, Lee told local reporters after arriving back in Seoul. Continue reading »
* Turkish troops pursue Kurdish militants
* Iraq projects $100bn investment in oil fields
* India oil refiners seek $2.8bn fuel subsidy Continue reading »
Fixing America’s housing market… with Chinese landlords?
For a Chinese millionaire, investing is a chore these days. The stock market is in the dumps, house prices have stopped going up, and even gold is in a funk. Perhaps some real estate overseas?
Enter Charles Schumer – China-currency-policy-basher, and US senator for New York State. Under a bipartisan bill, drafted by Schumer and Utah’s Mike Lee, foreigners could be granted a US visa if they buy an American home. Continue reading »
Further reading: looking east
Thursday’s top picks from the beyondbrics team: Lex on eastern Europe’s eurozone infection; David Pilling on China’s confusing historical narrative; Why slower growth is good for China; Turkey’s Kurdish-tightrope; and India loses ever more ground to China. Continue reading »
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