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About Us
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The ICA Institute
is a non-profit research institute working to
foster research and dissemination of
knowledge on the rise of China and India and
their impact on global markets, global
resources and geopolitics of the world. The
ICA Institute's mission is to generate new
perspectives on the role of market and
resource driven economic development. ICA
Institute fosters interaction and dialogue
between academic scholars, industry leaders
and policy makers on the impact of emerging
economies in general and China and India in
particular. Specifically, The ICA Institute is
positioned to be a catalyst between faculty
and students in International Business and
industry leaders and managers.
www.icainstitute.org
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From ICA Institute
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Editor-in-Chief's Note
Dr. Ashok Roy
"In this issue, many remarkable conversations have been chronicled for the public square across a broad swatch and living tapestry of topics. The eclectic mix of authors hasexamined concepts, looked at regions, and expressed thoughts. In reviewing manuscripts, we continue, as always, to pose the essential question: "What is its value to our readership?" The result is, I believe, insights, often profound, from a diverse group of authors. In this issue, the authors are a mix of young scholars and professionals and seasoned academics, who provide a spate of methodological approaches and analytic perspectives to contemporary issues. The contents reflect topics in area studies, application of fractals, land ownership in rural areas, and a host of other relevant issues. In combination, this set of working papers contributes to the timely working knowledge base of the diverse readership that characterizes JEKEM's
professional target audience. " |
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Events
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Webinar | China Cross-Border Investment Quarterly Roundup
(Deloitte Debriefs | Dec 9)
What foreign direct investment activities have taken place in China this past quarter, and what are recent changes in the overall investment environment? As a special focus, what are the new opportunities brought about by China's rapid urbanization?
- Update on cross-border M&A and green-field investment in China.
- Trends and changes in China's urbanization process as the country begins to shift 280 million people to cities within the next two decades.
- Emerging opportunities and locations for foreign investment.
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Headlines
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Is there a better way to organise the world's currencies?
(The Economist | Nov 4)
The Chinese retort that the biggest source of distortion in the global economy is America's ultra-loose monetary policy-reinforced by the Federal Reserve's decision on November 3rd to restart "quantitative easing", or printing money to buy government bonds (see article). Other emerging economies cry that they are innocent victims, as their currencies are forced up by foreign capital flooding into their markets and away from low yields elsewhere.
China's exchange rate has risen faster than you think. Really
(The Economist | Nov 4)
AMERICAN manufacturers complain that China undervalues its exchange rate. But which one? The nominal exchange rate is now 6.67 yuan to the dollar, having strengthened by almost 2% since September 5th (when Larry Summers, an adviser to President Barack Obama, flew to Beijing to complain about the currency in person) and by 24% since 2005. But China's real exchange rate with America has strengthened by almost 50% since 2005, according to calculations by The Economist...
The rise of Asia At America's expense: India, China and the rest
(The Economist | Nov 4)
South-East Asia in general, and Singapore in particular, have been very successful in placing themselves at the centre of regional diplomacy. An unspoken fear behind his argument is that South-East Asia itself risks losing influence. After all, as Mr Tay notes, the previous administration, of George Bush, was very active in managing its relations with China and India. Yet he accuses it of overlooking the "wider picture of Asia". An Asia minus India and China is perhaps only wider if you live in the bits in between.
China fears over world impact of America's flood of dollars
(London Evening Standard | Nov 5)
"If the domestic policy is optimal policy for the United States alone, but at the same time it is not an optimal policy for he world, it may bring a lot of negative impact to the world. There is a spillover," Zhou said. he Fed will buy up treasury bonds over the next eight months to lower long-term interest rates in an effort to revive economic growth.
S.Africa wants to be 5th "BRIC", Russia says
(Reuters Africa | Nov 12)
South Africa has "applied" to join the four-member "BRIC" grouping of fast-growing emerging markets, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at the Group of 20 meeting on Friday. South Africa is the world's 31st-largest economy, according to World Bank data for 2009 and is less than a quarter the size of the smallest "BRIC" economy, Russia, in the informal grouping that also numbers Brazil, India and China.
Africa offers funds untapped opportunity - Roubini
(Reuters Africa | Nov 12)
Fund managers should consider African markets such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania rather than chasing crowded emerging market trades elsewhere, economist Nouriel Roubini said. "It (Africa) is risky because there is less liquidity and the governance is not ideal. But in comparison to 10 years ago when there was civil strife and unstable governments, many things have improved," Roubini said.
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Policy | Politics
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Leveraging China & India for Global Competitiveness
(GLG Group | Nov 13)
Multi-National Coporations are gaining competitive advantage by leveraging core strengths across both geographies and partners. From a geographic standpoint, this could be termed "horizontal capability building" where capabilities resident in China or India are leveraged in the other respective market and beyond. Across the China-India geography, there is a full value chain of low-cost capabilities with the opportunity to achieve scale within those two markets.
Obama--Manmohan Singh duet---As seen from Beijing
(Sri Lanka Guardian | Nov 13)
It is absurd to say Obama's whirlwind tour to India is a proof that the U.S. strategic focus has been shifted from Beijing to Delhi." So wrote Li Hongmei, the columnist of the party-controlled "People's Daily Online" of China, in a half-serious, half-sarcastic article on the recent visit of President Barack Obama to India. The article, titled "Obama greets India with more than a lip service? ", was carried by the "People's Daily Online" on November 9,2010.
U.S.-Pakistan Ties Overshadow Obama's Trip To India
(NPR | Nov 5)
Many Indians feel that the United States has neglected India, while cultivating strategic relations with its military rival, Pakistan. That perception will be tough to overcome as Obama seeks India's help on a range of issues, from helping to balance the growing power of China to supporting the government of Afghanistan.
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Capital Markets
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"Quantitative easing" is unloved and unappreciated-but it is working
(The Economist | Nov 4)
With a bit of a lag, these easier financial conditions are supposed to boost growth through three channels. First, lower real yields spur borrowing and investment. This channel is bunged up: many households cannot borrow because their homes have fallen in value and because banks are less willing to lend. But the remaining two channels remain open. Higher share prices have raised household wealth by some $1.4 trillion, which will spur some spending. And the lower dollar should help trade. American factory purchasing managers reported a sharp jump in export orders in October and a drop in imports.
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Transportation
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Chinese Plan to Buy Stake in GM
(WSJ | Nov 12)
In a sign of the changing fortunes of the world's top two economies, China's biggest auto maker, SAIC Motor Corp., is negotiating to acquire a stake of about 1% in General Motors Co. worth about $500 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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Technology
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Cell phone virus attacks 1 million cell phone users
(The Christian Science Monitor | Nov 12)
A new virus has struck, but this time it is attacking mobile phones instead of computers. Shanghai Daily reports that over 1 million mobile phone users in China have been affected by the new cell phone virus since September. It is called the "zombie virus," and comes built into a fake anti-virus application that many are unwittingly downloading for protection. Instead of providing protection for the cell phone users, the application launches a malicious virus.
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Energy
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China and India see what the US doesn't - the potential of natural gas
(Financial Times | Nov 11)
This has been a busy week for US natural gas. It started off with the US signing an agreement to help India exploit its shale gas resources during President Barack Obama's visit to that country. The agreement mirrored one the US had signed with China some time back to also help that country make the most of its shale.
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Real Estate
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Reinventing real estate: Conference speakers talk about future trends
(Virginia Business | Nov 4)
"...the economic center of the world is shifting to Asia. "By our estimates, 80 percent of the money invested today in real estate is in developed markets and 20 percent is in emerging markets, such as China and India,..In 10 years, Prudential expects that ratio to shift to 60/40; by 2030, the ratio will be 50/50. "Over this period of time, investors will have a deeper, broader playing field, and the way they allocate capital will be different..."
Banks will now lend only 80% of home price
(Times of India | Nov 4)
While most banks are in a wait-and-watch mode on their lending and deposit rates after the Reserve Bank of India's decision on Tuesday to hike key policy rates--repo and reverse repo--by a modest 25 basis points (100 basis points=1%), it is certain that from now on, anyone applying for a housing loan from a bank will have to pay a margin money of at least 20% of the value of the property. This in effect means that you will have to shell out more from your own savings to buy that house you have been eyeing for a while. Earlier, this margin money varied between 10% and 15 %.
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Opinions
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Will India Be US's Ally Against China?
(MyRepublica | Nov 13)
Americans hope that an Indo-US alliance will make China commit a foreign policy blunder that would provide it with a ha-ha moment. Many seem to believe that Obama�s visit will have the same effect on international politics that Richard Nixon�s visit to Beijing had in the early 1970s. However, China is not the former USSR. India and China may differ on many issues, but both being world powers know how to handle their differences by themselves.
After Obama visit, India set to play ball with U.S. rivals
(The Hindu | Nov 14)
If Barack Obama's triumphant visit here gave the world the impression that the Manmohan Singh government was drawing too close to the United States, the Russia-India-China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting in Wuhan this week will serve as a reminder that India is still willing to play ball with powers that see themselves as rivals to America.
Obama's Indian Odyssey
(360� : Insights on Doing Business with India | Nov 10)
The messages for business - both overt and covert - from President Obama's game-changing and mesmerising visit to India.
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Sincerely,
ICA Institute
Please send your comments/suggestions to prashant.das@icainstitute.org
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