Bamboo Innovator

Chinese leader to tour Samsung Electronics during South Korea visit

Updated : 2014-06-22 11:55

Chinese leader to tour Samsung Electronics during South Korea visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to tour a main Samsung Electronics facility when he visits South Korea early next month, industry sources said Sunday.
Xi will be guided by the company’s vice chairman Lee Jay-yong, the heir-apparent of Samsung Group, and they will also hold talks, the sources said. The tour was arranged at Samsung’s request, they said.
Xi is expected in South Korea in the first week of July. Japanese media reports said he will visit on July 3-4.
The Chinese president will tour the tech giant’s facility either in Suwon or Kiheung, both just about 40 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the sources. He toured the Samsung plant in 2005 when he was a party official. In 2007, he visited the Samsung plant in the Chinese city of Suzhou.
Xi and Lee previously met in 2010 when Xi was vice president. (Yonhap)

Normalising interest rates should be more like scaling back emergency medicine than invasive surgery; David Miles, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, expects to vote for a rate rise in the coming months

Normalising interest rates should be more like scaling back emergency medicine than invasive surgery

David Miles, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, expects to vote for a rate rise in the coming months

Economics professor Miles also said it was “wildly unlikely” that interest rates would return to pre-crisis levels of around 5pc Photo: Bloomberg News

By David Miles

9:00PM BST 22 Jun 2014

I was surprised to discover recently that I am shortly to become the longest-serving member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. Read more of this post

Infosys CEO: How to lead in a post-financial crisis era

Infosys CEO: How to lead in a post-financial crisis era

S.D Shibulal

@FortuneMagazine

JUNE 20, 2014, 9:16 AM EDT

As demanding as it may sound, today’s leaders are expected to be a jack of all trades and masters, too.

Corporations across the world and the leaders at its helm are often seeking answers to a much-debated question: What are the ideal qualities of a leader? There is no dearth of answers that one can find on this topic. For a simple reason that there are no easy answers. There isn’t a “one size fits all” response. In my own leadership journey spanning over three decades, my experience has been no different. Every corporation and every leader, I believe, discovers leadership qualities through their own unique journeys. What works for one may not necessarily work for another. What I have come to understand is that while certain fundamental qualities of a leader are time and context invariant, there are others that need to evolve with the changing times. Read more of this post

Mud Flung as Indonesia Presidential Race Heats Up

Mud Flung as Indonesia Presidential Race Heats Up

By Randy Fabi on 12:24 pm Jun 22, 2014

Jakarta. One of the two hopefuls in Indonesia’s presidential election has been accused of being a closet Christian, the other of being a foreigner and unfit to lead the nation.

As the race for the presidency tightens, mudslinging between supporters of Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and ex-general Prabowo Subianto is increasing, forcing even the police to get involved.

Jokowi’s team asked the police this month to arrest the publisher of a little-known tabloid after it falsely reported that the Muslim governor from the Javanese city of Solo was an ethnic Chinese Christian. Read more of this post

Malaysia’s Tiny, Strutting Serama Chickens Gain Fans; “These beautiful tiny birds gives you great pleasure to own”

Malaysia’s Tiny, Strutting Serama Chickens Gain Fans

By Agence France-Presse on 08:11 pm Jun 21, 2014

A judge watches as a serama chicken struts down a table during a beauty contest in Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur on May 17, 2014. (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

Kampung Pandan, Malaysia. Marching imperiously with a puffed-out chest and soldier’s ramrod posture, Mohamad Hatta Yahaya’s tiny chicken strutted its rich yellow plumage for a stone-faced judge. Read more of this post

The Search for a New Paradigm in Indonesia’s Asean Policy; Indonesia Likely to Be More Inward-Looking

The Search for a New Paradigm in Indonesia’s Asean Policy

By Aleksius Jemadu on 07:19 pm Jun 22, 2014

Judging from their vision and mission especially with regard to the issue of foreign policy, the presidential hopefuls, Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo, seem to realize that a fundamental change has to be made in Indonesia’s policy toward the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. As far as Prabowo is concerned, he goes even further as saying that Asean reflects the old mindset that needs to be changed for the sake of a more progressive foreign policy. While Joko is not as radical as that, he seeks to have a larger scope for foreign policy maneuvering by embracing the idea of engaging the Indo-Pacific region. What has driven the candidates to review the so-called cornerstone of Indonesia’s foreign policy under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that has been backed so staunchly by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa? Read more of this post

Joko, Prabowo Outline Their Economic Strategy in Kadin Dialogue

Joko, Prabowo Outline Their Economic Strategy in Kadin Dialogue

By Tito Summa Siahaan on 10:15 pm Jun 22, 2014

Jakarta. Presidential candidates Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto and their running mates had equal time and a fair chance to outline their economic strategies to members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday.

It appeared, however, that by the end of the event the local business community was more convinced by the direction of Joko’s detailed micro-economic approach rather than Prabowo’s broadly stated grand vision. Read more of this post

Corporate debt troubles China, bond market overtakes that of US

Updated: Monday June 23, 2014 MYT 6:54:09 AM

Corporate debt troubles China, bond market overtakes that of US

BY YAP LENG JUEN

THE fact that China is financing a quarter to a third of its corporate debt of US$14.2 trillion at the end of last year, through the shadow banking sector, is a cause of concern.

“This means that as much as 10% of global corporate debt is exposed to the risk of a contraction in China’s informal banking sector,” Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said, estimating this at US$4 trillion to US$5 trillion. Read more of this post

7-Eleven Malaysia introducing new cafe-lifestyle concept, including seating areas

Updated: Monday June 23, 2014 MYT 7:16:01 AM

7-Eleven introducing new cafe-lifestyle concept, including seating areas

BY LIZ LEE

KUALA LUMPUR: Through its plans to expand network and refurbish some selected stores, 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd targets to introduce a new concept in 200 outlets in the next three to four years. Read more of this post

Shinzo Abe’s ‘Third Arrow’ Seeks a Hard Target in Japan

Shinzo Abe’s ‘Third Arrow’ Seeks a Hard Target in Japan

New Growth Measures Chip Around the Edges of Nation’s Economic Foundations

JACOB M. SCHLESINGER

June 22, 2014 2:09 p.m. ET

TOKYO—Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made strides over the past year to end Japan’s long bout of debilitating deflation. He’ll announce still more measures this week designed to stir economic growth. Read more of this post

Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero

Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero Hardcover – Deckle Edge

by James Romm (Author)

From acclaimed classical historian, author of Ghost on the Throne (“Gripping . . . the narrative verve of a born writer and the erudition of a scholar” —Daniel  Mendelsohn) and editor of The Landmark Arrian:The Campaign of Alexander (“Thrilling” —The New York Times Book Review), a  high-stakes drama full of murder, madness, tyranny, perversion, with the sweep of history on the grand scale.
At the center, the tumultuous life of Seneca, ancient Rome’s preeminent writer and philosopher, beginning with banishment in his fifties and subsequent appointment as tutor to twelve-year-old Nero, future emperor of Rome. Controlling them both, Nero’s mother, Julia Agrippina the Younger, Roman empress, great-granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, sister of the Emperor Caligula, niece and fourth wife of Emperor Claudius.         Read more of this post

After port fraud, China’s vast warehouse sector under scrutiny

After port fraud, China’s vast warehouse sector under scrutiny

5:15pm EDT

By Melanie Burton and Fayen Wong

SYDNEY/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Shaken by a fraud investigation into metal financing in the world’s seventh-busiest port, banks and trading houses have been made painfully aware of the risks they face storing commodities in China’s sprawling warehouse sector.

The probe at Qingdao port centers around a private metals trading firm suspected of duplicating warehouse certificates in order to use a metal cargo multiple times to raise financing. Read more of this post

Chinese consumers switch gears from cash to credit for car buys

Chinese consumers switch gears from cash to credit for car buys

5:18pm EDT

By Samuel Shen and Umesh Desai

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – In a country where owning a car has long been a symbol of luxury and success, around 85 percent of Chinese car buyers still buy cars with cash.

But people like Chinese accountant Grace Mi and her peers in their 20s and 30s are changing the car financing game and are the ones catching the attention of global carmakers looking to boost revenue and defend margins in an increasingly competitive market. Read more of this post

Key lessons from London’s bus services

Key lessons from London’s bus services

Two weeks ago, I headed to London for a trip sponsored by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to learn about the bus system there, armed with a sceptical attitude.

BY JOY FANG –

JUNE 23

Two weeks ago, I headed to London for a trip sponsored by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to learn about the bus system there, armed with a sceptical attitude.

London’s bus system has often made the news for the wrong reasons. Fare hikes, choking traffic and bus driver strikes — the most recent was in 2012, which was over demands for a £500 (S$1,060) Olympics bonus and brought services to a halt — often make the headlines there. Read more of this post

Solomon Lew weighs options for David Jones’ property portfolio

Solomon Lew weighs options for David Jones’ property portfolio

June 23, 2014

Carolyn Cummins

Speculation is mounting that Solomon Lew could strike a deal with the South African Woolworths group to buy the David Jones property portfolio, independently valued at $612 million.

According to property analysts, such a deal would allow Mr Lew to exit the David Jones takeover battle, where he has bought a strategic stake in the department store, which has left investors and Woolworths unsure of his intentions. Read more of this post

Rod Sims: ”I always find it irritating when people say Australia has picked all the low-hanging micro-economic reform fruit. We have not; and besides, there is never only one crop,’

Rod Sims warns on privatisation impact on competition

June 23, 2014

Brian Robins

The head of the consumer watchdog has warned that competition policy needs to be reinvigorated, with governments increasingly failing to make competition central to the privatisation of public assets.

As a result, the federal government needs to ensure the present review of competition policy, the so-called Harper review, is used to both strengthen competition policy as well as to help reinvigorate so-called ”micro-economic reform”, ongoing changes to government policy to revitalise the economy. Read more of this post