QBE Hong Kong is pleased to share with the PBEC Community, the release of its 5th iteration of our annual SME research for Hong Kong. SMEs are the backbone of the local economy. To better understand this important customer segment, QBE Hong Kong conducted the annual SME survey in October 2022 to gain valuable insights into the opportunities and challenges faced by SMEs. The study drew on an online survey of 422 Hong Kong SMEs from a wide range of…
Author: Patrick Low Senior Fellow – Asia Global Institute It has become fashionable to argue that globalization is in decline. The picture is more nuanced, however. While trade in manufactures as a proportion of overall economic activity appears to have peaked in some countries, the growth of trade in services as a proportion of GDP has certainly not slowed. The future of services trade in global value chains A recent series of papers by Richard Baldwin argued that globalization and…
Blinken outlined the Biden Administration’s much anticipated China strategy in a public speech in May last year. Blinken articulated an approach to China built on three prongs: invest, align, and compete. The “invest” pillar of the strategy calls for the US to make substantial investments in cutting-edge industries crucial to economic and strategic pre-eminence. The “align” pillar focuses on cooperating with partners that share a common vision for the Indo-Pacific. The “compete” pillar identifies economic, strategic, and philosophical ways the…
Despite global economic headwinds and regional geopolitical challenges, member companies of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan report measured confidence about the year ahead, according to the results of the organization’s 2023 Business Climate Survey (BCS). The poll, conducted between November 15 and December 16, 2022, found that over 70% of business leaders expressed confidence about Taiwan’s economic growth over the next 12 months. While a decrease of 16 percentage points from last year, long-term confidence remains high, expressing member companies’ confidence…
PBEC CEO Michael Walsh and Treasurer Anson Bailey hosted a few of our HK based PBEC Directors for its first informal face to face lunch of 2023 in January prior to CNY. In attendance were directors; Lester Huang, Anson Chan, Sebastian Man, Diana Chou & David Armitage. Apologies were received from Lei Yiu, Thomas Wong and Ben Simpfendorfer. “It was lovely to catch up together, given the lifting of the covid restrictions in Hong Kong. The Aviation Club is situated…
Immediately after Tet New Year in Vietnam, PBEC CEO Michael Walsh took the opportunity to visit VinaCapital’s head office to present in person to the CEO Don Lam, their ESG Award 2022-23 for “Most Responsible ESG Investor” – In doing so, Michael also had the opportunity to sit down with the some of the wider senior management team to get their latest views and outlook in the investment markets including those of their Chief Economist Michael Kokalari over a hosted…
PBEC Chairman Andrew Weir and CEO Michael Walsh hosted a luncheon in Hong Kong at the China Club in recognition of this years reinstated PBEC ESG Awards. Congratulations once again to our winners in; FEC Group (Gold ESG Winner), Sands China (Silver ESG Winner), KPMG International (Bronze ESG Winner), VinaCapital (Most responsible ESG investor winner) and Cogo (ESG Entrepreneur Winner). You can find more information about the competitions criteria and winners ESG information by clicking here:
Under the theme “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,” USA Chairing APEC2023 plan to build a more interconnected, innovative, and inclusive APEC region. Through its APEC 2023 host year, the USA seek to further U.S. economic engagement with the region. Regular exchanges among governments, business leaders – including through the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) – and other stakeholders such as PECC and PBEC are critical to ensuring that APEC is delivering pragmatic solutions to the key challenges facing U.S. workers and…
PBEC CEO Michael Walsh took the opportunity to visit some of the PBEC members in HCMC and Hanoi on his recent trip to Vietnam over the Chinese & Tet New Year 2023. “I had the chance to sit down with KPMG Chairman and CEO Warrick Cleine of Vietnam and Cambodia at their office in HCMC. It was lovely to have this opportunity to sit down together and share each others views on the hot issues and areas of focus for…
It operates under the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy, and has the longest military runway in Asia. Commodore R Vinod Kumar handed over the command of the Indian Naval Air Station Rajali, based at Arakkonam, TamilNadu to Commodore Kapil Mehta. Commodore Kapil Mehta, is an alumnus of the INA, Goa, DSSC, Wellington, NWC, Goa and NDC, New Delhi. Commodore Kapil Mehta was commissioned into the Navy on 01 Jan 1995. He is a naval rotary-wing pilot, qualified on…