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Dr. Scott MacDonald's picture

The Return of the Great Game and Infrastructure

The Great Game was a geopolitical contest for influence and dominance in Central Asia between Tsarist Russia and the British Empire that occurred in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The game was played out over vast distances, with a mix of spies, money and armies.

Dr. Scott MacDonald's picture

China Needs to Rethink its Game

One factor that has allowed China to expand its global role has been financial diplomacy in the form of loans, business deals and other investments. However, in overlooking issues such as public discontent with dictatorships, corruption and economic mismanagement, Chinese companies have also assumed considerable risk.

Mr. Naoyuki Haraoka's picture

Infrastructure for Global Value Chains

The nature of the utilization of global value chains (GVCs) is a key element in determining the type of activity of multinational enterprises (MNEs). At the most primitive stage, trade in agricultural, mineral, or light-industrial products is dominant and relatively slow paced. Thus, there is little time sensitivity. At the second stage, business operations are more sophisticated and time sensitive.

Dr. Amitendu Palit's picture

EODB Rankings Augur Well for BRI Investments

The recently released World Bank Ease of Doing Business (EODB) rankings have interesting findings relating to some of the countries involved in China’s Belt-and-Road (BRI) infrastructure project. One of the major groups of countries to have improved EODB rankings since last year is Central Asia. Kazakhstan (+1.06), Azerbaijan (+3.12), Uzbekistan (+4.46), Ukraine (+1.90), Kyrgyz Republic (+0.54) and Tajikistan (0.93) have all moved up the EODB ladder.

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard's picture

Chinese Auto Joint Venture Partnerships and Avoiding a Wreck through A Local Partner "Bumper"

According to an article that appeared in Caixin, a well-known Chinese business publication, in mid-September, Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd. and two other unnamed Chinese car makers potentially might set up a joint automobile plant in the United States (US) as a means of reducing investment risk. On the surface, a joint venture (JV) is a sensible strategy as multiple firms working together might, in concept, lower design uncertainties, share development and production costs and risks, and minimize the expenditures associated with branding, marketing, and distribution.

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard's picture

Rethinking China’s Outward Cash Flow Crash: Politics in Command?

Not so long ago, the story of the day was about China’s inexorable path to buying up the world, with more than USD $200 billion of acquisitions in 2016 alone. Lately, however, those once focused about China’s global takeover have been dashing to explain the Chinese outward cash flow crash. The crash has involved an almost 43 percent drop in COFDI over the first six months of 2017 year-over-year (YOY).

Dr. Hwy-Chang Moon's picture

Why Is Vietnam Korea’s Favorite FDI Destination in ASEAN?

The Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) has become a major destination for Korean foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2016, this region alone attracted about one half of Korea’s outward FDI (OFDI). Moreover, one half of Korea’s FDI flows within this regional bloc were concentrated in Vietnam. Korea is the biggest investor in Vietnam, far ahead of the second largest, Japan.

Mr. Naoyuki Haraoka's picture

Liberal Investment Policy a Key Path to Realize the National Interest

Contemporary business firms face the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a large-scale ICT revolution. Innovations emerging during this transformative period have made it possible for manufacturing companies to divide the production process into many separate operations such as new product development, component production, assemble, sales, after-sales services, and so on. East Asia is no stranger to these dynamics. The horizontal division of labor in manufacturing has been common in this region since the 1980s.

Dr. Jean-Marc F. Blanchard's picture

Kicking around Heavy Handed Policies against Chinese Outward FDI

It is widely known that not that long ago China adopted measures to limit capital outflows following several years of massive declines in its foreign currency reserves. One of these was new review processes for deals crossing certain thresholds, which were lower in situations where an overseas deal was unrelated to the investor’s “core” business. Regarding the latter, policymakers opined that numerous deals were “‘irrational and abnormal.’”

Dr. Amitendu Palit's picture

Will RCEP Promote Investments in the Asia-Pacific?

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is being looked upon as the most promising framework for regional economic integration in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) after the United States (US) decided to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Negotiated by sixteen countries—the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand, RCEP is not as ambitious as the TPP.

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