RUBE GOLDBERG

The two-day China Conference: Building Co-operation, Managing Complexities wrapped up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week after an impressive line-up of South East Asia’s thousand most influential leaders in business and Government came together – with tech, tariffs and taxes being the talk of the town.

Sentient Cities have arrived. Problems are noted, intelligent solutions are proposed and the outcome is better quality of life for people living in urban environments…and yes, capital outlay is huge, but it is O! So worth it.

According to global rating agencies, Uzbekistan’s economy is set to bloom in Central Asia which may be partly attributed to President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s nation building policies since his appointment in 2016.

Rwanda has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in less than two decades; an extraordinary feat since its genocide in the 1990s where an estimated two million people died in the civil war against Tutsi refugees.

As Africa strives to pull itself out of extreme poverty – 28 of the poorest countries in the world are in Africa – the continent is opening its doors to foreign direct investment across major industries.

Thanks to improving technology and more cost effective battery production, manufacturers are improving the long-distance capabilities for electric vehicles – making EV more attractive and affordable, for both commercial and private use.

Leading universities globally are stepping up efforts to cater for the growing demand to professionalise blockchain certification through standard Masters’ Programs.

We were fortunate enough to have one of Australia’s most qualified financial adviser’s CEO of Supersolve Financial Services Nick Sheather, share his FY2018 market wrap of Australian and Global Share Markets. According to Sheather, the global market offered another year of double digit returns despite being a year of two halves. With the Reserve Bank of Australia Cash Rate staying at a record low of 1.5 percent, this continued to impact returns from interest bearing investments…

Transport industries are witnessing unprecedented interest by investors, particularly with organisations adopting Telematics world-wide.

Chinese President Xi Jinping rallied BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to forge a deeper economic and strategic partnership in the areas of trade, investment, finance and interconnectivity, which set an unprecedented tone for the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg South Africa in July 2018.

Asia is becoming a hotbed of sports’ investments with companies making lucrative plays due to growing consumer participation and consumption of team sports in the region.

According to the Pew Research Centre, migrants from different parts of the world sent around USD 574 billion in remittances to their home countries in 2016. While banks and a handful of high street forex brokers dominated this sector until a couple of decades ago, the arrival of some savvy FinTech players are giving traditional operators a run for their money…

The increase of cross-cultural influence and tech, health food trends and captured fish practices in the food industry are leading to a surge in seafood consumption, with the global fisheries market estimated to be worth over USD 200 billion by 2020, according to market research firm Million Insights.

As the cries for greater privacy of personal data grows shrill and Governments move to capitalise on public sentiment, new tech and regulations surrounding data harvesting promises a lot but still remains light on the detail.

China is taking measures to open-up its financial markets to foreign investment. The move is in-line with its strategy to assert itself as a major power block, challenging a decades-long US hegemony in global financial markets.