Will China’s quest for clean air affect the economy?

China emits about a third of global greenhouse gases. It is also home to 16 of the most polluted cities in the world. China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth dropped from 7.7% in 2013 to 7.4% in 2014. Will China fulfill its quest for clean air and sustain its economy? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly.

It is not hard to see why China is so keen to implement counter measures to deal with air pollution. Only 8 out of 74 major cities in 2014 met the prescribed health air quality criteria. Moreover, 20 million cars were sold in 2013 – making China the world’s largest car market and adding to its toxic emission woes.

Perera noted that the causes of pollution include rapid urbanization and industrialization. Furthermore, the nation burns coal on a large scale – an average of 2 million tons is consumed yearly to meet growing energy demand.

The government’s five-year action plan will monitor air pollution levels. The nation also plans to invest USD300 billion into renewable energy by the end of 2015 to reduce the country’s carbon footprint.

Interestingly, companies are now keen to sell products that help deal with air pollution, such as air purifiers. Around USD30.3 million air purifiers were sold in 2013 alone.

China further plans to fund USD3.1 billion in aid to assist developing nations against global warming and develop industries with lower carbon emissions.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/will-chinas-quest-for-clean-air-affect-the-economy/

Comments

How will policies affect the construction industry?

- Mr. Japnit Singh, Senior Director, Singapore and India, Spire Research and Consulting India, as the world’s seventh largest country by area and second biggest by population, is one of the most dynamically growing, but largely untapped construction equipment markets. From 2013 to 2020, it is estimated to grow six times to a size of USD20 billion to USD25 billion. The Planning Commission, Government of India, jointly with the Indian construction industry has set up Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) to take up activities for the development of the Indian construction industry. The Council, for the first time in the country, provides the impetus and organizational infrastructure to raise quality levels across the industry. This helps to secure wider appreciation of the interests of construction business by the government, industry and peer groups in society. CIDC is a change agent to accelerate a process of self-reform that should enable the industry to

Ghana citizenships to boost economy

In November 2019, 126 African-Americans and Afro-Caribbean’s were granted citizenship, in a ceremony that marks 2019 as the Year of Return. 500,000 tourists are expected to visit Ghana during the Year of Return, a considerable increase from the 380,000 that visited in 2018. Visa on arrival for some and waive off of Visa charges have been introduced. The government also plans to invest in educated returnees to help boost the economy through employment. Is investment in human capital the way to boost Ghana’s economy? Read more: https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/ghana-citizenships-to-boost-economy/

Spire talks about strategic planning lessons from leading organizations in ASEAN

Spire was honored to participate in a seminar organized by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) on 15th July, in Singapore. Japnit Singh, Deputy CEO of Spire Group, shared his insights on strategic planning lessons from leading organizations in ASEAN. Japnit discussed five steps of strategic planning, strategic priorities and tools used by leading organizations in ASEAN. The strategic planning process can be seen as consisting of five steps, distributed amongst different departments in the organization. These steps are defining the vision, gathering and analyzing data, strategy creation, planning resources & outcomes and finally evaluation and monitoring. An organization should formulate an overall vision for the future, gather and analyze all the available data and also consider all the available critical items of information while monitoring and evaluating key performance indicators (KPI). For Singapore-based firms, ASEAN continues to be the most popular

Digital banking in Singapore

What will be the impact of digital banks in Singapore? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in Business Times – Singapore. More and more countries worldwide are issuing full bank licenses to digital-only banks. The competition from digital banks is being seen as a favorable development for the consumer. Digital banks with fewer physical branches and Automated Teller Machines to maintain could incur lower costs that could be passed onto the consumer. However, Perera highlighted that non-bank players entering the regulated banking space would need to learn a great deal in terms of maintaining cyber- security and managing financial risks. To overcome these challenges, regulators should work closely with licensed digital banks while also helping digital-only banks domiciled in Singapore to grow regionally. Get more information : https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/digital-banking-in-singapore/

Construction Sphere Magazine November 2013 Mumbai

How will policies affect the construction industry?

The Knowledge to Decide

Search This Blog