The Knowledge to Decide

Spire was honored to participate at Career Day held at the Anglo-Chinese School, Jakarta. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Spire Research and Consulting group shared insights on career opportunities, scope in market research and business planning. Career pathway selection is an important subject for students to consider. Based on his experience, Bahar discussed available opportunities for high school students in the economy of the future, as well as the skill-sets needed to take advantage of these opportunities. The talk concluded with a question and answer session. Read here more:  https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-talks-about-career-opportunities-at-anglo-chinese-school-jakarta/

The number of Chinese international tourists rose from around 10 million in 2013 to about 130 million in 2017. Will Chinese outbound tourism transform Southeast Asia’s tourism industry? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his viewpoint on the SEA tourism industry in China News Service’s news portal. The new generation of Chinese tourists increasingly prefers to travel solo instead of in groups. Perera highlighted that China’s huge middle class are keen travelers and accounted for 143 million international tourist trips in 2017. This is even though only one out of ten Chinese holds a passport, underlining the enormous growth potential. Outbound Chinese tourism has also had a transformational effect on Southeast Asia’s tourism industry. In Thailand alone it contributed USD16 billion in 2017, sparking substantial investment. However, Chinese tourist growth is expected to moderate as China’s economic growth slows.

The European Union (EU) and Japan have signed one of the largest trade deals in history. The Economic Partnership Program, signed on 17 July 2018 in Tokyo, has been in the works since 2012. Expectations from the agreement include a trade zone that covers 600 million people and a massive boost in exports from the EU to Japan. It took more than half a year for the deal to get from negotiations to a formal agreement. Ironically, the increasingly protectionist trade stance of the Trump administration may have helped to strengthen EU and Japan trade relations. How will the EU-Japan trade deal affect the USA’s trade stance? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/japan-and-eu-sign-mega-trade-deal-yet/

Spire Singapore collaborated with the Singapore Children’s Society (SCS) on its CSR activity for the eighth consecutive year. The beneficiaries took part in fun and engaging activities. Spire Singapore took beneficiaries of the Singapore Children’s Society to an excursion to the River Safari at the Singapore Zoo. Children explored wildlife living within the great river eco-systems of the world, from the Mississippi to the Mekong Children watched the alligator gar and the peculiar Mississippi paddlefish. They learnt about the world’s most critically endangered wildlife – such as the Chinese alligator and Indian gharial. The River Safari ended on a happy note when the children enjoyed lunch and took part in a quiz about what they had learnt. Spire is immensely proud to support the amazing work of the Singapore Children’s Society, our CSR partner.  Read more  https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spires-csr-activity-with-scs-beneficiaries-at-the-river-safari/