The Knowledge to Decide

The Fintech or financial technology industry is booming. Banks, insurance companies, telecommunications carriers and financial corporates are being urged to embrace the digital wave. There has been a 60 per cent rise in global Fintech investment in 2015, valued at USD20 billion1. As financial services go digital, will cash become obsolete? What is Fintech? Fintech is, simply put, the use of technology to enhance financial services and make it more accessible as well as efficient. From asset management and lending services to ledgers and payments, Fintech is transforming the financial services realm rapidly. Fintech is providing all these services at a lower cost, threatening to disrupt large financial institutions. Since 2008, the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) exposed loopholes in the financial system and was a wake-up call to service providers. Moreover, it opened an opportunity for better, innovative finance models and banking services. For instance, in April 2016

Singapore and Sri Lanka signed the first modern and comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) earlier this year. This is expected to boost commerce, trade and investments between the two island nations. Sri Lanka is Singapore’s 36th-largest trading partner with bilateral trade amounting to SGD2.7 billion in 2017. Singapore’s top imports from Sri Lanka include fuel oils, clothing accessories, perfumes, wheat flour and motor spirit, while Singapore’s exports to Sri Lanka include gold and jewelry, diesel fuel and petroleum oil, to name a few. Will companies take advantage of the Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/singapore-signs-a-free-trade-pact-with-sri-lanka/

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to work on an open Indo-Pacific region strategy with cooperation in infrastructure development and maritime security. The Japanese government will pump in more investment into high-quality railway and road network projects. Can a strategic alliance between Japan and India help in maintaining a stable regional balance of power, given the current stance of the US? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/india-and-japans-strategic-alliance/

Traffic congestion in densely population Asian cities is nothing new. To address this growing menace, emerging Asian economies continue to invest heavily in new transport infrastructure in cities like Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City. For instance, Manila suffered annual economic losses of USD18 million due to road congestion. According to a recent study, Southeast Asian emerging states under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – excluding Laos, Brunei and Singapore – need an investment of USD147 billion each year in infrastructure through 2020 to maintain growth momentum. Will new infrastructure and traffic management technology address traffic congestion in emerging Asian economies? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/new-transport-systems-in-asian-cities-to-curb-traffic-congestion/

Does anyone own the moon? Or other planets for that matter? The prospect of mining on the moon and other celestial bodies is fast becoming a reality. In 2018, Moon Express, based in Florida, aims to be the first private entity to put a small robotic lander on the moon with an investment of approximately USD1.85 million to set up an operations room and an engineering laboratory with a firings test stand for spacecraft engines. Private space exploration is picking up. Due to ambiguities in the Outer Space Treaty, it is not clear who can profit from such business opportunities. Such ventures could exploit the fact that no international treaties apply laws to the moon. Will governments allow private space exploration and the mining of moons and planets? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/raking-in-the-moolah-through-moon-mining/

Quirky chai cafés in India like Chaayos are now replacing the dominance of Coffee shops like Starbucks, Barista and most notably Café Coffee Day. Established in 2012, Chaayos boasts of close to 40 stores and hopes to expand to 75 outlets by mid-2018. Owned by Sunshine Teahouse, Chaayos has opened stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh. Bengaluru based Chaipoint and Mumbai based Tea-trails are the local competitors in the market. Unlike Chaipoint which has 94 stores so far, Chaayos invests in repeat customers. A 24/7 store in Gurugram and 7am stores to serve breakfast are their top-selling retail models. What brands and retail models will come to dominate India’s chai café industry? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/indias-novel-tea-cafe-industry/

Thailand has adopted new methods in material sciences, by making biodegradable plastic with sugarcane feedstock at an investment of USD100 million. Thailand’s vast reserves of eco waste from its world-class agricultural industry are also being turned into bio gas for powering turbines . Will Thailand use agricultural waste products to create new green industries? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/thailand-bets-on-biodegradable-plastic/

With the lifting of trade sanctions against Iran in July 2015, a surge in energy demand led to the development of the renewables sector. SUNA – the renewable energy organization of Iran – aims to attract private investment worth USD10 billion by 2018 and USD60 billion by 2025. Wind energy will be crucial to Iran. There are 15 operational wind farms at present with 100,000 Megawatts of potential capacity. Can Iran attract more investment into its growing wind energy sector? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/iran-nurturing-its-wind-energy-sector/

One of China’s most recognized ancient oases – the Karez – is a construction marvel built by the Uyghur people. The water harvesting and underground transmission system called a Karez (which means well in the Uygur language) provides a sustainable water supply to some communities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Region (Xinjiang) as well as in some countries like Iraq, Iran and Kurdistan. The irrigation method carries glacial groundwater to the Turpan Basin from the eastern side of Tianshan Mountains. The water streams through a maze of underground tunnels to avoid evaporation. The water ultimately connects to more than one thousand wells. Although Turpan is the world’s largest producer of raisins due to the Karez, challenges remain. Silt accumulation and high demand for water from nearby factories threaten the water supply. Furthermore, with the site’s potential to become a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Chinese government has invested CNY45 million to protect it since 2009.

The Middle East is sometimes viewed as an economic failure story. But at the Western fringe of that region, a new global economic powerhouse is rising – Turkey, the transcontinental country positioned strategically between Asia and Europe. With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD786 billion for 2014, the nation opens its doors to investment across multiple sectors. Will Turkey continue to be a safe haven for investment and can it be a springboard into Europe and the Middle East? Turkey’s steady progression The 1980’s marked a turning point in Turkey’s history. The liberalizing reforms by visionary Prime Minister, Turgut Ozal opened up the economy. Even though the latter years were marred by economic disruption, the Kurdish conflict and a banking crisis, Turkey’s economy consolidated its gains after 2002 when the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into government. The AKP have since made concerted efforts to institute structural reforms, new fiscal policies and macroe