The Knowledge to Decide

After 20 years of becoming an independent judiciary, does Hong Kong continue to remain a financial and business hub? Will this impact businesses in Singapore? Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the Top section on 10 July 2017 on Hong Kong’s economic climate and its impact on businesses in Singapore. Hong Kong continues to attract investors due to many factors such as a high- quality civil service, economic linkages to China’s Pearl River Delta economy as well as geographic proximity to the economic giants of Korea, Japan and China. Perera opined that despite economic and political uncertainties as well as what some perceive as political encroachment from Beijing, Hong Kong will remain an important business hub for the foreseeable future. Hong Kong both complements and competes with Singapore. Many multinational corporations (MNCs) use both cities as Asia-Pacific regional headquarters (RHQs). Shanghai

Since 1998, Indonesia has become one of the most dynamic and successful democracies in Southeast Asia today. Though it has navigated the global financial crises of the past five years relatively unscathed, infrastructure bottlenecks and regulatory hurdles have held back the country’s economic potential. How will the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections impact the Indonesian economy and the companies operating in it? Indonesia may become the world’s 7th largest economy by 2030. A growing young population, bountiful natural resources along with an expanding consumer base will help sustain growth. Indonesia’s 2014 elections have been touted by some observers as the country’s most important since 1955. What is at stake? 1. Economic growth Elections do have the ability to kick-start growth by boosting business and consumer confidence in ways that defy normal economic calculations. Witness the surge in confidence that accompanied the election victory of Japan

Singapore celebrated its golden jubilee as one of the world’s developed economies. Following the death of founding father Lee Kuan Yew and the current global economic headwinds, can economic momentum be maintained? Japnit Singh, Senior Director, Singapore and India, of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Singapore has successfully built a strong foundation for its economy with human development indicators such as education, life expectancy and per capita income on a positive high. Singh cautioned that the nation needs to focus in order to take bold and productive political decisions without becoming complacent. Moreover, it would be interesting to see if the next generation of political leaders would take difficult decisions with the same firmness and transparency as the founding fathers have done in the past. Singapore’s GINI coefficient – calculated as the ratio of income of the top 20% of population with the bottom 20% –