The Knowledge to Decide

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/

Internet access among Cuba’s 11.2 million people is growing. Between 2013 and 2015, the share of the Cuban population using the internet jumped from about a quarter to more than 35%. This growing market has drawn the attention of internet giants, such as Airbnb, Netflix and Google. This trend has also fuelled activity among local entrepreneurs, who have launched domestic versions of sites such as the crowd-sourced business directory Yelp. Will Cuba’s internet revolution unleash economic growth? https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/the-advent-of-the-internet-in-cuba-kick-starts-online-start-ups/

With rapid urbanization and a rising global population – expected to hit 8.5 billion by 2030 – it is crucial to find innovative agricultural methods to sustain food supply. Touted as the future of food and agriculture, can indoor farming change the way we produce food? What is indoor agriculture? The art and science of sprouting crops in a controlled and sustainable environment with artificial lights and technology is known as indoor agriculture. With indoor agriculture, seasonal crops can be produced throughout the year using light-emitting diode (LED) lighting to trigger photosynthesis. Water fortified with minerals is used to substitute the functionality of soil. Indoor farming can increase crop yields by 50 per cent. Indoor farming can increase crop yields by 50 per cent, provided that growing conditions are optimal. Further advances in LED technology also assist to create an environment where vegetables can be grown – regardless of climate – to produce maximum yields

Global air pollution costs add up to more than USD160 billion in lost productivity every year, China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the cost to China of carbon emissions is estimated at USD7.6 billion. As China implements countermeasures to ensure clean air, what does that mean for its economy? Will there be a clean-tech silver lining? China’s air pollution chokes its economy More than 80 per cent of Chinese people face regular exposure to dangerous levels of air pollution, which is the cause of death for more than 4,000 people per day on average. The country’s economy grew by approximately 10 per cent year-on-year from 1980 to 2010, but the phenomenal pace of growth came at a big cost to the environment. China’s environmental crisis first became a discussion point during the 1970s with widespread concern over the black smoke emanating from its industrial cities. The primary causes of pollution are the burning of coal in factories and power plants

With a USD450 million loan from World Bank, the Indonesian government’s efforts to provide more affordable housing for low-income families has received a big boost. Spire Research and Consulting supported the feasibility study for this World Bank program, working with Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MENPUPERA). Spire helped execute a product concept test for the program to build affordable housing, working with Deloitte Indonesia. This was done via Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) across 4 cities. The findings revealed that Indonesia faces substantial demand for one million new housing units annually. Moreover, 29 million people (out of 250 million) of Indonesia’s urban population still live in slums. A portion of the World Bank’s loan will go to support the government’s housing assistance program (BSPS) and community-based housing development program (P2BPK) to target low-income homeowners. At the same time, Indonesia also offers the FLPP scheme – a