By Nick Lambe – Group Managing Director, Links International
Firstly, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone Kung Hei Fat Choi, or Gong Xi Fa Cai! We wish you all good health, wealth and prosperity for the Year of the Fire Rooster! And now, welcome to the first Week That Was of this new Chinese New Year! The Week That Was is a brief round-up of business news from around the world that caught my attention during the previous week. As Managing Director of a leading recruitment and HR outsourcing company in Asia, I like to read up on what’s going on around the world, particularly if the news affects the job market in Asia. Here are my top picks of the latest global business news:
The Euro could collapse…So, a bit of a battle is ensuing between the US and the EU with Professor Ted Malloch (the man tipped to be Trump’s Ambassador to the EU) saying that Britain could agree a mutually beneficial free trade deal with the US in as little as 90 days and that the various bilateral agreements that a clean Brexit would produce would significantly change the political reality in the EU. Mrs. Merkel of Germany has since hit the tennis ball back over the Atlantic, rejecting claims that Germany uses an undervalued Euro to exploit trading partners. The fun continues…
It’s all about ‘activewear’ and ‘F&B’ these days in retail…
Activewear and sport apparel has been at the cutting edge of in-store experience and innovation in Hong Kong. Adidas and Nike have been battling it out with virtual reality fitting rooms and personalised coaching sections respectively. Meanwhile, JLL’s foodservice consulting team expect that in just three years’ time, 80% of retailers will have some form of additional entertainment or unique offering in stores.
The rich to focus on emerging-markets in 2017…
UBS’ clients, who are currently worth $2.1 trillion, are ready to increase their emerging-market holdings after 2016’s strong performance for stocks and bonds, and as money continues to flow into the emerging-markets in 2017. Michael Bolliger, the head of the emerging-market asset allocations, predicts returns in the mid- to high single digits for the asset class this year, with Russian equities being Bolliger’s most-favoured asset!
Disclaimer: This column is designed to be a light-hearted weekly update on the global business news that I enjoyed reading. We would welcome your thoughts, comments and suggestions. Please do not hesitate to contact us.