MOSCOW: Open Investment (OPIN) development group, owned by billionaire presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov, will invest about $1 billion in several development projects in Russia in the next few years.
According to an OPIN statement, the group intends to build three multi-apartment residential compounds of elite, business and economy categories with a total floorspace of over 600,000 square metres.
It also has plans to build three cottage communities in an area of over 500 hectares and two large shopping malls with over 40,000 square metres.
Link (submitted by Sun Jin)
MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has further eased its guidelines on microfinance lending to allow banks to disburse more funds in the countryside particularly for the agriculture and agrarian reform sectors.
The central bank issued Circular 748 covering the new rules on the Micro-Agri Loans and liberalizing the initial Micro-Agri Circular 680.
The new rules reiterate the possibility of using the microfinance technology and methodology to effectively deliver other types of financial services including credit for small farming activities.
Link (submitted by Quirino)
MANILA, Philippines - The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) is calling on the government to end the conflict between provincial ordinances banning open-pit mining which contradict national law and to grant the critical environmental permit for the Tampakan project so as not to discourage investments in the mining sector.
The COMP said in a statement yesterday that the ban on open pit mining in the province of South Cotabato was publicly acknowledged by the government to be contrary to the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
Link (submitted by Quirino)
Russia raised $7 billion in eurobond offering Wednesday that drew strong demand from investors due to increased market confidence and a strong oil price.
The placement, Russia’s first international offering in two years, was the largest emerging market sovereign offering since 2000.
The government placed $3 billion in 30-year bonds, $2 billion 10-year bonds and $2 billion in five-year bonds, fully covering its foreign borrowing plan for 2012.
Link (submitted by Sun Jin)
After a decision earlier this month to limit the spread of holiday homes, Switzerland is looking to limit rampant construction in the countryside.
Parliament has agreed a change to the law aimed at reducing the land area that can be developed. It comes in response to a people’s initiative demanding a 20-year building freeze.
Link (submitted by Leo)
Politics dominate now, but long-term draws include middle-class and infrastructure growth
Russia's rising middle class is a great investing story. But does that mean U.S. investors can safely play a role in this plot anytime soon?
Reports of widespread corruption and political infighting have long been good reasons for U.S. investors to tread carefully when it comes to throwing money Russia's way. Volatility is also tied to a strong reliance on commodity revenues -- as gas and oil go, so goes Russia.
Link (submitted by Sun Jin)
Greece has rejected a German proposal to appoint a European Union commissioner with the power to veto Greek budgets.
German officials suggested the commissioner, appointed by the other eurozone finance ministers, would ensure Greek government revenue was spent on paying off the country's huge debts.
Link (submitted by Japhet)
The Swedish government supports the efforts of ten Swedish regions united to attract investors from major IT companies, starting with a pitch to Silicon Valley environmentalists. Invest Sweden is the Swedish government's promotional agency established to endorse the efforts of these ten regions united in efforts to 'green the cloud' by investing in Sweden's environmentally suitable location.
Sweden has inherently efficient environmental characteristics for maintaining inexpensive data storage centers. Clean energy, secure resources, year-round clean climate controlled facilities more easily maintained through a cooler climate with one of the most stable electricity grids in the world, combine to make Sweden a haven for cloud perpetuity.
Link (submitted by Richard)
In a world first, property-obsessed investors will be able to check house prices daily and trade on an index that tracks the ebbs and flows of dwelling prices across Australia.
The Australian Stock Exchange and property data providers today launched a capital city home value index tracking home prices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth that is designed to be tradeable on the stock market.
Link (submitted by Jason)
Credit Suisse recorded a “disappointing” net loss of SFr637 million ($700 million) in the last quarter of 2011, partly as a result of ditching risky business lines.
Chief executive Brady Dougan blamed “adverse market conditions”, but also admitted that the accelerated exit of certain investment banking operations cost the group nearly SFr1 billion.
Link (submitted by Leo)
What comes to mind when you think of Sweden: Blonde hair, pale skin, and a pair of sullen blue eyes piercing through a whiteout - or an economy that grew 5.5% last year?
Too often, it's the former when it should be the latter.
Indeed, chances are you've never thought about investing in Sweden. But the country that is so often thought of as being cold - if it's thought of at all - is actually overheating.
Link (submitted by Richard)
German investor confidence hit a 10-month high in February amid optimism Europe's top economy will be able to escape from the eurozone crisis relatively unscathed, data showed on Tuesday.
The ZEW think tank's economic expectations index rose by a whopping 27.0 points in February to stand at plus 5.4 points.
It is the third consecutive monthly increase in the closely watched indicator and brought the barometer back into positive territory for the first time since May 2011 and to its highest reading since April 2011.
Link (submitted by Japhet)
JOHANNESBURG Feb 24 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand touched two-week highs against a broadly weaker dollar on Friday and bonds reversed some of their recent losses, although continued scepticism that a lower budget deficit will cap supply should maintain pressure on local debt.
The yield on the 2015 bond closed 1.5 basis points lower at 6.66 percent while that for the 14-year issue dipped 2.5 basis points to 8.28 percent.
Link (submitted by Andrew)
Taiwan stocks clinched a four-day winning streak yesterday, while the New Taiwan dollar surged, as investors became more upbeat over the economy of Taiwan as well as the rest of the world.
Taiwan share prices rose further yesterday amid improved sentiment after China, the United States and Germany reported expansion in their manufacturing activities, dealers said.
Link (submitted by Anna)
Sweden once again change places with Singapore in the Global Competitiveness Report as we are placed third behind Switzerland (1) and Singapore (2).
Northern and Western European countries dominate the top 10 with Sweden (3rd), Finland (4th), Germany (6th), the Netherlands (7th), Denmark (8th) and the United Kingdom (10th). Japan remains the second-ranked Asian economy at 9th place, despite falling three places since last year.
Link (submitted by Richard)
DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates is moving ahead with a major overhaul of corporate law to introduce unified accounting standards for all businesses, amend guidelines for share offerings in local capital markets, and extend the possibility of foreign majority ownership of companies nationwide.
Currently, foreigners are not allowed to own more than a 49 percent stake in businesses outside specially designated free zones and only large — usually public — businesses are held to international accounting standards.
Link (submitted by Jordan)
Mandatory Provident Fund is intended as a future piggy-bank for Hong Kong people during their retirement years. But it doesn’t always mean we have to wait until we reach 65 to get our life-long savings.
Previously, only a few other cases were good enough to warrant to permit withdrawal of funds earlier than the normal retirement age. These include death, total disability, early retirement a 60 and having small balance in the account. Terminally ill patients may be included in the list as it makes full sense for patients to take their money. Not only because no one else deserves them but also it is expected that taking care of a terminally ill patient incurs a significant amount of money.
Link (submitted by Johannes)
"In the Global Creativity Index by Martin Prosperity Institute, Sweden was ranked in top. USA, Finland, Denmark and Australia was placed 2-5.
The study by the Martin Prosperity Institute ranks 82 countries on their creativity. It turns out that creativity is a driving force in the economy: the study found great correlations between creativity and economic progress, human development, and happiness, among other factors."
Link (submitted by Richard)
NEW DELHI: The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, has expressed keen interest in entering the Indian market and may invest in the country's key infrastructure sector.
Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, managing director of ADIA, met commerce, industry and textiles minister Anand Sharma on Monday to discuss opportunities of investment in India. Both sides agreed to finalize a joint working group to expedite the process. "This is an opportunity to enter this huge market," Al Nahyan said.
Link (submitted by Jordan)
"Before it got permanently labelled as among the most expensive places to live on the planet, Hong Kong took a dramatic fall in global rankings — from 33rd in 2010 to 45th last year. This is according to a study made by the human resources consultancy ECA International.
The global chart showed Tokyo as the most priciest places to live, followed by Oslo. Soaring inflation didn’t matter much as Hong Kong fell from sixth to seventh in Asia after Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe and Singapore."
Link (submitted by Johannes)
