A new world currency is in the making The Chinese Renminbi backed by gold
China has been importing gold officially and unofficially at an increasing rate in the past few years. Last year alone it imported 630 tonnes. The goal is to have at least 10,000 tonnes by 2015 up from the current 4,500 tonnes they currently have as a support for their increasingly popular currency the Renminbi. Now most trading nations are accepting Chinese Renminbi as a hard currency and in many cases are using it in place of the US dollar which is seen as subject to increasingly high risks of…
South America improves its record of human development with some surprising results
South America improves its record of human development with some surprising results IF YOU look at countries’ social and economic progress since 1990, you will find that, in most cases, it is in line with their historic performance—with some important exceptions. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), over 40 countries have done much better than their recent history alone would have suggested. This large group, says the UNDP, really represents “the rise of the South”, not the…
Which New Zealand Companies are making money in Latin America ?
When it comes to Latin America there are few New Zealand companies who know it as well as Tait Communications. The Christchurch-based business has been selling its products there for more than 25 years. So when Tait’s vice-president of sales for Latin America, Hamish Wiig, went on the John Key-led trade delegation recently he kept a watch out for some of his products. And it wasn’t long before he spotted some. “It was great to see the police at the Sao Paulo football stadium all using Tait digitally…
An Australian view of Latin America from a commercial point of view
At the time of writing this message I am half way through a month-long visit to Latin America and have already spent time in Colombia, Peru and Panama. It has been a hectic, but very productive visit and if I had to sum up my findings so far in one word it would be “opportunity”. Each of these markets is different, but they are amongst the fastest growing markets in Latin America and, from an Australian perspective, are linked by the fact that they have mining sectors that are receiving substantial inward…
New Tool to Help Farmers Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change
The Rainforest Alliance and the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) unveiled the new Climate Module: Criteria for the Mitigation of and Adaptation to Climate Change, developed in collaboration with allies at Guatemala’s Inter-American Foundation for Tropical Research (FIIT, for its name in Spanish); SalvaNATURA, a Salvadoran conservation organization; the National Coffee Association, Anacafé; the Efico Foundation; the Universidad del Valle (the Guatemalan research institution) and with financial support…
There is not enough farmland to feed the world
ABC By Lucy Barbour If you thought finding enough food to feed the world was a big problem, think again. An American agribusiness adviser the real issue is finding enough farmland to produce it. Philippe de Laperouse is the managing director of HighQuest Partners in St. Louis in the United States. He says the rising demand for high protein food from developing countries is putting pressure on production. “We’ve made some estimates where we think that anywhere between 65-80 million hectares of additional…
Chile and Brazil lead the Global Innovation index in the region
An international study released this week ranked Chile first among Latin American countries on the Global Innovation Index (GII), though Chile received mediocre scores in the area of education. The study, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an international business school, and INSEAD, a research institution, ranked Chile 39th overall, one spot below its ranking last year. “Chile shows strengths across the board, with the notable exception of human capital and research,’”…
Doing Business in South America – Country Winners and Losers
Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Where do the region’s…
Why Urban Farming Is the Future
Why Urban Farming Is the Future Dr Robert Biel is an author and academic, who works for University College London and has written about sustainable agriculture. More than that, he practices what he calls ”experimental agriculture” in his own allotment and with his students. Biel believes that we are coming to a crisis of agricultural production, and we need to have more ‘Food Sovereignty’, which he defines as greater autonomy over our own food production. He would like to see more local…
China and Europe continue to invest in South America
Many of the countries sprinkled across South America are enjoying periods of growth, as natural resources and higher standards of education than before present the region as a fantastic place to invest Source: worldfinance.com Chinese investment in South America has increased dramatically over the last decade. An article in Latin Finance points out that bilateral investment between the two countries has grown by 1,400 percent, which equals about $140bn. The Chinese investment contribution is seen as highly…
Chile will become first, First World developed country in Latam, says world’s richest man Carlos Sim
Chile will become the first developed country in Latin America, predicted Mexican communications mogul Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, in an economic presentation given in Honduras last Thursday. The criteria that constitute which nations are and are not considered developed are a subject of some debate. Among criteria considered are economic factors such as GDP, per capita, personal income per capita, and industrialization. GDP is the value of all goods and services provided by a country in a given…
World Renown Investor Jim Rogers gives his view on Farm Land Investments over the next 30 years
By Carolyn Cui from the Wall Street Jornal Agricultural prices have been rallying for several years now, but Jim Rogers thinks there’s still room to grow. The commodities investor said on Tuesday that he is still bullish on agriculture, calling it a great place for investors to be for the next two decades. Prices of agricultural commodities are still relatively cheap compared to those of metals and energy, and the world is scrambling for arable farmlands to feed a growing population, Mr. Rogers told a packed…
China’s trade with Latin America grew in 2011
The value of China’s trade with Latin America rose 31.5 percent last year to $241.5 billion, a senior Chinese official said. Exchanges between the Asian giant and Latin America totaled just $10 billion as recently as 11 years ago, Chinese Trade Ministry Counselor Yu Zhong Lu told foreign correspondents in Beijing. China exported $121.7 billion worth of goods to Latin America last year while importing $119 billion in merchandise from the region. Only the US exceeds China in the level of trade with Latin…
Want more startups? learn from Chile
The foreigners will take our jobs away! Only the Nicaraguans will come! You can’t build a Silicon Valley without venture capital. These were just a few of the arguments from opponents of a government program I helped create in 2010 to boost local entrepreneurship in Chile. The program, called Start-Up Chile, seemed crazy at the time. Give $40,000 to startups led by foreign entrepreneurs to move and set up shop in one of the most magnificent countries on this planet for six months—no strings attached. The…
Asia eyes investment opportunities in Latin America
Asia and Latin America should have more commercial and investment links. The combined population of the two continents provide a huge enough market for joint business opportunities. These are among the suggestions of delegates at the Asia Latin American Legal Summit. By Thomas Cho | channelnewsasia.com Trade between Latin America and Asia have grown a hefty 357 percent between 2000 and 2010. For instance, bilateral trade between Singapore and Latin America grew 38 per cent in 2011 to US$30 billion (S$38 billion)…
