03 - 09 September 2016

From the CEO OF EMIS

It can be fascinating to compare and contrast the reporting we receive on the same event from different sources and locations. Take last week’s G20 summit in Hangzhou for example. If you are in China you would be forgiven for thinking that the meeting was an unmitigated success, ushering in a new era of global economic co-operation and inclusiveness. If you are in the US, the main takeaways are likely to be the diplomatic snubbing of President Obama on the Hangzhou runway and his “death stare” with Vladimir Putin.

Here in the UK, most of the commentary has been around Theresa May using the event as an opportunity to open up new trade partnerships for a post-Brexit Britain.

There is no doubt that the key issues addressed at the G20 are the ones that will have a profound effect on the global economy – the fight against protectionism, improved financial governance and the inclusion and support of developing regions like Africa. The official communique released after the meeting is full of worthy initiatives such as the “G20 New Industrial Revolution Action Plan”, the “Enhanced Structural Reform Agenda” and the “G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Index”.

Words are cheap however and many of the national leaders present in China face tough political and economic challenges at home that may derail such lofty ambitions. The next summit will be in Hamburg next July when the US electorate will have made a choice between economic isolationism and free trade and we are likely to have a new President in France. Let’s hope that the conditions for inclusion and cooperation have not been undermined by then.


Guy Dunn
Chief Executive Officer.


P.S. Here are some articles in response to the G20 summit from the EMIS platform in the past week.

CHINA HAPPY DESPITE UNDERWHELMING G20

The G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou this weekend was short on substance. And that seems to be just what China's political class wanted. The only notable achievement was the agreement between China and the US to ratify the Paris climate change accord. But that actually happened before the G20 summit had begun.

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LEADERS OF THE BRICS COORDINATE EFFORTS TO IMPROVE GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Leaders of the BRICS countries held an informal meeting on Sunday morning before the G20 Summit began in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, and vowed to coordinate their policies, increase communications, deepen cooperation and jointly tackle challenges.

G-20 LAUNCHES AN INITIATIVE ON SUPPORTING INDUSTRIALIZATION IN AFRICA

With an aim of becoming a leader of emerging economies, China made sure that the voice of Africa was heard at the Group of 20 Nations leaders' summit in Hangzhou this year. But analysts are sceptical the group - with widely diverse interests on the continent - can put words into action without a clear plan.

As the ASEAN Summit came to a close yesterday, the ASEAN Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) jointly launched its ASEAN Investment Report 2016. The annual report looks at investment and other related issues in the ASEAN region, which highlights the extent to which ASEAN MSMEs internationalise and, more importantly, why and how they do so.

According to a quarterly survey by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), private sector economists maintain their growth expectations of 1.8% for the country this year.

For the first half of the year, China’s four biggest banks – Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp, reported that the number of employees have fallen, the biggest decline since 2010.

Together with the World Coal Association (WCA), the Indonesian government is planning to integrate clean coal technology in its existing and future coal-fired power plants.

The central bank of Ecuador has warned that the country’s economy will contract this year, for the first time in 17 years, by 1.7%.

Spanish energy company Iberdrola to enter Mexico’s solar energy sector, SeeNews Renewables reported citing Spanish daily El Economista as saying.

The Mexican central bank, Banxico, said it has reduced its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts for this year and next year, due to a weak GDP performance in the second quarter.



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The value of Turkish exports reached $11.15 billion in August, up 6.9% on the year, newswire Anadolu Agency reported citing figures by the Turkish Exporters' Assembly.

Some 250,000 Poles who are currently living in the UK are expected to return Poland due to the Brexit, Poland AM reported citing Deputy Prime Minister and Development Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told Bloomberg in an interview that an oil output freeze would be a correct move for the global energy market.

Kazakhstan attracted over KZT1.3tn in foreign investment in the first half of 2016, 25% up year-on-year, according to the the Kazakh National Statistics Committee's data.

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Kenya expects its tourism income this year to reach KAS 100 billion, CEEMarketWatch - Daily News reported citing Reuters.

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The UK flag carrier British Airways has restarted flights to Tehran after a 4-year break, BBC Monitoring reported on Friday citing the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

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