Asia Perspectives by Economist Impact

In the last six years, India’s business environment rankings rose 10 places among the 82 countries assessed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Expanding investments will be crucial in maintaining the country’s favourable position for investors. To achieve this, India needs to keep improving regarding ease of doing business and governance transparency. Transforming the infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing economy is also key. In this episode, we discuss business and investment opportunities and risks in India. Our guests are: Taimur Baig, Managing Director and Chief Economist, Group Research at DBS BankBen Mathias, Managing Partner at Vertex Ventures SEA & India“Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty” is a ten-part podcast series, supported by EquitiesFirst. The episode is hosted by Bilge Arslan, analyst, Policy and Insights at Economist Impact.The podcast has been prepared for informational purposes only. This episode is not an offering of a financial product or investment advice. It is not intended for residents in any jurisdiction where its use is not authorised or is unlawful. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back to Blue’s lead editor, Naka Kondo speaks to Ben Alva, the founder of Azul Bio, a startup developing microbiome-based treatments and probiotics from nature that give ocean lifeimmunity to human impact, such as coral resilience. They are planning their first pilot in November.Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content.Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 14th 2023 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal to establish legally enforceable levels for six types of ‘forever chemicals’ known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). It is expected to prevent thousands of deaths and reduce tens of thousands of serious illnesses attributable to PFAS. The rule would require public water systems to monitor PFAS levels, notify the public of these and reduce them if exceeding the proposed standards. Developed over several years and grounded in the authority that the EPA has from US Congress, through the Safe Drinking Water Act, the goal is to issue a final PFAS drinking water standard by the end of 2023 or early 2024. This will result in a standard to which all water systems in the US must adhere.Sarah Doll, national director for Safer States, an NGO fighting pollution, speaks to Naka Kondo, the lead editor of Back to Blue about the significance of the EPA proposal to limit PFAS in US drinking water - and what needs to happen next.Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content.Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back to Blue's lead editor, Naka Kondo speaks to Anne Marieke Eveleens, co-founder and chief strategy officer of the Great Bubble Barrier, a Dutch social enterprise, about how air bubble technology can help clear plastics from our rivers.Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content.Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The era of AI has begun. Asia-Pacific’s spending on AI will reach around $50 billion in 2026. In the sixth episode of the series "Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty," sponsored by EquitiesFirst, we discuss the opportunities and risks around artificial intelligence investments in Asia-Pacific. Our guest speakers talk about the new business models emerging from the expanding industry applications of AI and how investors can leverage the associated investment opportunities. What AI can offer is almost limitless, but the opportunities don’t come without risks.Our guests are: William Bao Bean, managing director at Orbit Startups and general partner at SOSV Arvind Sethumadhavan, founder at The AI Living Lab"Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty" is a ten-part podcast series, supported by EquitiesFirst.The episode is hosted by Bilge Arslan, analyst, Policy and Insights at Economist Impact. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charles Darwin once dismissed the ocean as a ‘tedious waste, a desert of water.’ Some of his contemporaries disagreed. The brave Challenger expedition of the 1870s set out to discover what lurked beneath, traversing over 100,000 kilometres and discovered 4,772 specimens, from sea snails to snake eels, discovered the deepest trench on earth, and toppled false assumptions about the lack of life under the waves. Over a century later, the Census of Marine Life picked up the baton. An eighty-country collaboration, with 2,700 scientists, the project identified another 6,000 species. Yet even these numbers are a literal drop in the ocean. Oliver Steeds, Ocean Census director and chief executive of Nekton, a UK-based marine science and conservation institute, speaks to Naka Kondo, the lead editor of Back to Blue initiative about a new mission, the Ocean Census, launches this year with a far greater ambition: to find at least 100,000 new marine species in its first decade.Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content.Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Against a backdrop of economic headwinds, peaking inflation and ongoing geopolitical tension, the world looks uncertain for business and particularly for procurement. Whilst the Economist Intelligence Unit is forecasting global inflation and supply chain disruptions to ease over the year, they also expect supply chain diversification to remain front of mind for business. These conditions create opportunities for procurement as a function to redefine, refine and progress. However, this may not be an easy task. A 2023 Economist Impact survey, sponsored by SAP, shows that the majority of C-suite executives have relatively low levels of confidence in procurement’s ability to effectively work with the rest of the business to deliver on the company’s strategic objectives. Though, the same C-level executives believe that the procurement function is at the centre of a business’ ability to effectively manage risk. Drawing on the expertise of Baber Farooq, Lisa Martin and Kelly Barner, Elizabeth Mackie will dive into the detail of the opportunities these changing global dynamics are creating for procurement to answer the following questions:What are the impacts of global disruptions, such as inflation and geopolitical tensions on procurement, and why does this matter?Do opportunities exist from this disruption? If so, where are they and what needs to be done for procurement to capitalise on them?With more ambitious ESG objectives becoming the rule rather than the exception, what opportunities exist for procurement from a greater focus on ESG and decarbonisation?What does all of this mean for the rest of the business?"Opportunities for procurement in uncertain times" is a podcast series supported by SAP.This episode is hosted by Elizabeth Mackie, Senior Manager, Trade at Economist Impact. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The war in Ukraine is entering its second year, with no end in sight. In the fifth episode of the series "Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty," sponsored by EquitiesFirst, we look at the impact of a protracted war in Ukraine on the Asia-Pacific economies. Our guests discuss topics such as how vulnerable APAC economies are to price shocks in an increasingly multipolar world. We also talk about the financial risks of an escalation on the global equity and fixed income markets, and how investors can protect themselves.Our guests are:Mahesh Menon, director and head of Strategic Initiatives at InCred Global WealthJohn Marrett, senior analyst and Asia manager for financial risk at Economist Intelligence Unit"Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty" is a ten-part podcast series, supported by EquitiesFirst.The episode is hosted by Bilge Arslan, Analyst, Policy and Insights at Economist Impact. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The World Ocean Summit is an annual global event run by The Economist Group, which brings together the wide ocean community, from business and finance to governments, national and international policy-makers, civil society and academia. This year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of this event in Lisbon, Portugal.In this episode, Martin Koehring, head of the World Ocean Initiative at Economist Impact, shares his firsthand experience at the summit and his key takeaways, with Naka Kondo, lead editor of Back to Blue at Economist Impact.Make a submission at backtoblueinitiative.com/take-action-on-ocean-pollution to close the marine pollution data gap.Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content.Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world will continue to drown in plastic waste unless a bold and comprehensive set of policy changes is applied – this is according to Peak plastics: bending the consumption curve – a new report by Back to Blue, an initiative of Economist Impact and the Nippon Foundation. We delve into how we can decisively tackle plastic waste that is polluting our ocean and land environments with guest, Winnie Lau, project director of the Preventing Ocean Plastics project at The Pew Charitable Trusts. What will it take to decisively tackle the plastic waste crisis? Can we bend the consumption curve?Download the Peak Plastics report at: https://backtoblueinitiative.com/plastics-consumption/Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content. Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14, Target 14.3, calls for minimising and addressing the impacts of ocean acidification through co-operation at all levels. There is an urgent need for scientific communities to come together with the media, education systems, policymakers and civil society to help bring more attention to the issue and to come up with technological solutions and robust legislation.Listen to the panel discussion on ocean acidification by Steve Widdicombe, director of science, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Peter Thomson, United Nation Secretary-general's special envoy for the ocean, Malaika Vaz, explorer, National Geographic, and Founder, Untamed Planet and moderated by Charles Goddard, editorial director, Economist Impact.Learn more about ocean acidification at: https://backtoblueinitiative.com/ocean-acidification/Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content. Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The late 2022 predictions of an impending global recession have not materialised, but the global economy is not out of the woods yet. In the fourth episode of the series "Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty," sponsored by EquitiesFirst, we look at the risk of persistent high inflation and global economic slowdown for Asia-Pacific economies. We also discuss how investors are adjusting their portfolios in response to the new reality of high interest rates. Our guests are:Charlie Buxton, head of investment management at The Fry Group,Dhruv Arora, founder and CEO of Syfe. "Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty" is a ten-part podcast series, supported by EquitiesFirst.The episode is hosted by Piotr Zembrowski, CFA, Senior Manager, Policy and Insights at Economist Impact, and produced by Bilge Arslan and Rudi Osman.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Less than a month after COP27 took place in Egypt in November, Asian countries remain at a critical juncture in their climate journeys. Despite tabling some historic agreements this year, a lot is left to be negotiated in the coming year.In this episode, hosts Harsheen Sethi, Aayushi Idda Sharma, and Ankita from Policy & Insights at Economist Impact, reflect on the key themes and some missed opportunities of this year’s climate conference and take a closer look at major polluting economies from Asia and their role in these discussions. Related content:Back to Blue: https://backtoblueinitiative.com/The Sustainability Project: https://impact.economist.com/sustainability Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the third episode of the series "Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty," supported by EquitiesFirst, we look at climate change. What risk does the warming climate represent for the economies, industries and businesses in Asia Pacific? And what opportunities do risk mitigation and adaptation efforts create for investors? Our guests are:Aurélia Britsch - Senior Director, Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance at Sustainable Fitch Michelle Loi - Vice President, Asia Sustainable Finance at WWF-Singapore"Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty" is a ten-part podcast series, supported by EquitiesFirst.The episode is hosted by Piotr Zembrowski, CFA, Senior Manager, Policy and Insights at Economist Impact, and Bilge Arslan, Analyst, Policy and Insights at Economist Impact. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of this podcast on deep sea mining, released during the World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific, we dive deeper into the pollution risks of deep sea mining with Craig Smith, deep sea ecologist and professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. How has deep sea mining emerged as a sector and where are things standing today with this industry?In part 1 of this 2-part episode, we discussed the environmental impact of deep sea mining on our oceans and marine life, and it being an issue on the COP agenda, listen to the previous episode on the Back to Blue website: https://backtoblueinitiative.com/back-to-blue-podcasts/ Register to attend the World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific at: https://events.economist.com/world-ocean-summit-asia-pacific/Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content. Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the COP27 summit, Emmanuel Macron became the first head of state to call for a ban on deep sea mining. In part 1 of this 2-part episode on deep sea mining, the Back to Blue team talks to Phil McCabe, an ocean campaigner, a member of the deep sea conservation coalition about the past, present and future of deep sea mining projects. What has been driving deep-sea mining as a trend? And what are the environmental risks to our ocean?Learn more about marine chemical pollution at: https://backtoblueinitiative.com/marine-chemical-pollution-the-invisible-wave/ Register to attend the World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific at: https://events.economist.com/world-ocean-summit-asia-pacific/  Follow the Back to Blue series for more podcast episodes, or visit backtoblueinitiative.com for more content. Back to Blue is an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Climate talks in COP27 recently concluded with a landmark agreement to create a loss and damage fund that would provide financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate change. Historically, this idea has been resisted by richer nations who fear taking up the liability for climate change. Many poor countries continue to argue that they have done the least to cause climate change, but are likely to suffer the greatest losses, and should be compensated. In this episode, host Ritu Bhandari, manager, Policy & Insights at Economist Impact dives deeper into the role of a formal loss and damage mechanism in meeting our climate goals, countries most likely to push for action on this issue and factors that will shape it in the future, with Catherine Higham, policy fellow at Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment of the London School of Economics.Related content:Back to Blue: https://backtoblueinitiative.com/ The Sustainability Project: https://impact.economist.com/sustainability Register to attend the World Ocean Summit Asia-Pacific at: https://events.economist.com/world-ocean-summit-asia-pacific/  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of the "Culture and the creative economy" series, supported by Netflix. We will explore the economic, social and cultural impact the recent growth of Korean culture encompassing everything from music, movies, drama to online games and cuisine has had on the Korean economy. The phenomenon known as Hallyu (Korean Wave) has purported to impact multiple facets of the economy and society ranging from education and foreign investment policy to creative education, to name a few. Policymakers who effectively support the cultural wave may help their countries reap significant economic and societal benefits.Speakers include: Kyung-joo Kim, director, tourism exhibition hall management, team, Korea Tourism OrganisationZoritsa Urosevic, executive director at UNWTOModerated by Michael Frank, manager, policy and insights, Economist Impact"Culture and the creative economy" is a three-episode series, supported by Netflix. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the second episode in the "Shelter from the storm" series on economic, geopolitical and environmental challenges facing companies and markets today. In this episode, we look at the dominant role of China in Asia's economy and the effect its slowdown might have on the region.Our guests are:Raymond Cheng, managing director and chief investment officer for North Asia at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong KongMartin Hennecke, head of Asia investment advisory at St. James Place Wealth Management"Shelter from the storm: Investing in the era of uncertainty" is a ten-part podcast series, supported by EquitiesFirst.The episode is hosted by Piotr Zembrowski, CFA, Senior Manager, Policy and Insights at Economist Impact. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our final podcast of the series addresses the opportunities for building an environmentally sustainable and climate friendly healthcare sector. What is driving green house gas emissions in the hospital sector and what mitigation and adaptation efforts need to be taken? And can digital health offer low-carbon solutions?Speakers include: Robert Metzke, global head of sustainability, PhilipsDr Renard Siew, climate reality leader for the Climate Reality ProjectDr. Renzo Guinto, chief planetary health scientist, Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Malaysia and director, Planetary and Global Health Program, St. Luke's Medical Center, PhilippinesModerated by Elizabeth Sukkar, senior research manager, global health, Policy and Insights, Economist ImpactFor more Healthcare Redefined content, please visit: healthcareredefinedapac.com--Relevant content from Philips:Global Future Health Index report: bit.ly/FutureHealthIndexAU  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.