Posts Tagged ‘Hong Kong’

Is Asia the New Silicon Valley?

May 8th, 2013

Asian markets are developing rapidly. According to the Brookings Institute, Asia will host 64% of the global middle class by 2030. In the meantime, the number of investors is climbing.

Jungle Ventures, an investment company from Singapore, has made 16 investments in the region, ranging from India to New Zealand. Amit Anand, founder, explained that he is interested in businesses that have the potential to grow quickly.

“Everybody thinks that Silicon Valley is where the big markets are,” he said. “But south-east Asia is starting to prove a very attractive market. If willing entrepreneurs commit themselves, there is a lot of opportunity to be unlocked.

“Our hypothesis is that Asia, and particularly south-east Asia, is going to see a lot of $100 million-plus companies being made on various opportunities in internet, mobile and biomedical and so forth.”

Some Asian markets are more developed than others. According to Antonny Liem, Chief Executive Officer at Merah Putih Incubator, explained that Indonesia has great potential, but limited internet services.

“In Indonesia the internet is still very young, and it is hard to look at the exit horizon for return-on-investment, and IPO is definitely not on the horizon,” he said. “So if you talk about Indonesia, it is all about market size, about untapped potential, and it is a question of timing.”

Indians are Asia’s Big Spenders Says Survey

August 1st, 2012

Indian business travelers have the second largest budget for spending per trip, with only Singaporean businessmen topping them, spending $339 versus $468, according to a recent survey.

The survey showed that the most important elements of a business trip to travelers from the Asia-Pacific region were the location, a free Wifi connection and competitive prices of hotel rooms.  Asian businessmen based their choice of hotels on the closeness of the hotel to the business venue, with 53% saying it was an important feature of their choice. The presence of Wifi influenced their decision of where to stay 49% of the time, while competitive rates were slightly less important, with 46% saying that fact influenced their decision.

Thailand is the up and coming star as a top business destination according to the survey, which was conducted by Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveler. The most visited destination today is Hong Kong, with Singapore following closely in second place.

The survey was done during July 10-16 and asked 2,500 travelers from a total of nine countries in the Asian region, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. All the respondents made business trips during the first half of 2012.