Two stories on Libya. The first from Yicai, the Chinese online financial paper, notes that Huawei and ZTE, two large telecommunications companies, are already back in Libya. The article says they are focused on resuming construction. But collecting payment has to be equally important.
If so, they should be encouraged that the Transitional National Council has welcomed back all Chinese companies wanting to complete their projects. That said, the council adds that it will inspect any previously signed contracts for corrupt dealings.
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I wrote a short note for the Wall Street Journal looking at economic implications of Gadhafi’s fall for Asia. (It’s available online). But the main point is that oil linkages rule with Asia accounting for 80% of the increase in the world’s oil consumption over the past decade.
So, today’s dip in oil prices was helpful, if sustained. But in so far Gadhafi’s fall fuels a flagging Arab Spring, then the risks of persistent instability and high oil prices remain. That’s bad news as Asia’s central banks have barely tightened in the past year (an average 80 basis points in policy rate hikes), even as inflation rates have gone from zero to 5.0%.
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Parag Khanna published his book, “How To Run The World”, in early January 2011 claiming the world is faced by a perfect-storm, from resource constraints to failing states.
I’m a fan of the idea that the world is going to get a lot harder to manage, not least because the number of actors is growing. The fact China and Turkey are starting to bump heads in Africa is a good example, and one almost unimaginable a decade ago.
I caught up with Parag in Hong Kong late last year. But I wanted to hear his latest thoughts:
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A sharp eyed reader in Jeddah tells me of an increase in the number of Chinese workers in the city, as the local authority apparently try to speed up post-flood reconstruction. His Taiwanese contacts in the city suggest numbers of between 10,000 to 15,000.
The increase contrasts with the opposition to Chinese workers during the construction of the first phase of the Mecca light-rail project. Mecca’s authorities tried to deflect the criticism in 2008 by announcing that 600 of the 6,000 Chinese workers had converted to Islam.
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I rarely have a chance to write Pakistan, so here’s a great story about a Chinese trader who set-up shop in Karachi and has made good money. He tells a familiar tale that could be the same for thousands of other traders.
Chen Zejian is a 29-year old originally from Anhui province. (He’s being quoted by a reporter from China’s Youth Entrepreneur Online). After graduating, and unable to find a satisfying job, he opens a sports store with a friend, but the competition in China is too fierce.
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