In The News

Ecologists Fear Disaster as Oil Rush Takes Grip in Quake Zone

Nick Paton Walsh August 25, 2003
The Russian island of Sakhalin will soon be home to the largest energy project in the world, and there is fear, possibly the largest disaster. The oil rich island borders Japan and lies directly on top of an active seismic fault line, a fact that has environmentalists up in arms. They fear that the underground pipelines will not be able to withstand the island's frequent earthquakes and...

Ecologists Fear Disaster as Oil Rush Takes Grip in Quake Zone

Nick Paton Walsh August 25, 2003
The Russian island of Sakhalin will soon be home to the largest energy project in the world, and there is fear, possibly the largest disaster. The oil rich island borders Japan and lies directly on top of an active seismic fault line, a fact that has environmentalists up in arms. They fear that the underground pipelines will not be able to withstand the island's frequent earthquakes and...

Strict CO2 Limits Will Send Work Abroad

David Gow August 20, 2003
Strictly enforcing a new emissions policy could cause a mass exodus of jobs and energy business from Britain. The German-owned energy company Innogy – one of the country's largest energy suppliers – is concerned that the United Kingdom will apply the EU's new carbon emissions trading scheme more stringently than other member states. The new scheme caps the amount of carbon dioxide...

'Hello, this is India. Can I help you?'

Daniel Sneider August 10, 2003
The instantaneous nature of modern communication has allowed the customer service industry to follow its counterparts in manufacturing and move overseas. With numbers that are almost doubling annually, Indians are coming to work in call centers to answer questions about bills, credit cards, and insurance. American companies in particular are eager to take advantage of a cheap, highly educated,...

Jakarta Blast May Deter New Investors

John Burton August 7, 2003
Before this week's bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia's economy had been steadily recovering from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and foreign investors have been arriving in droves. Singaporean companies in particular have been attracted to the country because of increased political stability and a lack of ties to the US economy. The Indonesian government has courted...

Thailand Seeks Taiwanese Investors

Joyce Huang August 6, 2003
Proud of its economic recovery from 1997's Asian financial crisis and an impressive growth rate, Thailand is trying to attract Taiwanese investors. Taiwan is already the third largest foreign investor in Thailand, following only Japan and the US, but the kingdom hopes to increase the island's foreign direct investment by as much as 15 to 20 percent in a variety of sectors, ranging from...

For Now, Hong Kong Protests Do Not Faze Investors

Frank Ching July 29, 2003
In Hong Kong, the recent mass demonstrations against proposed anti-subversion legislation have not shaken foreign investors' confidence. In the following essay, Frank Ching argues that while anti-government political activism might scare off investors in most countries, Hong Kong has benefited from its international reputation as a stable and investor-friendly economy. However, Ching says...