In The News

China’s Lust for Business Learning

Della Bradshaw August 1, 2005
The Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s deprived China’s prospective leaders of thorough training in business and management. Today, many CEOs or board members of major corporations head back to business school. While MBA programs in the US see a decline in application numbers, demand for similar programs in China is surging. As the government seeks to prevent the proliferation of third...

China Bug – Is It Ebola-like Bird Flu?

Andy Ho July 28, 2005
China’s official Xinhua news agency recently ascribed the deaths and illnesses of 68 people in Sichuan province to a common swine bug called streptococcus suis. A close examination, however, raises speculation that provincial authorities may be prevaricating. Not only is this infection rare in human beings, but the bacterium can be readily treated and seldom leads to mortality. China’s...

A Thai Remedy for High Health Costs

Nick Cumming-Bruce July 27, 2005
“American companies have outsourced just about everything else but never thought of outsourcing health care,” says Curtis Schroeder, chief executive of Bumrungrad hospital in Thailand. “Now they are.” Bumrungrad in particular, but also some of its rival hospitals are enjoying a new international prominence as patients from the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East flock to Thailand for...

A Changed World for Korea’s Returnees

Kim Sun-jung July 27, 2005
It is common that people often leave their native country in search of opportunities elsewhere. Several decades ago, many young Koreans left their country and its dictatorial rule hoping to find better things in the U.S. Now, however, despite having found success in the U.S., a certain segment of these Korean ex-pats are returning to Korea, taking on a unique type of “Korean” identity as a...

Chinese Businessmen Learn Western Table Etiquette

Wieland Wagner July 26, 2005
As their economy grows and international trade increases, Chinese businessmen are facing a new challenge in an unlikely setting: dinner meetings. Western etiquette is a mystery to many of these rising business elites, accustomed to using cellphones during dinner and loudly slurping their noodles. Their rescuer is Andy Mannhart, a Swiss businessman who realized the demand for etiquette classes...

How to Save Myanmar

July 21, 2005
For the past 17 years, the generals who massacred thousands of demonstrators in Myanmar have doggedly held onto power, and neither sanctions from the West nor incentives from the East have convinced them to make any concessions towards democratic reform. This year, Myanmar is again in the spotlight as it takes chairmanship of ASEAN. In this article, The Economist reminds readers of Myanmar’s...

Revaluation: A Double-Edged Sword for China

Xu Haihui July 21, 2005
When the Chinese central bank decided today to abandon its policy of pegging the renminbi to the dollar, it took the first step towards a truly floating currency. Revaluation will have a different impact on different segments of the Chinese economy, its influence determined by both the extent to which a given segment is dependent on foreign capital, and by its quality and efficiency. The textile...