Indias demographic dividend

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania: President John Magufuli urged Tanzania's women to "set your ovaries free" and bear more children as a way to help boost the economy into a regional powerhouse, a step critics said would instead worsen inequality and poverty. "When you have a big population you build the economy. That's why China's economy is so huge," he said late on Tuesday (Jul 9), citing India and Nigeria as other examples of countries that gained from a demographic dividend. "I know that those who like to block ovaries will complain about my remarks. Set your ovaries free, let them block theirs," he told a gathering in his home town of Chato. Since taking office in 2015, Magufuli has launched an industrialisation campaign that has helped buoy economic growth, which has averaged 6 to 7 per cent annually in recent years. But he has said a higher birth rate would achieve faster progress. Over the past decade, the East African nation of 55 million people already has one of the world's … [Read more...] about President urges Tanzania’s women to ‘set ovaries free’, have more babies to boost economy

SINGAPORE: High economic growth potential and the availability of “attractive” investment opportunities are the reasons why GIC continues to take a constructive view on Asia in the long run. “Asia presents attractive opportunities that can be found across consumption-based goods and services sectors, including financial services, healthcare, education and technology,” Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund said in its annual report released on Wednesday (Jul 3). “Its global value proposition will increase further, fuelled by the continued rise of its middle class, infrastructure investments, and regional integration, backed by steady technological progress.” READ: ‘We have to be positioned for change’: GIC bets on deeper investments in tech While there are challenges, such as uneven structural reforms and uncertainties resulting from a protracted trade spat between the United States and China, GIC said it is “confident” that these can be addressed. As long as Asia continues to … [Read more...] about ‘Good’ chance of increased Asia investments as GIC takes constructive view on region’s long-term future

Government needs to lead economic and social development to ensure fair distribution of the dividends to the elderly China has made great achievements in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. At the same time, a significant demographic change is taking place－its population is rapidly aging. The aging trend presents opportunities as well as challenges. The fundamental approach to deal with the aging population is a sustainable economy. China is entering a new stage of high-quality development that must be sustainable and efficient, so that it can steadily increase its wealth reserves to tackle the problems brought by its aging society. China faces the problem of an aging population before it has become a developed country. Population aging is a natural result of economic and social progress. When its society began aging in 2000, China's GDP exceeded $1 trillion for the first time, but its per capita GDP was less than $1,000.People had overcome basic living … [Read more...] about Dealing with aging society

SINGAPORE: Over the past few months, investors in Hyflux have been anxiously observing the unfolding of events. When white knights in the form of a consortium comprising Salim Group and Medco Group (SM Investments) entered into an agreement in October last year to invest S$400 million for 60 per cent of Hyflux’s equity and to grant S$130 million in loan, things started looking up. Then in March, national water agency, PUB, issued a default notice giving Hyflux some time to remedy defaults arising from a water agreement, failing which PUB will take over its subsidiary, Tuaspring, “as whole, or the desalination plant alone”. A few weeks later, PUB said it will assume control of only Tuaspring Desalination Plant (TSDP) at zero dollars, and waive off the compensation sum which it is entitled to under the water agreement. This caught many by surprise. The future of Hyflux looked gloomier than ever on Apr 4 when Hyflux cancelled the restructuring agreement with SM investments … [Read more...] about Commentary: Hyflux after the perfect storm

Candidates with knowledge in coding, artificial intelligence and data will have an upper edge in future hiring, observes Anshuman Das, CEO and co-founder, CareerNet, a talent acquisition firm. Kindly note the image has been posted only for representational purposes. Photograph: Kind courtesy Pexels.com The pandemic has made most of us realise what disruption really means. It has become clear that agility and adaptability are important for every organisation to survive and thrive. We saw layoffs and salary cuts across organisations. The year 2020 created a paradigm shift in our perceptions about various professions. We witnessed a remarkable increase in the reliance on digital mediums and technology. The accelerated pace at which technology was adopted across sectors paved the way for a few new learnings and opportunities. Job loss was believed to be the most severe impact of COVID-19. Businesses proactively re-thought and reinvented their strategies to adapt to … [Read more...] about 7 recession-proof jobs for 2021

SINGAPORE: “The fittest will survive.” That was the response from TPG Telecom’s general manager Richard Tan, when asked if Singapore’s fourth telco would be able to withstand the intense competition from the mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that have sprung up since it won the license bid back in December 2016. Mr Tan, in an exclusive interview with CNA on Wednesday (Jul 3), credited its entry into Singapore’s previously insular telecom sector as the reason for the ongoing market shake-up and opened the door for the re-appearance of MVNOs since the ill-fated foray by Virgin Mobile back in 2001. “For the longest time, there wasn’t (any) MVNOs. Why? The reason is because the mobile network operators (MNOs) never provided the conditions to support the entry of an MVNO,” he explained. “Because of the fourth (telco) licence, the door was open for MVNOs to come in because the MNOs realise that the rules of the game, to some extent, for the market has changed.” To date, … [Read more...] about ‘Fittest will survive’: Singapore’s 4th telco TPG confident of thriving amid growing competition