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UK Has Its Eyes on the Philippines

By Jessie Wilkens on March 21, 2011 in , ,

British businesses are looking to expand into the Philippines, says Adrian S. Cristobal, Jr., Trade and Industry undersecretary for international trade group.

Philippines Attraction

As Cristobal explained, “Our English-speaking business environment, multicultural sensitivities, and strategic location in Asia are attractive for British companies seeking to expand its business in Southeast Asia.”
There are already a number of large British companies that operate in the Philippines, including HSBC, BP, LogicaCMG and Shell.

Key Power in East Asia

Recently, the UK has started to see the Philippines as a key power in East Asia. The Philippines has a 7% economic growth rate in 2010 and they’ve had a high increase in bilateral trade between the Philippines and the UK. The exports that the Philippines has to the UK include tuna, parts of automatic data processing machines, motor vehicle parts, desiccated coconut and more.

The Philippines receives from the UK electronic integrated circuits, uncoated paper and paperboard, newsprint, parts of electronic apparatus, books and more. The UK has cited the Philippines as “one of the largest and a key player in ASEAN.’

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A Royal Investment

By Jessie Wilkens on March 16, 2011 in ,

William and Kate are not the only royals in the news at the moment, and not the only ones having money invested in them. Renovations were just completed to the Guildhall by Windsor and Maidenhead Council, the Friends of the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum’s appeal and the developer’s contributions. In total, Windsor and Maidenhead Council contributed a £500,000 investment and the developers contributed just over £250,000.

New Museum

What will they get on their investment? The new museum will welcome visitors to see the room where Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles and were Elton John had his civil partnership with David Furnish. This room will be open to the public for the first time since 2005.

Renovations at Work

The renovations took five months of work to transform the 17th century Grade I-listed Guildhall into the new museum setting. It will also feature exhibits including everything from a mammoth’s tusk to an Anglo-Saxon comb.

Long Held Dream

The museum has been described as a long-held dream by the Friends of the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum. They have long wanted a permanent location for the borough’s local history collection. Many items from the borough’s 6500 strong collection will be on display at the museum, including a bust of the Hawker Hurricane that was designed by Sir Sydney Camm.

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UK Has Eyes on India

By Jessie Wilkens on March 15, 2011 in , ,

In recent news from New Delhi, The India-UK CEOs Forum will soon recommend that the two countries find ways to enhance trade and investments. Headed by Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata, the Forum has ten members on each side. From the UK, this includes CEOs from Standard Chartered, BAE Systems, JCB, KPMG, Rolls Royce Plc, Vodafone Group Plc, and others.

Words from the Forum

From India’s side, those involved include Aditya Birla Group, Bharti Enterprises, Godrej Group, ICICI Bank, ITC Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra and Wipro Ltd.

The statement, issued by the Forum after a bilateral meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment Lord Green, said, “The CEOs Forum will make recommendations to the two governments on how to increase the levels of trade and investment in each other’s economies.”

Imports and Exports

The major exports that India sends to the UK include cotton, transport equipment, gems and jewelry, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Imports include precious, semi-precious stones and electronic goods. During the 2009-2010 year, bilateral commerce between the two was USD 11 billion. Time will tell if they can expand upon this number in the coming year.

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Hold Your Horses on the Offshore Loophole

By Jessie Wilkens on March 14, 2011 in , ,

The British Horseracing Authority is up in arms over the offshore loopholes in horse racing.  More and more horseracing sportsbooks are going offshore, fleeing the high tax rates they experience in the UK.

Gibraltar Looking Good

The betting exchange, for instance, has just declared that they are going to be operating under a Gibraltar license starting today.  Analysts see the choice as a great decision.  As James Hollins at Evolution Securities said, “Betfair has made a strategically and financially sensible move to reduce its tax bill.”

Sportsbooks Hitting the Roads

Other sportsbooks have made similar decisions, such as Ladbrokes and William Hill’s decisions to relocate in 2009.  Such moves are making many in the UK racing circles nervous.

Reassuring Words

Stephen Morana, the Betfair’s chief financial officer has tried to reassure those in the sports betting world by saying, “We are committed to British horseracing and guarantee we will support it.”

However, a spokesman for the British Horseracing Authority countered Morana’s reassurances when he said, “The concept of so called voluntary payments is deeply flawed. They cannot be trusted, cannot be enforced, cannot be planned against.” He asked the British government to close the offshore loopholes and to restore the credibility to the gambling framework in Britain.

Tax Rates Too High

Many gambling powerhouses explain that the tax rate in the UK is simply too high.  As Warwick Barlett, the head of gambling consultancy GBGG explained, “Companies would much prefer to be in the UK and would come back if the rate was lowered.”

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British Museum Buys Agatha Christie Facial Cream

By Jessie Wilkens on March 9, 2011 in , ,

The British Museum now owns a bit of Agatha Christie’s facial cream.

For a reported £1.17 million, they have purchased an amazing collection of almost 6000 decorative ivories.  Called the Nimrud Ivories, these items were carved pieces of elephant ivory that are nearly 3,000 years old. Most of the pieces date from the 9th to the 7th century BC and they were discovered in the royal arsenal within Fort Shalmaneser palace in Nimrud.

John Curtis of the British Museum’s Middle East department explained that, “Nimrud is one of the most important sites in the Ancient Near East and the carved ivories found there are among the finest products recovered from an archaeological excavation.”

What, exactly, is the connection to the famous author’s cream? Interestingly enough, the carvings were found in the ancient city of Nimrud, which is modern day Iraq, by Agatha Christie’s husband.  The team that discovered these ivories between 1949 and 1963 was led by Sir Max Mallowan.

Agatha Christie revealed in her autobiography that she often used her facial cream to clean her husband’s findings.  Christie was quite an active part of the excavation team, photographing the objects her husband’s team found and helping to restore the spoils.  In addition, the excavation site had a room built, called Agatha’s House, so that Christie could pen her mysteries while her husband worked.

A British Museum spokesman says that this is the second most expensive acquisition since the Second World War for the museum.

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Prince Andrew with Gaddafi & Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali?

By Jessie Wilkens on March 8, 2011 in ,

Prince Andrew is stirring up the royal waters these days, getting himself into all sorts of controversies that could embarrass the royal family with less than two months to go before the royal wedding.

Andrew & Ties to Middle East Leaders?

As the 51 year old son of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger brother of Prince Charles, Prince Andrew is a U.K. special representative for international trade and investment for British business abroad. The latest controversy involves his possible involvement with controversial figures in the Middle East, including Libya’s leader Moammar Gaddafi and Tunisia’s ex-president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Other Scandalous News

In addition, recent press reports pointed to Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, a U.S. financier who was convicted of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor.

Focus, as of late, has been on Prince Andrew’s ties to these Middle East leaders, particularly with the uprisings on the region. Chris Bryant, a Labor member of Parliament recently criticized Prince Andrew in the House of Commons for his ties to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s Col. Gaddafi. Mr. Bryant asked the room if perhaps “Is it not time that we dispensed with the services of the Duke of York?”

Step Down Andrew!

On Monday, an editorial in the Times of London asked for Prince Andrew to step down and it accused him of being arrogant, sloppy in his preparations, and boorish and more.

WikiLeaks cables have also served to embarrass Prince Andrew lately. One cable said that a group of U.K. businessmen who complained to Prince Andrew about corruption in Kyrgyzstand were told by the Prince that, “All of this sounds exactly like France.”

Buckingham Palace Rebuttal

Buckingham Palace has stood behind Prince Andrew through all of the controversy, saying that, “The Duke of York remains fully committed to his role as special representative, and is pleased that the government has continued to support him in that role.”

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Getting Rich Off of Will & Kate? Perhaps

By Jessie Wilkens on March 7, 2011 in ,

For individuals and companies looking to cash in on the Royal Wedding taking place on April 29th, 2011, now is the time to start thinking. As Stephen Church, the fifth generation managing director of Church’s China advises, collectors should look for memorabilia that is produced in limited quantities.

Royal Wedding Memorabilia

Investors can certainly do well with memorabilia from William and Kate’s wedding. A company like the 152 year old Church’s China is featuring over 80 pieces of Royal Wedding Memorabilia from its online sales division The U.K. Gift Company. One piece that he predicts will become quite valuable is the Royal Worcester’s Lion’s Head Vase. Only 250 of these are being produced by England’s leading ceramicist, William Edwards. Each vase will feature a specially-commissioned portrait of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Quality Matters

Obviously, memorabilia experts emphasize that the quality of the piece does matter. Makers such as the Royal Collection, Halcyon Days and Royal Worcester have products of superior craftsmanship and quality. Potential collectors should consider the number of items being produced of the specific memorabilia, the company producing the product, and the details on the product itself.

The Royal Wedding will certainly be making a splash throughout the world, and there’s no reason that savvy investors can’t make a similar splash financially from this most important affair.

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Investors Fleeing Emerging Markets for Safer Ground

By Jessie Wilkens on March 2, 2011 in

The honeymoon seems to have finally ended as investors are pulling their money out of what used to be considered by them the ‘belle of the ball,’ emerging markets. As the Middle East continues to shake and rumble as thousands take to the streets in demand of better government, better economic conditions, and more freedom, investors are not willing to take the ‘wait and see attitude’ and have re-located their capital in the ‘old dependables’, the western industrialized economies, even at the expense of lower interest rates.

According to financial analyst Maria-Laura Lanzeni of Deutsche Bank Research, global investors are withdrawing their cash out of many emerging markets, even if they are not connected to the Arab world.

"I believe it is a structural problem with some investment groups that invest in emerging economies," she told Deutsche Welle. “Many of those groups invested based on a trend but knew little about the countries' actual economies,” she added.

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IFC Expanding Program to Bring Investment to Southern Sudan

By Jessie Wilkens on March 1, 2011 in ,

The private investment arm of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation has created a program designed to help stimulate more investment into the new country of Southern Sudan, scheduled to emerge as African’s newest independent country on July 9 this coming year.

The project has already attracted donors to the tune of $9 million, which is now beginning its second phase. The organization, based in Washington, DC has said that it plans to attract investors who wish to participate in the development of small and medium-sized businesses as well as increase available credit to companies.

“We aim to prove that South Sudan is a good place for investment by investing ourselves,” Rachel Kyte, the IFC’s vice president for business advisory services, told reporters in the capital, Juba, today.

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UK Business Leaders Meet in Oman

By Jessie Wilkens on February 28, 2011 in

The Grand Hyatt Muscat was the site of a Business Seminar and networking luncheon organized by the Omani Center for Investment Promotion and Export Development (OCIPED.) On hand for the meeting which took place last Thursday were key business players who accompanied the Trade and Investment Minister of the United Kingdom, Lord Stephen Green.

Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, the Omani Minister of Commerce and Industry as well as the Chairman of OCIPED gave the keynote address. Ali Sultan praised the “special relationship” shared by the UK and Oman. This special relationship was expressed by the stature of the members of the British trade delegation, the first such mission to visit the Sultanate in 16 years.

Included in the delegation were some of Britain’s most influential business leaders, including CEOs and top executives from about 20 UK businesses spread among a host of sectors.

Lord Green also addressed the business leaders,  praising UK-Omani relations. He said that the partnership between Oman and the UK is "longstanding, deep-rooted, comprehensive and almost unique", and believes that both parties should take advantage of the great “strategic opportunity” they have for broadening their commercial, trade and economic ties.

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