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IFC: Indonesia Needs Good Corporate Governance
Indonesia’s economy is facing tough challenges: A slowdown of gross domestic product growth, a depreciation of the rupiah and a tightening of external financing. On the political side, the country is entering a period of uncertainty with upcoming legislative and
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How to Tame an Unruly Bear
You heed Teddy’s advice: Speak softly and carry a big stick. That’s how a bear is brought to its senses. Hardly rocket science. With his simple, yet effective approach to foreign policy, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) – the 26th US president
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OECD: Latin America’s Outlook Clouded by Asia’s Slowdown and Financial Uncertainty
The external scenario is less favourable for the region due to the downturn in global trade, the moderation in commodity prices and the increased uncertainty surrounding global financing conditions. General Overview The euro area’s weak economic performance, the slowdown in
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KPMG: India – Banking on New Banks
India’s financial sector has tons of questions to ask since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) spelled out the new bank guidelines and allowed new entrants onto the market. Is there a need for new banks? Will these be able
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OECD: Time, Trade and Trade Facilitation
Time is money and a lot of money and opportunities are being lost due to painstakingly long customs procedures, waiting times at ports and long lead times. Although “time is money” is a universal idiom, few have looked into how
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World Bank Group: Financial Inclusion – Banking on Low-Income Households
Financial exclusion restricts economic opportunity and constrains poverty reduction. Yet today there are an estimated 2.5 billion adult people worldwide who go about their lives without any formal financial services such as bank accounts. According to the World Bank’s Global
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United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS): Sustainable Results in Challenging Environments
From building shelters in Haiti or helping to improve the school system in South Sudan, to buying medicines in Myanmar or equipment for clearing the snowy passes of Afghanistan – UNOPS provides sustainable infrastructure, project management and procurement services in
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Michael Pettis: Markets Rationale and Volatility – The Case of China
Last month’s award of the Nobel Prize in Economics set off a great deal of chuckling because one of the three recipients, Eugene Fama, received the award for saying that markets are efficient at capital allocation and another, Robert Schiller,
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Wang Meng: A Champ Tumbles and Falls on Her Way to the Top
We all crash into the barricades from time to time and Wang Meng, China’s most successful winter Olympian ever, did so at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. However, this young lady got up, brushed herself down and went on to finish
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IFC, ECOM Training Helps Women Farmers Boost Income, Productivity
Women make up 80 percent of coffee farmers in North Sumatra of Indonesia and 50 percent in Lam Dong of Vietnam. The coffee beans that they grow can change their families’ lives. IFC’s partnership with global coffee trader ECOM Agroindustrial
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