[Daniel Costello on Finance]
Analyzing the long and short term costs of living in Korea
The Korea Herald 2008.01.23
"Happiness is a positive cash flow," wrote Fred Adler. While money is not everything, expatriates generally think about living and working in Korea through comparing their income at home and abroad. This long-term view is extremely important when considering potential maximum income.
Through increasing your capital inflows, you can realize your desire to spend -- which is, after all, a happy side effect of being an expatriate. Let's face it, most of us are here because the money is good.
Improving your cash flow or income is all about adjusting and focusing time-related goals. Controlling your monthly cash flow may often appear difficult, but formulating and maintaining a budget will help you realize where it is all going.
There are several useful budget calculators, spreadsheets and freeware programs available online that you can use to give you a better understanding of where you can realize increased cash flows. Try the Consumer Credit Counseling Service's online budget calculator at www.cccsatl.org.
It would also be a tasty tidbit of self-realization to assess your comparative budgeting requirements at home and in Korea. If you were working in the same field at home, how would your costs and income in Korea compare with the same situation at home?
One source of comparative salary improvements is in the housing benefits offered in some employment contracts, or the quarter or annual performance-based bonuses in others.
In addition, some child-care benefits such as full or partial educational allotments may be available, dependent upon your employer, to further sweeten your financial standing.
Health and medical costs for insurance are often comparatively less expensive here than in other developed countries.
Extensive subsidized public transportation makes vehicle ownership much more of a luxury than a requirement, while entertainment and recreation options are often of minimal cost.
Cost of living indices such as those available at the OECD suggest Korea's consumer price index gains, at 3.99 percent, are only slightly above the overall average at 3.76 percent, which fares well for any long-term plan of retaining work here.
From a financial view, the first year of employment in Korea can often appear to be a neutral or even negative cash flow proposition, especially disheartening for new graduates. But that, of course, probably isn't the case if your stay in Korea involves working for a multinational corporation.
Too often, it seems a short-term commitment to work in Korea is made on the basis of one's first employment experience here, which is often tenuous, but which acts as a proving ground for whether or not you want to extend your stay here, move on elsewhere, or head back to your country.
It is of course important to view opportunities in Korea as an investment of time, but it is just as important to envision a long-term financial future independent of short-term impositions, challenges or difficulties. The better you are at seeing the light at the end the tunnel, the greater the potential of positive cash flows, despite serious impediments such as the daily challenges of living and working in a foreign country -- where the culture of working and doing business is entirely if not comparatively unknown to you.
Unfailing optimism will improve your chances of success in moving from a short-term to a long-term financial perspective, whatever your situation.
Tending to the maintenance of positive cash flows often leads to a desire to increase them through finding more lucrative positions, attaining more education and making a greater personal investment to your own financial future regardless of your starting point.
Moving from a short to a long-term view on your working life in Korea may be exactly what it takes to move you along your expatriate evolution from spender to cash flow manager.
AceMoney Lite 3.10 is a well-regarded and reviewed software available at www.download.com/AceMoney-Lite/3000-2057_4-10747170.html?tag=lst-5
If budgeting is challenging, you may want to try this bridge-building game at www.download.com/Bridge-Builder/3000-2111_4-5862232.html?tag=lst-2
Canadian SME International Trade and Marketing - writings upon readings and continued curiousity in the realms of cross cultural business. Some of my opinions are not my own, but I would fancy to say nearly all of them should be credited to the various authors. Deming disciple. I stubbornly persist.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Abu Dhabi unveils carbon-neutral city
Abu Dhabi unveils carbon-neutral city
CBC News
Oil-rich emirate Abu Dhabi has unveiled its plans for a car-less, zero-carbon, zero-waste city in the desert.
A model of Masdar City was formally unveiled at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The city, designed by British architect Norman Foster, is designed to house 1,500 businesses and 50,000 people.
The location of the six-square-kilometre site, close to Abu Dhabi's airport, is a harsh environment, with no access to fresh water and temperatures that reach 50 C in the summer. But the project's sponsors, who include the World Wildlife Federation, said the project would incorporate a mix of current technology and ancient methods to beat the heat.
Masdar City's electricity will be generated by solar panels, with solar power driving the city's cooling systems and a desalination plant needed to produce fresh water. The city's layout will also create micro-climates, or zones of different temperatures, to encourage air circulation.
Masdar City has also been designed to be car-free, with public transportation — through a light railway and personalized rapid transport pods — never more than 200 metres away, according to architecture firm Foster + Partners.
Continue Article
Landscaping in the city and in the surrounding area will be irrigated with recycled and treated waste water.
"Masdar is an example of the paradigm shift that is needed and the strategic vision of the Abu Dhabi government is a case study in global leadership," Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, director of WWF International’s One Planet Living initiative, said in a statement.
"We hope that Masdar City will prove that sustainable living can be affordable and attractive in all aspects of human living — from businesses and manufacturing facilities to universities and private homes," he said.
The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, capital of the seven-member United Arab Emirates federation, said Monday that ground would be broken on the project later this year. The cost of the project was not revealed.
The city plans were part of Abu Dhabi's larger strategy to embrace green technologies and change the perception of Abu Dhabi, home to most of the United Arab Emirates oil reserves.
Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Monday his emirate would make an initial investment of $15 billion US in projects targeting solar, wind and hydrogen power, carbon reduction and management and sustainable development.
The UAE produced 149 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2004, or 34.1 tonnes per person, according to a 2007 UN Development Program report. The per capita rate is the third highest in the world after Qatar and Kuwait.
Entrepreneurs Need to Think Globally
Entrepreneurs Need to Think Globally
(Management Issues)
Would-be entrepreneurs are often advised to start small and crack their local market first. But if you really want to be successful you need to be thinking globally from the start.
Research by Babson College in the U.S. and the UK's London Business School has argued that encouraging more global entrepreneurship is the key to improving economic growth worldwide. It found that between a tenth and 40 per cent of entrepreneurs in high-income countries expected a quarter or more of their customers to come from outside their country.
Raising your sights and looking further afield can also be the key to freeing yourself from local red tape.
The 2007 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report found that the more burdensome a country's business regulations, the lower entrepreneurs' expectations for growth.
The research also studied early-stage entrepreneurial activity within a number of cities around the globe.
It discovered differences in levels and characteristics of entrepreneurial activity were not only rooted in a country's local economy or the quality and number of institutions supporting entrepreneurship, but also in its culture and demography.
"The world economy needs entrepreneurs," said Babson professor and GEM U.S. team member Kent Jones, "and increasingly, entrepreneurs depend on an open and expanding world economy for new opportunities and growth – through trade, foreign investment, and finance.
"GEM research confirms that new entrepreneurial opportunities in all countries will expand if trade, entrepreneurship and economic growth are fostered, especially in the developing world," he added.
Early-stage entrepreneurial activity tended to be high in countries with lower per-capita GDP but declined in middle-income countries before rising again in higher income countries, the research found.
Early-stage entrepreneurial activity rates for global cities by and large showed a similar pattern as the rates at the country level. But, intriguing, some cities reported rates that diverged from this pattern. German cities, for instance, stood out as having the highest rates in comparison to the average country rate. Also, characteristics of entrepreneurship in global cities were sometimes different from characteristics at the national level, the GEM study suggested.
Both middle- and low-income countries in Latin America and Asia displayed high rates of early-stage entrepreneurial activity, with Thailand, Peru and Colombia reporting the highest rates. Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, by comparison, traditionally had relatively low rates of early-stage entrepreneurial activity, yet Croatia's rate appeared to be increasing between 2002-2007.
As per-capita incomes rose in high-income countries, so did the rate of early-stage entrepreneurship, the research argued. However, cultural demographic and institutional factors also came into play.
Many European countries, perhaps surprisingly, consistently had relatively low rates of early-stage entrepreneurship. Overall, Iceland, Hong Kong and the U.S showed the highest levels. The lowest rates were found in Austria, Puerto Rico and Belgium.
Early-stage entrepreneurs from high-income countries were more likely to be opportunity-driven, as opposed to necessity-driven where entrepreneurs have no other option for work. In Norway and Sweden, most early-stage entrepreneurial activity was part-time, the study found.
There was also a strong correlation between the rate of early-stage entrepreneurial activity and the general population's positive perceptions of their entrepreneurial skills and opportunities for starting a business.
Other factors associated with early-stage entrepreneurial activity were whether entrepreneurship was widely believed to be a good career choice and the degree to which it was reported in the media.
Among high-income countries, the U.S., Israel, Iceland, and Canada showed the highest rates of high-growth expectation entrepreneurship, where entrepreneurs expected to employ at least 20 employees five years from now.
Among middle and low-income countries, China had the highest rate followed by Argentina.
Early-stage entrepreneurs were more likely than established business owners to claim that they offered innovative products. They were also more likely to claim to be using use technologies that had not been available to them a year earlier.
Populations that embraced innovation also tended to have higher levels of early-stage entrepreneurial activity.
Early-stagers were by and large young (aged 25-34) and were more likely to be men. This gender gap was present among all age groups but was relatively small for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, said the GEM survey.
Finally, in an increasingly globalised economy, international economic institutions such as the World Bank or World Trade Organization were now exerting a growing influence on entrepreneurs and their opportunities. This influence was either directly through international trade agreements or indirectly the fact they were cultivating an environment of economic flexibility and adjustment and an open world economy, it said.
Click here to download the GEM 2007 Global Report.
(Management Issues)
Would-be entrepreneurs are often advised to start small and crack their local market first. But if you really want to be successful you need to be thinking globally from the start.
Research by Babson College in the U.S. and the UK's London Business School has argued that encouraging more global entrepreneurship is the key to improving economic growth worldwide. It found that between a tenth and 40 per cent of entrepreneurs in high-income countries expected a quarter or more of their customers to come from outside their country.
Raising your sights and looking further afield can also be the key to freeing yourself from local red tape.
The 2007 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report found that the more burdensome a country's business regulations, the lower entrepreneurs' expectations for growth.
The research also studied early-stage entrepreneurial activity within a number of cities around the globe.
It discovered differences in levels and characteristics of entrepreneurial activity were not only rooted in a country's local economy or the quality and number of institutions supporting entrepreneurship, but also in its culture and demography.
"The world economy needs entrepreneurs," said Babson professor and GEM U.S. team member Kent Jones, "and increasingly, entrepreneurs depend on an open and expanding world economy for new opportunities and growth – through trade, foreign investment, and finance.
"GEM research confirms that new entrepreneurial opportunities in all countries will expand if trade, entrepreneurship and economic growth are fostered, especially in the developing world," he added.
Early-stage entrepreneurial activity tended to be high in countries with lower per-capita GDP but declined in middle-income countries before rising again in higher income countries, the research found.
Early-stage entrepreneurial activity rates for global cities by and large showed a similar pattern as the rates at the country level. But, intriguing, some cities reported rates that diverged from this pattern. German cities, for instance, stood out as having the highest rates in comparison to the average country rate. Also, characteristics of entrepreneurship in global cities were sometimes different from characteristics at the national level, the GEM study suggested.
Both middle- and low-income countries in Latin America and Asia displayed high rates of early-stage entrepreneurial activity, with Thailand, Peru and Colombia reporting the highest rates. Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, by comparison, traditionally had relatively low rates of early-stage entrepreneurial activity, yet Croatia's rate appeared to be increasing between 2002-2007.
As per-capita incomes rose in high-income countries, so did the rate of early-stage entrepreneurship, the research argued. However, cultural demographic and institutional factors also came into play.
Many European countries, perhaps surprisingly, consistently had relatively low rates of early-stage entrepreneurship. Overall, Iceland, Hong Kong and the U.S showed the highest levels. The lowest rates were found in Austria, Puerto Rico and Belgium.
Early-stage entrepreneurs from high-income countries were more likely to be opportunity-driven, as opposed to necessity-driven where entrepreneurs have no other option for work. In Norway and Sweden, most early-stage entrepreneurial activity was part-time, the study found.
There was also a strong correlation between the rate of early-stage entrepreneurial activity and the general population's positive perceptions of their entrepreneurial skills and opportunities for starting a business.
Other factors associated with early-stage entrepreneurial activity were whether entrepreneurship was widely believed to be a good career choice and the degree to which it was reported in the media.
Among high-income countries, the U.S., Israel, Iceland, and Canada showed the highest rates of high-growth expectation entrepreneurship, where entrepreneurs expected to employ at least 20 employees five years from now.
Among middle and low-income countries, China had the highest rate followed by Argentina.
Early-stage entrepreneurs were more likely than established business owners to claim that they offered innovative products. They were also more likely to claim to be using use technologies that had not been available to them a year earlier.
Populations that embraced innovation also tended to have higher levels of early-stage entrepreneurial activity.
Early-stagers were by and large young (aged 25-34) and were more likely to be men. This gender gap was present among all age groups but was relatively small for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, said the GEM survey.
Finally, in an increasingly globalised economy, international economic institutions such as the World Bank or World Trade Organization were now exerting a growing influence on entrepreneurs and their opportunities. This influence was either directly through international trade agreements or indirectly the fact they were cultivating an environment of economic flexibility and adjustment and an open world economy, it said.
Click here to download the GEM 2007 Global Report.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Thomas Edison State College
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If you have any questions, call us at (888) 442-8372. We look forward to receiving your application!
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Office of Admissions & Information Center
Thomas Edison State College
Higher Education.
For Adults With Higher Expectations.
The Canada-U.S. FTA: 20 Years After
The Canada-U.S. FTA: 20 Years After
(Stephen Poloz, Export Development Canada)
Twenty years have passed since the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect 19 years ago. It’s a good time to check the report card, to see how we are doing.
The architects of the deal told us that north-south trade would blossom, and they were right. Our exports of goods and services to the U.S. have more than tripled since 1988, from $117 billion per year to $398 billion, an increase of 240%. Our imports of goods and services from the U.S. have not risen by as much – from $108 billion to $322 billion, and increase of just under 200%.
A good part of Canada’s relative success is due to higher resource prices. Adjusting exports and imports for inflation shows that export and import volumes have both risen by about 150% since 1988. Still, that means that Canadian exporters have earned more through the arrangement.
Superficial analyses might leap on this and claim victory, but this would be wrong. Every transaction that would not have happened without the FTA should be seen as a victory, regardless of direction. When an American and a Canadian agree to a sale, they both get what they want, so they both win.
What makes the analysis of free trade so difficult is that we do not know what the world might have looked like today had there been no FTA. Some analysts look at employment, and they are often disappointed. After all, if everyone should win from free trade, shouldn’t employment go up everywhere? The answer is “no”. Adjusting to free trade means that both countries produce more of what they are good at, and produce less of the other things, which then are obtained through trade, instead. At the production level, then, there are both winners and losers, by definition.
And so it is that the manufacturing sector has seen a decline in employment over the life of the FTA, of about 50,000 jobs, while mining and oil and gas have seen an increase of 50,000 jobs. Within manufacturing, the durables sector is up 80,000, while employment is down 130,000 for non-durables. In the context of a workforce of 17 million, these figures are small, but they belie a big increase in specialisation beneath the surface, which has boosted productivity. Indeed, there has been a 43% increase in manufacturing productivity since 1988, or around 2.4% per year. Not bad, except that U.S. manufacturing has done better, at 68%, or more than 3.8% per year.
It is at the consumer level that everyone wins, because the lower cost of imports boosts total purchasing power, and the extra spending creates jobs across the board, since it is mostly spent domestically. Accordingly, construction sector jobs are up by 360,000 since 1988, and service sector jobs by nearly 4 million. The latter include such occupations as health care (650,000), retail and wholesale trade (630,000), professional and technical (600,000), business support (410,000), hospitality (340,000), the financial sector (270,000) and so on.
The bottom line? It is very difficult to pin down all the effects of the FTA, especially since the effects of increased purchasing power are, well, everywhere. But if one accepts the basic premise that trade in both directions is good, then the FTA has surely made a positive difference.
(Stephen Poloz, Export Development Canada)
Twenty years have passed since the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect 19 years ago. It’s a good time to check the report card, to see how we are doing.
The architects of the deal told us that north-south trade would blossom, and they were right. Our exports of goods and services to the U.S. have more than tripled since 1988, from $117 billion per year to $398 billion, an increase of 240%. Our imports of goods and services from the U.S. have not risen by as much – from $108 billion to $322 billion, and increase of just under 200%.
A good part of Canada’s relative success is due to higher resource prices. Adjusting exports and imports for inflation shows that export and import volumes have both risen by about 150% since 1988. Still, that means that Canadian exporters have earned more through the arrangement.
Superficial analyses might leap on this and claim victory, but this would be wrong. Every transaction that would not have happened without the FTA should be seen as a victory, regardless of direction. When an American and a Canadian agree to a sale, they both get what they want, so they both win.
What makes the analysis of free trade so difficult is that we do not know what the world might have looked like today had there been no FTA. Some analysts look at employment, and they are often disappointed. After all, if everyone should win from free trade, shouldn’t employment go up everywhere? The answer is “no”. Adjusting to free trade means that both countries produce more of what they are good at, and produce less of the other things, which then are obtained through trade, instead. At the production level, then, there are both winners and losers, by definition.
And so it is that the manufacturing sector has seen a decline in employment over the life of the FTA, of about 50,000 jobs, while mining and oil and gas have seen an increase of 50,000 jobs. Within manufacturing, the durables sector is up 80,000, while employment is down 130,000 for non-durables. In the context of a workforce of 17 million, these figures are small, but they belie a big increase in specialisation beneath the surface, which has boosted productivity. Indeed, there has been a 43% increase in manufacturing productivity since 1988, or around 2.4% per year. Not bad, except that U.S. manufacturing has done better, at 68%, or more than 3.8% per year.
It is at the consumer level that everyone wins, because the lower cost of imports boosts total purchasing power, and the extra spending creates jobs across the board, since it is mostly spent domestically. Accordingly, construction sector jobs are up by 360,000 since 1988, and service sector jobs by nearly 4 million. The latter include such occupations as health care (650,000), retail and wholesale trade (630,000), professional and technical (600,000), business support (410,000), hospitality (340,000), the financial sector (270,000) and so on.
The bottom line? It is very difficult to pin down all the effects of the FTA, especially since the effects of increased purchasing power are, well, everywhere. But if one accepts the basic premise that trade in both directions is good, then the FTA has surely made a positive difference.
Canadian Club - Community Race Night
Invitation from the Canadian Club - Community Race Night - January 20
Under the auspices of the UAE Equestrian & Racing Federation, the Canadian Club in Abu Dhabi invites you to attend its Community Race Night, on Sunday, 20 January, 2008.
We will gather on the track side patio of the Abu Dhabi Golf and Equestrian Centre where we can enjoy the races both on the track and on the Club?s new large outdoor screens. The Club will provide a delicious BBQ buffet dinner.
So, put together a group of Canadians and Friends of Canada and come and join us for a night of racing and fun at the track!
Tickets only 90 AED! Tickets will be available for purchase at the club House from January 9 ? 18.
Time: 17:00 - 22:00
17:00 Pre Race Meet & Greet
18:00 First Race
19:00 Buffet Dinner
Questions? Call Ian McNabb 050 612 2079
Under the auspices of the UAE Equestrian & Racing Federation, the Canadian Club in Abu Dhabi invites you to attend its Community Race Night, on Sunday, 20 January, 2008.
We will gather on the track side patio of the Abu Dhabi Golf and Equestrian Centre where we can enjoy the races both on the track and on the Club?s new large outdoor screens. The Club will provide a delicious BBQ buffet dinner.
So, put together a group of Canadians and Friends of Canada and come and join us for a night of racing and fun at the track!
Tickets only 90 AED! Tickets will be available for purchase at the club House from January 9 ? 18.
Time: 17:00 - 22:00
17:00 Pre Race Meet & Greet
18:00 First Race
19:00 Buffet Dinner
Questions? Call Ian McNabb 050 612 2079
ALLARABIA Recruitment Agency
It is our pleasure to keep you updated with the Job opportunities news in the Middle East.
Arabian Centers and ALLARABIA as the largest recruitment group in the Middle East with branch office in many cities in the region, is pleased to inform you that we have more than 7000 job vacancies available for you to apply free with just a click of a mouse just CLICK HERE to visit ALLARABIA.
Also you are welcome to contact our nearest branch office for assistance
Best Regards,
Chris G.
Online Recruitment Manager
Arabian Centers Employment Services
Head office: Dubai , P.O. Box: 99447
Tel: 00971-4-2833350
مجموعة المراكز العربية هي شركة التوظيف الأكبر في العالم العربي بفروع منتشرة بمعظم الدول العربية تقدم خدماتها مجاناً تماماً للباحثين عن عمل و تسعى لتشجيع التوظيف العربي.
Arabian Centers and ALLARABIA as the largest recruitment group in the Middle East with branch office in many cities in the region, is pleased to inform you that we have more than 7000 job vacancies available for you to apply free with just a click of a mouse just CLICK HERE to visit ALLARABIA.
Also you are welcome to contact our nearest branch office for assistance
Best Regards,
Chris G.
Online Recruitment Manager
Arabian Centers Employment Services
Head office: Dubai , P.O. Box: 99447
Tel: 00971-4-2833350
مجموعة المراكز العربية هي شركة التوظيف الأكبر في العالم العربي بفروع منتشرة بمعظم الدول العربية تقدم خدماتها مجاناً تماماً للباحثين عن عمل و تسعى لتشجيع التوظيف العربي.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Sorting out globetrotters' tax dilemma
Sorting out
globetrotters’
tax dilemma
Daniel Costello
on Finance
Since the days of Roman tax collectors,
people have been willing to
hoe pits in olive gardens, sew precious
stones into lined outer garments,
skirt the fraying edges of
empires, and trick the trade of
treaty nations in an effort to outwit
or outrun their government’s outstretched
hand.
Individual tax audits appear a
quiet affair. No one really wants to
wear that scarlet letter or hire
enough fingers to pin it. U.S. IRS
Commissioner Charles Rossotti estimated
in 2002 that the tax collecting
organization is incapable of collecting
about $30 billion in known
due taxes annually. That’s about the
cost of a national health care
scheme.
How is your country doing? The
only writer I have read so far who
extrapolates a global tax evader’s
role in extralegal economic growth
would be the Peruvian economist
Hernando De Soto. He apologizes
for extralegal non-taxable income in
developing nations as legislative
failures to adapt quickly enough to
integrate the working poor into the
system of shared global growth.
Paradoxically according to
Leonard E. Burman of the Urban
Institute, the working poor are the
only people the IRS continues to
monitor for compliance. These days
intra-national labor mobility could
be said to be freer and faster than at
any time in history for similar reasons,
so a similar De Soto-ian apology
might be made in terms of global
individual income taxation where a
complex set of bilateral tax treaties
govern over smaller individual expatriate
incomes.
So expatriates who complain
about taxes may be divided into two
classes: those who pay them locally
through reciprocal tax treaties and
those who have deferred until a later
date. In many nations one may
delay tax filings indefinitely on the
assumption of a non-residency status
waiver. Such a determination
requires that minimal residential
ties be maintained.
Know who and what you are in
terms of your tax status.
Often it appears as a case by case determination.
For example, take the case of an
expat, let’s call him Frank, stirring
his green tea on the streets of Seoul
and saving his earnings here in the
ROK for five years. At the same
time he collects rent by direct deposits
on Madame Hortense’s hotel
back home. He fears his entire international
income is at risk for levee
at his home nation’s deemed resident
taxation rates. Accountants
have even told him this is the case.
The opportunity to declare non-residency
for tax purposes is not an option
where the continued maintenance
of significant residential ties
such as home rental and mortgage
payments may have coincidentally
been a major factor in his decision to
leave the country.
When Frank returns to his country,
the taxman will be waiting.
That smacks of catch-22 for a lot
of people. Some start singing Steve
Miller’s “Take the money and run.”
International income to a certain
maximum is exempted from most
OECD resident tax requirements,
which many appear unaware of.
Also there is often no criminal
penalty for late filing of overdue taxes
if you do the cometh-ing. There
could be, however, significant interest
payments owed. Burman of the Urban Institute
also reveals, as of 1998, that the IRS
estimated an entire tax gap of $232
billion overdue. That would amount
to at least $532 billion in total overdue
in the United States alone in
the coming Year of the Rat.
Only through voluntary compliance
policies are taxes often, if ever,
effectively collected. If in doubt, file
today?
Australia
The Australian Taxation Office:
www.ato.gov.au
Canada
Canada Revenue Agency:
www.cra-arc.gc.ca/international
The U.K.
HM Revenue and Customs:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/faqs_general.htm
The United States
The IRS: http://www.irs.gov/
Pakistan
Paktax: www.paktax.com.pk/main.htm
Egypt
Egyptian Income Tax Rules:
www.incometax.gov.eg
To contact Daniel, visit his website at
http://crossculturalreviews.blogspot.com — Ed.
(The Korea Herald)
globetrotters’
tax dilemma
Daniel Costello
on Finance
Since the days of Roman tax collectors,
people have been willing to
hoe pits in olive gardens, sew precious
stones into lined outer garments,
skirt the fraying edges of
empires, and trick the trade of
treaty nations in an effort to outwit
or outrun their government’s outstretched
hand.
Individual tax audits appear a
quiet affair. No one really wants to
wear that scarlet letter or hire
enough fingers to pin it. U.S. IRS
Commissioner Charles Rossotti estimated
in 2002 that the tax collecting
organization is incapable of collecting
about $30 billion in known
due taxes annually. That’s about the
cost of a national health care
scheme.
How is your country doing? The
only writer I have read so far who
extrapolates a global tax evader’s
role in extralegal economic growth
would be the Peruvian economist
Hernando De Soto. He apologizes
for extralegal non-taxable income in
developing nations as legislative
failures to adapt quickly enough to
integrate the working poor into the
system of shared global growth.
Paradoxically according to
Leonard E. Burman of the Urban
Institute, the working poor are the
only people the IRS continues to
monitor for compliance. These days
intra-national labor mobility could
be said to be freer and faster than at
any time in history for similar reasons,
so a similar De Soto-ian apology
might be made in terms of global
individual income taxation where a
complex set of bilateral tax treaties
govern over smaller individual expatriate
incomes.
So expatriates who complain
about taxes may be divided into two
classes: those who pay them locally
through reciprocal tax treaties and
those who have deferred until a later
date. In many nations one may
delay tax filings indefinitely on the
assumption of a non-residency status
waiver. Such a determination
requires that minimal residential
ties be maintained.
Know who and what you are in
terms of your tax status.
Often it appears as a case by case determination.
For example, take the case of an
expat, let’s call him Frank, stirring
his green tea on the streets of Seoul
and saving his earnings here in the
ROK for five years. At the same
time he collects rent by direct deposits
on Madame Hortense’s hotel
back home. He fears his entire international
income is at risk for levee
at his home nation’s deemed resident
taxation rates. Accountants
have even told him this is the case.
The opportunity to declare non-residency
for tax purposes is not an option
where the continued maintenance
of significant residential ties
such as home rental and mortgage
payments may have coincidentally
been a major factor in his decision to
leave the country.
When Frank returns to his country,
the taxman will be waiting.
That smacks of catch-22 for a lot
of people. Some start singing Steve
Miller’s “Take the money and run.”
International income to a certain
maximum is exempted from most
OECD resident tax requirements,
which many appear unaware of.
Also there is often no criminal
penalty for late filing of overdue taxes
if you do the cometh-ing. There
could be, however, significant interest
payments owed. Burman of the Urban Institute
also reveals, as of 1998, that the IRS
estimated an entire tax gap of $232
billion overdue. That would amount
to at least $532 billion in total overdue
in the United States alone in
the coming Year of the Rat.
Only through voluntary compliance
policies are taxes often, if ever,
effectively collected. If in doubt, file
today?
Australia
The Australian Taxation Office:
www.ato.gov.au
Canada
Canada Revenue Agency:
www.cra-arc.gc.ca/international
The U.K.
HM Revenue and Customs:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/faqs_general.htm
The United States
The IRS: http://www.irs.gov/
Pakistan
Paktax: www.paktax.com.pk/main.htm
Egypt
Egyptian Income Tax Rules:
www.incometax.gov.eg
To contact Daniel, visit his website at
http://crossculturalreviews.blogspot.com — Ed.
(The Korea Herald)
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
China Coastal Ports Capacity Reaches 4b Tonnes
China Coastal Ports Capacity Reaches 4b Tonnes
(CargoNews Asia)
The comprehensive traffic capacity of China's coastal ports is estimated to have reached four billion tonnes by the end of 2007, according to Xiao Daxuan, deputy director of the Water Transport Department of Chinese Ministry of Communications.
Xiao said China's water transportation has achieved big progress in recent years, which has fully played the advantages of large volume transport, low cost and small pollution. A batch of crude oil, iron ore, coal, container wharves and deep-water channels have been constructed and put into use.
Xiao predicted that by the end of this year, China's coastal ports will boast 5,340 productive berths, including 1,391 deep-water berths witch capacity able to accommodate above 10,000 dwt vessels. The coastal ports' comprehensive traffic capacity will amount to four billion tonnes and their container throughput is to reach 88.49 million TEUs.
According to Xiao, China has built up five port groups respectively in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim, the southeastern coast and the southwestern coast.
(CargoNews Asia)
The comprehensive traffic capacity of China's coastal ports is estimated to have reached four billion tonnes by the end of 2007, according to Xiao Daxuan, deputy director of the Water Transport Department of Chinese Ministry of Communications.
Xiao said China's water transportation has achieved big progress in recent years, which has fully played the advantages of large volume transport, low cost and small pollution. A batch of crude oil, iron ore, coal, container wharves and deep-water channels have been constructed and put into use.
Xiao predicted that by the end of this year, China's coastal ports will boast 5,340 productive berths, including 1,391 deep-water berths witch capacity able to accommodate above 10,000 dwt vessels. The coastal ports' comprehensive traffic capacity will amount to four billion tonnes and their container throughput is to reach 88.49 million TEUs.
According to Xiao, China has built up five port groups respectively in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, Bohai Rim, the southeastern coast and the southwestern coast.
Halifax Faces Uphill Battle for More Container Cargo
Halifax Faces Uphill Battle for More Container Cargo, Dal’s Brooks Warns
(Halifax Chronicle Herald)
There is no quick fix, says Mary Brooks.
Attracting more cargo and shipping lines to the Port of Halifax won’t happen overnight.
Container cargo through the port is expected to be down six to eight per cent in 2007 compared with 2006, and Ms. Brooks, the William A. Black chair of commerce at Dalhousie University, says building more container cargo through the port is a complex matter.
"Part of it is the fact we are a discretionary port. We need to hope going forward that we can change a lot of people’s minds about us being more than second choice."
Maersk Line’s decision last year to leave Halifax is something "the port is not going to be able to do anything about," Ms. Brooks said in a recent interview. "Maersk made a global decision about how it was going to offer its services to the global market place, so we were a casualty along with a lot of other parties. We are not like a New York where people feel they have to call because there is a huge population base and it is going to be difficult to serve otherwise."
A noted transportation expert, Ms. Brooks says Halifax has many features but points out that sometimes "Maritimers are their own worst enemy."
"We don’t always see the brighter side of everything. But we have got a number of things actually working in our favour that have long-term prospects."
She pointed to the warehouse opened in 2007 in Dartmouth by Consolidated Fastfrate, a similar facility to be built by the Armour Group and a transloading facility likely to be built by CN next to the Fairview Cove container terminal.
"These things if they hit that tipping point where they make the decision to make the investment, then you have even more that is saleable, but it is going to be a very tough marketing slog," she said. "It is not just marketing by the port; it is everybody sharpening their pencils and figuring out how to extract the cost out of the system to make us look a lot better."
But cost is only part of the equation, she said.
Ms. Brooks, who has written extensively on marine transportation issues, said she would like to see the province "focus on making the Halifax gateway work better." But she acknowledged that other ports like Sydney and Canso are also looking for something, which "just dilutes the effort."
"It looks like we in Atlantic Canada have not gotten our act together."
In October, Atlantic premiers and the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop the Atlantic Gateway as an entry and exit region for international trade.
Ms. Brooks sees that process as the premiers looking for money and "it is more than about money."
"I get disturbed when I see that people think if you throw money at it, it is going to solve everything."
Putting money into a new container port in Prince Rupert, B.C., was a good move for both the federal and provincial governments, she said, because there were also private investors wanting to deal with the cargo/ship congestion problem in Vancouver.
"Vancouver was getting difficult and the opportunity was really strong," she said. "But it isn’t always about pouring money into things. It is sometimes about the softer things you need to take care of."
Ms. Brooks has recently received an academic study on global cargo that she feels plays toward Halifax’s strengths.
The study, she said, shows that reliability is a major issue for companies with cargo interests because of port congestion, "and there we are part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem."
(Halifax Chronicle Herald)
There is no quick fix, says Mary Brooks.
Attracting more cargo and shipping lines to the Port of Halifax won’t happen overnight.
Container cargo through the port is expected to be down six to eight per cent in 2007 compared with 2006, and Ms. Brooks, the William A. Black chair of commerce at Dalhousie University, says building more container cargo through the port is a complex matter.
"Part of it is the fact we are a discretionary port. We need to hope going forward that we can change a lot of people’s minds about us being more than second choice."
Maersk Line’s decision last year to leave Halifax is something "the port is not going to be able to do anything about," Ms. Brooks said in a recent interview. "Maersk made a global decision about how it was going to offer its services to the global market place, so we were a casualty along with a lot of other parties. We are not like a New York where people feel they have to call because there is a huge population base and it is going to be difficult to serve otherwise."
A noted transportation expert, Ms. Brooks says Halifax has many features but points out that sometimes "Maritimers are their own worst enemy."
"We don’t always see the brighter side of everything. But we have got a number of things actually working in our favour that have long-term prospects."
She pointed to the warehouse opened in 2007 in Dartmouth by Consolidated Fastfrate, a similar facility to be built by the Armour Group and a transloading facility likely to be built by CN next to the Fairview Cove container terminal.
"These things if they hit that tipping point where they make the decision to make the investment, then you have even more that is saleable, but it is going to be a very tough marketing slog," she said. "It is not just marketing by the port; it is everybody sharpening their pencils and figuring out how to extract the cost out of the system to make us look a lot better."
But cost is only part of the equation, she said.
Ms. Brooks, who has written extensively on marine transportation issues, said she would like to see the province "focus on making the Halifax gateway work better." But she acknowledged that other ports like Sydney and Canso are also looking for something, which "just dilutes the effort."
"It looks like we in Atlantic Canada have not gotten our act together."
In October, Atlantic premiers and the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop the Atlantic Gateway as an entry and exit region for international trade.
Ms. Brooks sees that process as the premiers looking for money and "it is more than about money."
"I get disturbed when I see that people think if you throw money at it, it is going to solve everything."
Putting money into a new container port in Prince Rupert, B.C., was a good move for both the federal and provincial governments, she said, because there were also private investors wanting to deal with the cargo/ship congestion problem in Vancouver.
"Vancouver was getting difficult and the opportunity was really strong," she said. "But it isn’t always about pouring money into things. It is sometimes about the softer things you need to take care of."
Ms. Brooks has recently received an academic study on global cargo that she feels plays toward Halifax’s strengths.
The study, she said, shows that reliability is a major issue for companies with cargo interests because of port congestion, "and there we are part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem."
Monday, January 07, 2008
Koreans Advised to Be More Foreign-Friendly
Koreans Advised to Be More Foreign-Friendly
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Veteran financier David Eldon, the only foreign national on President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition committee, said Sunday that South Korea should take a more friendly attitude toward foreign investors to attract investment.
The Scottish-born financier who, in an unprecedented move, was appointed to a top advisory position, stressed that openness and transparency are key to helping the nation achieve its economic goals.
``What investors need is a place where they can do business openly and transparently. Evenly applied law and a level playing field are also important,'' Eldon, 62, told a press conference in Seoul.
``If Koreans want investment to come in, it has to come from within Korea. They have to improve the level of competition,'' said Eldon, co-chairman of the national competitiveness subcommittee of the transition team.
South Koreans showed a willingness to do so as they voted for Lee Myung-bak whose platform aims at revitalizing the economy, said the concurrent chairman of the Dubai International Financial Center Authority.
He cast a positive outlook for the Korean economy, saying ``I believe we can make some serious achievements.''
However, he said many investors are not certain about the factors required, including openness and transparency.
Asked about Lee's plan to make the reclaimed Saemangum land into an international financial hub, Eldon said the country can learn lessons from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
``The attraction for financial institutions has been related to issues of low taxation like zero taxation. It's also related to stable government and independent regulators in Dubai,'' he said. ``It (Dubai) has been successful because it's open, transparent and very committed to cover a number of sectors.''
Yet, he took a cautious approach to apply the same rules here, saying there are significant differences between Korea and the Middle East country.
``There are many countries with best practices in the world, which may be suitable for Korea. But we have to recognize Korea is unique. Therefore, it would be naive to believe some things will work for Korea if those worked for other countries,'' he said.
The financier also stressed that Dubai's success in building an international financial hub is attributable to independent regulators.
``I've always been puzzled over why Korea, which has the 13th largest economy and is an OECD country, doesn't reach the same level of other similar economies. Advanced countries with successful financial centers have single and independent regulator in common,'' he said.
Saying Korea has tremendous potential Eldon urged Korean organizations to be more international and attractive to the outside world.
He added that it is important to ensure investors that reasonable returns would be guaranteed to encourage them to invest more.
Eldon, with a 37-year working career at banking giant HSBC in the Middle East and Asia, became acquainted with President-elect Lee in 2002 when he served as chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council and Lee became Seoul mayor, according to Lee's aides.
As part of efforts to revive the economy, Lee has promised to woo foreign investment through deregulation and more incentives.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Veteran financier David Eldon, the only foreign national on President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition committee, said Sunday that South Korea should take a more friendly attitude toward foreign investors to attract investment.
The Scottish-born financier who, in an unprecedented move, was appointed to a top advisory position, stressed that openness and transparency are key to helping the nation achieve its economic goals.
``What investors need is a place where they can do business openly and transparently. Evenly applied law and a level playing field are also important,'' Eldon, 62, told a press conference in Seoul.
``If Koreans want investment to come in, it has to come from within Korea. They have to improve the level of competition,'' said Eldon, co-chairman of the national competitiveness subcommittee of the transition team.
South Koreans showed a willingness to do so as they voted for Lee Myung-bak whose platform aims at revitalizing the economy, said the concurrent chairman of the Dubai International Financial Center Authority.
He cast a positive outlook for the Korean economy, saying ``I believe we can make some serious achievements.''
However, he said many investors are not certain about the factors required, including openness and transparency.
Asked about Lee's plan to make the reclaimed Saemangum land into an international financial hub, Eldon said the country can learn lessons from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
``The attraction for financial institutions has been related to issues of low taxation like zero taxation. It's also related to stable government and independent regulators in Dubai,'' he said. ``It (Dubai) has been successful because it's open, transparent and very committed to cover a number of sectors.''
Yet, he took a cautious approach to apply the same rules here, saying there are significant differences between Korea and the Middle East country.
``There are many countries with best practices in the world, which may be suitable for Korea. But we have to recognize Korea is unique. Therefore, it would be naive to believe some things will work for Korea if those worked for other countries,'' he said.
The financier also stressed that Dubai's success in building an international financial hub is attributable to independent regulators.
``I've always been puzzled over why Korea, which has the 13th largest economy and is an OECD country, doesn't reach the same level of other similar economies. Advanced countries with successful financial centers have single and independent regulator in common,'' he said.
Saying Korea has tremendous potential Eldon urged Korean organizations to be more international and attractive to the outside world.
He added that it is important to ensure investors that reasonable returns would be guaranteed to encourage them to invest more.
Eldon, with a 37-year working career at banking giant HSBC in the Middle East and Asia, became acquainted with President-elect Lee in 2002 when he served as chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council and Lee became Seoul mayor, according to Lee's aides.
As part of efforts to revive the economy, Lee has promised to woo foreign investment through deregulation and more incentives.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
Globalization: The World's Not So Flat
Globalization: The World's Not So Flat
(CSCB)
This article is extracted from the January 2, 2008 edition of “globeandmail.com”.
Much of the discussion around the issue of globalization has focused on the "flatness" it brings. Buoyed by the release of Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat in 2005 (and new editions in 2006 and 2007), the notion of a level, borderless world seems to have been accepted as fact by many leading economists and academics.
The basic premise is that globalization has levelled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries. But although some aspects hold merit, Mr. Friedman's argument is exaggerated. The real state of the world is neither globalized nor local, but semi-globalized – and it will remain so indefinitely.
In the recent book Redefining Global Strategy, Harvard business professor Pankaj Ghemawat writes that 90 per cent of the world's telephone calls, web traffic and investments are local, suggesting that the proponents of the "flat-world" theory have neglected this empirical data. Instead, the world appears to be divided into a "triad" with strong barriers for entry into the key regional markets of the European Union, North America and Asia-Pacific.
Today's business activity is organized mainly within each of these regions, not beyond. The total amount of the world's capital formation that is generated from foreign direct investment has been less than 10 per cent in recent years. In a truly globalized environment, one would expect this number to be much higher.
There are a number of well-documented examples of large U.S. corporations attempting to tap into markets beyond their own triad, only to quickly see the many linguistic, cultural and political barriers that inevitably lead to failure overseas….
Despite the claims of a borderless world, many large capital-laden companies have suffered when they have treated the world as one and the same. Case in point is Google, the $215-billion search-engine giant. Despite being rated the most globalized website for the third year in a row, by Byte Level Research, the company has had great difficulties trying to enter a number of foreign markets, with culture and loyalty appearing to be the predominant stumbling blocks….
This is not to say that Google should not have entered the Russian market – but rather that it was forced to think differently about how to compete in it. The company has to consider national differences while retaining and exploiting its competitive advantages and unique core competencies.
It appears as though some foreign companies understand this better than their North American counterparts. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. has recently overtaken General Motors Corp. to become the world's largest auto-maker.
The company has excelled in anticipating expanded free-trade agreements within the Americas, Europe and East Asia, but not across them. They understand this concept of the "triad." Consider Canadian-U.S. trade, the largest bilateral relationship of its kind in the world. In 1988, before the North American free-trade agreement was implemented, merchandise trade levels among the Canadian provinces were estimated to be 20 times as large as their trade with similarly sized and similarly proximate U.S. states. In other words, the domestic-preference bias. Although NAFTA helped reduce this ratio of domestic to international trade to 10 to 1 by the mid-1990s, it is still greater than 5 to 1 today. Clearly, in our seemingly "borderless world," borders still matter to most people.
If there were one realm in which borders should be rendered meaningless and the globalization proponents should be correct in their overly optimistic models, it should be the Internet. Yet Web traffic within countries and regions has increased far faster than traffic among them. Just as in the real world, Internet ties decay with distance….
What this implies for Canadian firms looking to go global is that they need to significantly tailor their strategies to specific foreign environments. What works in North America may not work in Japan. Brand image in North America does not freely hold in these foreign markets – look at Coca-Cola's troubles with international expansion in the 1980s and Wal-Mart's recent expansion difficulties in China.
Companies must adopt different regional strategies and spend considerable time understanding the differing role of governments in the world's three major economic regions. Canadian subsidiary managers must understand regional differences to effectively maintain their place in the firm's evolving global network.
It's not a flat world, but one with hills and valleys – so get out your climbing gear.
(CSCB)
This article is extracted from the January 2, 2008 edition of “globeandmail.com”.
Much of the discussion around the issue of globalization has focused on the "flatness" it brings. Buoyed by the release of Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat in 2005 (and new editions in 2006 and 2007), the notion of a level, borderless world seems to have been accepted as fact by many leading economists and academics.
The basic premise is that globalization has levelled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries. But although some aspects hold merit, Mr. Friedman's argument is exaggerated. The real state of the world is neither globalized nor local, but semi-globalized – and it will remain so indefinitely.
In the recent book Redefining Global Strategy, Harvard business professor Pankaj Ghemawat writes that 90 per cent of the world's telephone calls, web traffic and investments are local, suggesting that the proponents of the "flat-world" theory have neglected this empirical data. Instead, the world appears to be divided into a "triad" with strong barriers for entry into the key regional markets of the European Union, North America and Asia-Pacific.
Today's business activity is organized mainly within each of these regions, not beyond. The total amount of the world's capital formation that is generated from foreign direct investment has been less than 10 per cent in recent years. In a truly globalized environment, one would expect this number to be much higher.
There are a number of well-documented examples of large U.S. corporations attempting to tap into markets beyond their own triad, only to quickly see the many linguistic, cultural and political barriers that inevitably lead to failure overseas….
Despite the claims of a borderless world, many large capital-laden companies have suffered when they have treated the world as one and the same. Case in point is Google, the $215-billion search-engine giant. Despite being rated the most globalized website for the third year in a row, by Byte Level Research, the company has had great difficulties trying to enter a number of foreign markets, with culture and loyalty appearing to be the predominant stumbling blocks….
This is not to say that Google should not have entered the Russian market – but rather that it was forced to think differently about how to compete in it. The company has to consider national differences while retaining and exploiting its competitive advantages and unique core competencies.
It appears as though some foreign companies understand this better than their North American counterparts. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. has recently overtaken General Motors Corp. to become the world's largest auto-maker.
The company has excelled in anticipating expanded free-trade agreements within the Americas, Europe and East Asia, but not across them. They understand this concept of the "triad." Consider Canadian-U.S. trade, the largest bilateral relationship of its kind in the world. In 1988, before the North American free-trade agreement was implemented, merchandise trade levels among the Canadian provinces were estimated to be 20 times as large as their trade with similarly sized and similarly proximate U.S. states. In other words, the domestic-preference bias. Although NAFTA helped reduce this ratio of domestic to international trade to 10 to 1 by the mid-1990s, it is still greater than 5 to 1 today. Clearly, in our seemingly "borderless world," borders still matter to most people.
If there were one realm in which borders should be rendered meaningless and the globalization proponents should be correct in their overly optimistic models, it should be the Internet. Yet Web traffic within countries and regions has increased far faster than traffic among them. Just as in the real world, Internet ties decay with distance….
What this implies for Canadian firms looking to go global is that they need to significantly tailor their strategies to specific foreign environments. What works in North America may not work in Japan. Brand image in North America does not freely hold in these foreign markets – look at Coca-Cola's troubles with international expansion in the 1980s and Wal-Mart's recent expansion difficulties in China.
Companies must adopt different regional strategies and spend considerable time understanding the differing role of governments in the world's three major economic regions. Canadian subsidiary managers must understand regional differences to effectively maintain their place in the firm's evolving global network.
It's not a flat world, but one with hills and valleys – so get out your climbing gear.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Online university courses big hit
Online university courses big hit
Monday, December 31, 2007
CBC News
The free online courses offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are getting more than a million hits a month, an example of the burgeoning interest in internet education.
Including translations on MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) site, the total rises to about 1.5 million hits.
MIT math professor Gilbert Strang says having a world audience 'is just wonderful.'
(Steven Senne/Associated Press) Math professor Gilbert Strang's 18.06 linear algebra course (using and understanding matrices) is the most often downloaded, MIT's website said; users view his lectures about 200,000 times a month.
More than half of OCW users come from outside the United States, the university said.
In Istanbul, Bogazici University undergraduate Kemal Burcak Kaplan uses Strang's material to raise his marks. In Dar es Salaam, teacher Noorali Jiwaji at the Open University of Tanzania said Strang's lectures are a tool and guide for students. "They feel lost and they don't have good books."
Strang welcomes the international students. "My life is in teaching," he said. "To have a chance do that with a world audience is just wonderful."
MIT's online offerings, published under an open licence that encourages reuse, redistribution and modification for noncommercial purposes, include lecture notes, exams and lecture videos from more than 1,800 courses, virtually all of its curriculum.
"The site includes voluntary contributions from 90 per cent of faculty and more than 2,600 members of the MIT community," the university said.
"The site embodies the generosity and dedication of our faculty," president Susan Hockfield said in November.
Online students, however, cannot get a degree.
Beyond MIT, the university's 2001 online initiative has spurred the OpenCourseWare Consortium, a group of more than 160 universities worldwide that have published an estimated 5,000 courses.
North Vancouver's Capilano College is the only Canadian institution listed on the consortium's website.
MIT launched a site for secondary students this fall called Highlights for High School.
Michael, from rural Hagerstown, Md., sent MIT an e-mail praising the material. "Your website has contributed hundreds of hours to my education in physics as well as biology. Discovering and utilizing MIT's OpenCourseWare site was like finding $40,000 sitting on a park bench."
With files from the Associated Press
Monday, December 31, 2007
CBC News
The free online courses offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are getting more than a million hits a month, an example of the burgeoning interest in internet education.
Including translations on MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) site, the total rises to about 1.5 million hits.
MIT math professor Gilbert Strang says having a world audience 'is just wonderful.'
(Steven Senne/Associated Press) Math professor Gilbert Strang's 18.06 linear algebra course (using and understanding matrices) is the most often downloaded, MIT's website said; users view his lectures about 200,000 times a month.
More than half of OCW users come from outside the United States, the university said.
In Istanbul, Bogazici University undergraduate Kemal Burcak Kaplan uses Strang's material to raise his marks. In Dar es Salaam, teacher Noorali Jiwaji at the Open University of Tanzania said Strang's lectures are a tool and guide for students. "They feel lost and they don't have good books."
Strang welcomes the international students. "My life is in teaching," he said. "To have a chance do that with a world audience is just wonderful."
MIT's online offerings, published under an open licence that encourages reuse, redistribution and modification for noncommercial purposes, include lecture notes, exams and lecture videos from more than 1,800 courses, virtually all of its curriculum.
"The site includes voluntary contributions from 90 per cent of faculty and more than 2,600 members of the MIT community," the university said.
"The site embodies the generosity and dedication of our faculty," president Susan Hockfield said in November.
Online students, however, cannot get a degree.
Beyond MIT, the university's 2001 online initiative has spurred the OpenCourseWare Consortium, a group of more than 160 universities worldwide that have published an estimated 5,000 courses.
North Vancouver's Capilano College is the only Canadian institution listed on the consortium's website.
MIT launched a site for secondary students this fall called Highlights for High School.
Michael, from rural Hagerstown, Md., sent MIT an e-mail praising the material. "Your website has contributed hundreds of hours to my education in physics as well as biology. Discovering and utilizing MIT's OpenCourseWare site was like finding $40,000 sitting on a park bench."
With files from the Associated Press
Monday, December 31, 2007
The International Fame of Korea's White Elephants
The International Fame of Korea's White Elephants
Agence France-Presse recently released a selection of "wild and wonderful news items" from 2007, including one about a local airport in South Korea. It said, "A town in South Korea which spent some US$140 million to build its own airport was then forced to admit that no airlines actually wanted to fly there."
The "zany airport" in the report is Uljin Airport in North Gyeongsang Province, which has not yet opened. Uljin Airport was originally scheduled to open in 2003 but operations have been delayed since no airlines want to fly there, as AFP correctly reported. The airlines know that very few passengers would want to fly there.
Uljin Airport isn't the only local airport in Korea that can't attract airlines. Daegu Airport has had no flights since November when airlines decided not to fly there. Yangyang Airport in Gangwon Province handled an average of just 66 passengers per day in July, the peak summer vacation season. That's fewer than the number of people employed to run the place -- 82. Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, which opened in November, averages just one domestic and one international flight per day.
Local airports in South Korea have become a global laughingstock because they were built by political rather than market logic. In addition, a new transport network including the launch of the KTX bullet train and the construction of new highways has made it possible for travelers to reach once remote destinations much more easily. All this makes many local airports a source of public scorn instead of pride.
Local airports are not the only public facilities that have squandered time and money for the sake of politics. The central government will have to pay W318.6 billion (US$1=W940) to private builders in 2008 to compensate for its wrong market predictions for the construction of the Cheonan-Nonsan Expressway, and the Incheon International Airport Highway and Railroad. We are worried that foreign news agencies might learn about these boondoggles and include them in their selection of "wild and wonderful" news items from 2008.
This column was contributed by Kim Jae-gon, from the Chosun Ilbo's National News Desk.
Agence France-Presse recently released a selection of "wild and wonderful news items" from 2007, including one about a local airport in South Korea. It said, "A town in South Korea which spent some US$140 million to build its own airport was then forced to admit that no airlines actually wanted to fly there."
The "zany airport" in the report is Uljin Airport in North Gyeongsang Province, which has not yet opened. Uljin Airport was originally scheduled to open in 2003 but operations have been delayed since no airlines want to fly there, as AFP correctly reported. The airlines know that very few passengers would want to fly there.
Uljin Airport isn't the only local airport in Korea that can't attract airlines. Daegu Airport has had no flights since November when airlines decided not to fly there. Yangyang Airport in Gangwon Province handled an average of just 66 passengers per day in July, the peak summer vacation season. That's fewer than the number of people employed to run the place -- 82. Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, which opened in November, averages just one domestic and one international flight per day.
Local airports in South Korea have become a global laughingstock because they were built by political rather than market logic. In addition, a new transport network including the launch of the KTX bullet train and the construction of new highways has made it possible for travelers to reach once remote destinations much more easily. All this makes many local airports a source of public scorn instead of pride.
Local airports are not the only public facilities that have squandered time and money for the sake of politics. The central government will have to pay W318.6 billion (US$1=W940) to private builders in 2008 to compensate for its wrong market predictions for the construction of the Cheonan-Nonsan Expressway, and the Incheon International Airport Highway and Railroad. We are worried that foreign news agencies might learn about these boondoggles and include them in their selection of "wild and wonderful" news items from 2008.
This column was contributed by Kim Jae-gon, from the Chosun Ilbo's National News Desk.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Part Two Review: The Geography of Thought
Part Two Review: The Geography of Thought
What's happening? Thursday morning I found out I was moving on Friday morning. Really couldn't believe it nobody told me when they knew on Monday! Anyway in the middle of marking and felt like what the hell is going on why now? Anyway the owner wanted to move back in (breaking the rental contract - pretty common here). So rushed with the housing coordinator to find an apartment which didn't take long. So moving and packing all Thursday night and then an express moving service crew arrived Friday morning at 7:00 and it was sleet and freezing rain out. But by nine o'clock they had me on my way to my new place just five minutes walk away.
The crew had a super fast delivery elevator ladder truck that runs the stuff up to the patio window like a rocket ship and I just sat and pointed where things should go. Was pretty wrecked on Friday falling asleep around noon and waking up at nine pm then going to back to bed around 11:00 pm and getting up Saturday around 7:00 am. It was a whirlwind. So I didn't put in any marking on Saturday and cancelled an evening out in Seoul with a friend recently returned from Australia. She is Korean but seemed pissed that I didn't have enough umph left to run down the two hours on bus and subway to go out for the evening anyway.
Sunday had a meeting at the Korea Herald building with the editor Matt Lamers from Canada and a collection of Korea's best foreign bloggers and writers (Zen Kimchi, Marmot, EFL Geek, Gypsy Scholar, wow they were all there). He invited me to contribute a column on Expat Finance after reading my blog. Anyway it is a thrill to be considered one of the best English writers in Korea and it will be good for my exposure level here anyway. The meeting was cool because with literate people, writers anyway, no topic seems too outlandish and intellectual curiousity seems pretty high at a table like that.
Yesterday I finished marking and dropped off some wine and green tea to my secretary and my boss who is polishing a paper for a conference in China on January 2nd. Got a call from an Australian lady I work with named Pauline and I invited her over to see the new place and go out for dinner. Was waiting for a gas range hose installation so that I can actually cook but nobody showed up when they told me. We went into Pocheon proper (we live ten minutes out) to a restaurant I found the first night I came here in 2006 - a beef ribs BBQ place and we had a little feast. The last time we went was my birthday and this time they put out extra whole raw oysters and marinaded green crabs. Luckily Pauline doesn't like spicy food so I had all those crab legs to my lonesome. I took the bones and gave them to neighbourhood dogs.
Pauline went to church this morning but I slept in and then for dinner I prepared an olive oil and red wine salad with smoked quail's eggs, nachos and herb cheese in the rice cooker (what haven't I cooked in there yet?), smoked Atlantic salmon with diced green onions, sliced calamata olives and garam masala on Carr's cracked pepper crackers, cold cajun fried chicken from GS Supermarket in Pocheon (purchased the night before) with various wines including Argentina Bodega Privada Cabernet Sauvignon, J.P.Chenet white medium sweet, Gran Reserva Torre Maria Vanecia Bodega Enguera 1999 (in the salad), a young white Spanish Valhondo, and last night with Spanish cured salami some Casillero del Diablo Cabernet from Concha Y Toro which the Koreans don't seem to like and for which I got 25% discounts at Samsung-TESCO Homeplus Supermarket.
Dinner was finished with green tea from Hadong a private stock reserved for Buddhist temples of which a small canister costs about seventy-five dollars and powdered oiled chesnut robed rice cakes which have become one of my favourite desserts.
This is all a nod to the Chinese philosophy of the world not having any logic whatsoever or empiricial nature having few comparative qualities as defined by the Greeks. Nisbett defines the differences between the two as a contrast in defining the nature of things. Greeks according to Nisbett took great pains to identify attributes and categorisations of abstract qualities, discrete objects having distinctive limits which together form construction of patterns and rules and accordances to those observable variables. Nisbett describes how Greek logic once born can be made fairly irrelevant through excessive contradictory logic at odds with being, changing, or otherwise flawed reasoning through slavery to either-or and linear logic as described by Robert Logan.
His description of Chinese logic starts with duality of change and the contradictions in affairs which can provide benefits and pitfalls in expression of fortune, life's lessons, and wisdom similar to the philosphy of the yin and yang of all things and events. Such theories on life's teaching have a basis in Confucian, Taoist and spirit in all its changeable essences. For there to be truth there is fallacy, for there to be good there is evil, for there to be fortune is to be misfortune. In its blending with Buddhism these thoughts on the nature of things tends towards the prospect of resonance or that everything is connected and that nothing especially logic is at all concrete. In such a world view the interconnections and influences between things are more important than their respective categories.
Thus there is no surprise that cultural studies plot American versus Korean culture very much as two halves of the same coin or two opposites in terms of yin and yang.
The basis of much of each cultural framework is the apogee of each highly contrasted philosophy.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson dies
(Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson dies
CBC News
Jazz fans and Canadians both home and abroad are mourning the death of Oscar Peterson, the virtuoso known globally as one of the most talented musicians ever to play jazz piano.
Peterson died Sunday night at his home in Mississauga, Ont., from kidney failure. He was 82.
In August 2005, Canada Post paid tribute to Oscar Peterson on his 80th birthday by issuing a postage stamp in his honour. "The world has lost the world's greatest jazz player," Hazel McCallion, mayor of Mississauga and Peterson's friend, told CBC News on Monday afternoon.
Renowned for his speed and virtuosity as a pianist, Peterson — who was born in Montreal and later made Toronto his home — made hundreds of recordings in his career, even after a stroke in 1993 disabled his left hand.
Oscar Peterson - You Look Good To Me
Monday, December 24, 2007
Review One: The Geography of Thought
Review One: The Geography of Thought
How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why
Richard E. Nisbett
This book was recommended to me sometime ago, long enough ago to forget who recommended it. It reads quickly and easily something most people might not associate with books on comparative social behavioural psychology. Perhaps insane people over analyze psychological differences between cultures however giving some framework to the differences an expatriate from the west encounters in any long-term stay in Asia is if anything to be highly appreciated and Nisbett covers the territory or sketches the major general differences in attitudes, perspectives, and attributions theories in an objective manner, highlighting the differences and making a strong case for the combined benefits of learning about one cultural mindset versus another.
This reading has been punctuated by a visit from an evangelical Bible thumping Christian who claims my Catholic sentiments and my curiosity regarding world religions is somewhat obtuse as in his mind there is no God but the One True God. At the same time I am reminded of various incidents in my life here in Korea and elsewhere where I have felt my values are not in tune with those stranger and friends around me Asian or Western alike. However listening to CBC Radio as I am attuned to do at times especially marking during exam weeks I caught a special program on the benefits of reading especially when seeking a moral lesson. I do seek moral lessons and find them at times in The Bible, at other times in other great books. The program describes the hypothetical extension of the messages we find in stories, parables, readings and the imaginative world one may create in one’s own mind to exercise the hypothesis read about. To practice the mind’s extensions into the stories and settings which often effects realizations and learnings of an intrinsic value in effect perhaps a reshaping or remoulding of self-image, self-expression, and self-searching.
It is easy to participate in such activities when one has the time to reflect on challenges such as existing as an expatriate with some degree of self-reliance and questioning the actions, thoughts and patterns of behaviour of others particularly when these do not coincide one’s own concepts of fairness, rightness, or understanding. Nisbett begins with a contrastive and comparative description of the ancient philosophical differences between Greek critical discourse and Chinese moral codes of Confucianism a set of standards most Koreans know well. While there are similarities there are also differences.
Freedom of movement was a practice of Ancient Greece according to Nisbett and an embodiment of liberty described as personal agency or the freedom to act and choose one’s path in life as one sees fit or that one’s actions determine one’s rewards or the fruit of labour. Such values consider few constraints are necessary in the development of a member of community with an individualistic purpose illustrated in the Greek sagas of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Even in the act of oral traditional recitation prior to actual written books on these folk tales indicates the freedom and creativity to tell the story in one’s own peculiar way, with some variations feely expected as there was no written scripts prior to the eighth or ninth centuries BC the degrees of freedom for story-tellers were then quite expansive as compared to any time since written texts became standard. Differences fueled argument, debate, and exchange of ideas and enriched a community fulfilling a curiosity and desire to learn and know as a result of one’s efforts to do so with a reward being innovative new ideas.
At roughly the same time Ancient Chinese festivities are described as being opportunities not to explore and discover new places and new ideas but to return to family ancestral homes, relatives, and close friends with a contrastive emphasis on the harmonious interactions within the family unit which could be quite large and comprised of several generations. I am reminded of the sizes of the first Europeans and their tiny door frames in Louisburg, Nova Scotia where the French held a major bastion in North America. The quality of life in a family tightly compacted within four tiny walls will greatly benefit from harmony if they can get it. Isolation perhaps seen as contemplative necessity among the Greeks is shunned in traditional Chinese history as Nisbett describes an Ancient Chinese character is considered an identity only in its interwoven interknit connections within a collective or family association. In this difference the power of a group’s agency or influence upon its interactions in a community of groups rather than an individual defines the difference in perspective also noted by Kluckhohn in his personality studies among the Navaho and others in the USA in the 1920s and 1930s.
It appears these differences remain alive and well in the modern worlds where East meets West and vice versa.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Priority Regions Get Boost in Trade Officials
Priority Regions Get Boost in Trade Officials at Expense of Old Allies
(Embassy) (With Costello Comments)
The government has slashed its trade commissioner ranks in Europe over the past two years, while bolstering its presence in key Latin American and Asian countries, as well as the United States, Embassy has discovered.
The results have garnered mixed reactions from various corners, though respondents overwhelming agreed that Canada is not devoting sufficient resources to its trade and investment promotion efforts abroad. "For me, it is reflective of the bigger picture," Liberal Trade critic Navdeep Bains said Monday, "which is that they cut the funding overall for the department, which means they are really stretched for resources."
For example Nova Scotia and other smaller provinces are seeing a movement towards local produce to support local farming. At the same time this localized type of consumption pattern should stimulate local/global marketing efforts to sell those spare pigs, chickens, and organic materials to emerging countries like Korea with many specialized however small "well-being" type shops.
In the fall of 2005 and 2006, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade compiled for Canadian and international businesses a book containing a list of all trade commissioners posted in Canada and in Canadian missions abroad. The list included the name, title, contact details and area of expertise for each official, including heads of mission involved in trade or investment promotion, trade commissioner assistants and provincial trade representatives. The government has not prepared a similar handbook this year, but does have the most up-to-date information available on its Virtual Trade Commissioner website in the same format.
This virtual trade commissioner website removed my password without notification and upon enquiry I was told by Ingeborg Henn, "because you represent a foreign company you are not eligible for a Virtual Trade Commissioner. We appreciate your understanding in this matter." I wrote a reply asking for consideration and the control and flow of information as it stands at DFAIT left my reply unanswered.
Embassy compiled the lists last week, deciding to use statistics from 2005 to compare to this year because it has only been in the last year that the government has closed four missions abroad and clearly stated its international goals and priorities. According to the listing, the number of trade commissioners Canada has sent abroad increased by 20 from two years ago, up to 932.
Asia as a whole hosted more Canadian trade commissioners than any other region, and saw the largest increase over the past two years, with 18 more added. The country that registered the largest increase was China. Fifteen more were added to the ranks, resulting in the presence of 72 trade commissioners working on the ground.
China has been identified as a priority for the Canadian government as part of its emerging economies strategy. A number of other Asian countries, notably the Philippines and Malaysia, also saw notable increases as the government also focused on Southeast Asia.
Surprisingly, however, is that Canada increased its trade commissioner presence in India by only three to 31, though that increase actually occurred last year. India has also been lumped in with China as a priority.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the government also increased the Canadian presence in Latin America, adding nine new trade commissioners to the region, including five to Colombia. The Conservative government has come under fire for standing by Colombia's government and promoting an agenda of free trade at a time when the country is still plagued by countless human rights violations, government corruption and the continued paramilitary presence.
Brazil, on the other hand, which has been identified as the region's major economy, saw no change over the past two years, nor did Peru, which the government has also touted as an important element of its Americas strategy.
Despite repeated statements from International Trade Minister David Emerson that Canada needs to diversify its trade portfolio away from the United States, especially given the current economic climate, Canada has devoted nine new trade commissioners to enhancing Canada's largest trading relationship.
Mexico, however, saw no change from two years ago. Four trade commissioners that had been added last year were gone by this year, even though Canada has said it wants to drum up relations with the other NAFTA nation.
Reductions Hit Europe Hardest
In March, the government closed four missions abroad with little advance notice. The consulates-general in St. Petersburg and Milan both economic hubs within Europe, as well as the consulates in Osaka and Fukuoka, Japan, were shuttered. The end result, it is now clear, was a significant reduction in presence in each of those countries. Canada scaled back the number of trade commissioners it has posted in Russia over the past year from 11 to nine, while four were moved out of Japan, leaving 34.
Italy, however, was the hardest hit of all countries in the world, down from 20 trade commissioners two years ago to nine as of last week. Europe as a whole suffered from the reshuffling, losing 15 commissioners over the past two years.
Italian Ambassador to Canada Gabriele Sardo said he was not surprised that his country had lost the largest number of Canadian trade commissioners, or that the government is moving away from Europe. "This can only point to one very simple fact," he said, "that Canada is losing interest in keeping a close look at what happens inside Europe, but rather is focussing on other parts of the world, which we already knew."
Mr. Sardo said many countries are ramping up resources to engage India and China, but would not comment on whether it was a good strategy. "Everyone talks about catching up," he said. "Maybe so much catch up is not necessary, but maybe it is certainly necessary."
In explaining the changes, International Trade spokeswoman Valerie Noftle said in an email that the department "needs to ensure that we are at the right place with the right people and doing the right thing."
"Fundamentally it is about finding more efficient ways to work in support of the government's foreign policy and international trade priorities," she added. "Staffing strategies are developed in terms of recruitment and retention, so that our work force can play a key role in advancing Canada's international agenda."
Funny that my applications to DFAIT for twelve years have gone unanswered.
The department is planning to "better align" its resources in support of the government's foreign and trade policy priorities, Ms. Noftle said. "Like other departments, our annual business plan requires us to examine where our resources are and re-calibrate to respond to emerging demands and priorities. The government is ensuring that these resources are strategically allocated internationally."
India a Missed Opportunity: MP
When shown the statistics compiled by Embassy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Perrin Beatty said he was pleased to see the government devoting more trade commissioners to China and India, in particular.
"This appears to be a reflection of the priorities set out by the government in its Global Commerce Strategy, which we consider a great start to Canada's international strategy," Mr. Beatty said in an email. "The trade commissioners do an excellent job for Canadian companies, and in both of the Canadian Chamber's China and India strategy papers, our members had identified the need for 'more boots on the ground' to increase our bilateral commercial ties."
These boots have been waiting patiently. Actually there appear to be graying areas on them.
However, Mr. Beatty noted that Canadian trade commissioners are still operating out of four offices in China, whereas Australia, "which is doing much better in China than Canada is," has 15 trade offices.
" It is not strictly more people that are needed in these countries," he said. "We also need to open more trade offices in China and India, particularly in the second- and third-tier cities."
I think there is answer: outsource research and consulting to locally situated Canadian expatriates.
Mr. Bains, the Liberal trade critic, said the overall increase of trade commissioners was a positive sign, but that it merely represents "baby steps" at a time when global competition is increasing and Canada is being put on the hot seat.
These baby steps represent Canada's historical trade related risk aversion, an over-reliant complacency in terms of US market share, and domestic shields in the forms of non-tarriff barriers particularly in the educational evaluation and equivalency measures taken in the form of private contracted certification agencies which restrict immigrants from taking jobs for which they are already qualified to do.
He questioned the decision to make massive cuts in Italy and Japan. "These are two very key allies of ours, they are both foreign, mature markets and we need to maintain that relationship," he said. "You can see it's a direct trade off."
Mr. Bains also questioned whether Canada was seeing the benefit of its increased presence in China given frosty relations between the emerging economic power and the Canadian government, and whether border issues with the U.S. are being addressed to ensure the nine new commissioners there are having a benefit. " It's great that we have trade commissioners to promote trade," he said, "but if the product doesn't cross the border, that is something that needs to be addressed."
One thing that stood out for Mr. Bains was the lack of additional resources for India.
"It's a missed opportunity," he said, noting the government has said the country is a priority. "They haven't put any resources behind it. It's all window dressing, it's all photo ops and nothing substantial behind it in terms of increasing the resources. In order to take advantage of the emerging economy in India, you need to have additional trade commissioners and additional resources. Other countries seem to be putting forward additional resources and we seem to be just taking pictures."
NDP Trade critic Peter Julian said his primary concerns were that the government was continuing to put its eggs in the U.S. basket by adding more trade commissioners there, and that the government is focussing on countries with poor human rights records like China, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. "And where they've taken them away from are exactly the areas where we should be looking for growth and trade diversification, that whole list of democracies," he said.
It would be a step forward for Canadian manufacturers to investigate joint-ventures in the North South Korean Gaesong Industrial Complex.
"What the Conservatives have said is we're going to continue to put all our eggs in one basket, except that we're going to enhance our trade support in areas where human rights violations are occurring. And where we're cutting back is where human rights are not a concern and you have vibrant economies."
Mr. Julian also criticized the government for failing to put more resources into trade and investment promotion efforts. "Despite the fact that we've been calling for trade diversification and that Canada needs much more on-the-ground support for its products and services abroad," he said, "what we're seeing over a couple of years, from the old Liberals to the new Conservatives, that there's been a very, very marginal increase."
Again, opening up the virtual trade commissioner website to expatriates willing to do local global consulting would be a powerful step to having more minds thinking about the same difficult problems. Not all of us are government employees or even work for Canadian companies. However in the interests of independent consulting as Friedman remarks in "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" sharing knowledge is everything and the willingness to share it often determines your output, profit, and levels of success.
(Embassy) (With Costello Comments)
The government has slashed its trade commissioner ranks in Europe over the past two years, while bolstering its presence in key Latin American and Asian countries, as well as the United States, Embassy has discovered.
The results have garnered mixed reactions from various corners, though respondents overwhelming agreed that Canada is not devoting sufficient resources to its trade and investment promotion efforts abroad. "For me, it is reflective of the bigger picture," Liberal Trade critic Navdeep Bains said Monday, "which is that they cut the funding overall for the department, which means they are really stretched for resources."
For example Nova Scotia and other smaller provinces are seeing a movement towards local produce to support local farming. At the same time this localized type of consumption pattern should stimulate local/global marketing efforts to sell those spare pigs, chickens, and organic materials to emerging countries like Korea with many specialized however small "well-being" type shops.
In the fall of 2005 and 2006, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade compiled for Canadian and international businesses a book containing a list of all trade commissioners posted in Canada and in Canadian missions abroad. The list included the name, title, contact details and area of expertise for each official, including heads of mission involved in trade or investment promotion, trade commissioner assistants and provincial trade representatives. The government has not prepared a similar handbook this year, but does have the most up-to-date information available on its Virtual Trade Commissioner website in the same format.
This virtual trade commissioner website removed my password without notification and upon enquiry I was told by Ingeborg Henn, "because you represent a foreign company you are not eligible for a Virtual Trade Commissioner. We appreciate your understanding in this matter." I wrote a reply asking for consideration and the control and flow of information as it stands at DFAIT left my reply unanswered.
Embassy compiled the lists last week, deciding to use statistics from 2005 to compare to this year because it has only been in the last year that the government has closed four missions abroad and clearly stated its international goals and priorities. According to the listing, the number of trade commissioners Canada has sent abroad increased by 20 from two years ago, up to 932.
Asia as a whole hosted more Canadian trade commissioners than any other region, and saw the largest increase over the past two years, with 18 more added. The country that registered the largest increase was China. Fifteen more were added to the ranks, resulting in the presence of 72 trade commissioners working on the ground.
China has been identified as a priority for the Canadian government as part of its emerging economies strategy. A number of other Asian countries, notably the Philippines and Malaysia, also saw notable increases as the government also focused on Southeast Asia.
Surprisingly, however, is that Canada increased its trade commissioner presence in India by only three to 31, though that increase actually occurred last year. India has also been lumped in with China as a priority.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the government also increased the Canadian presence in Latin America, adding nine new trade commissioners to the region, including five to Colombia. The Conservative government has come under fire for standing by Colombia's government and promoting an agenda of free trade at a time when the country is still plagued by countless human rights violations, government corruption and the continued paramilitary presence.
Brazil, on the other hand, which has been identified as the region's major economy, saw no change over the past two years, nor did Peru, which the government has also touted as an important element of its Americas strategy.
Despite repeated statements from International Trade Minister David Emerson that Canada needs to diversify its trade portfolio away from the United States, especially given the current economic climate, Canada has devoted nine new trade commissioners to enhancing Canada's largest trading relationship.
Mexico, however, saw no change from two years ago. Four trade commissioners that had been added last year were gone by this year, even though Canada has said it wants to drum up relations with the other NAFTA nation.
Reductions Hit Europe Hardest
In March, the government closed four missions abroad with little advance notice. The consulates-general in St. Petersburg and Milan both economic hubs within Europe, as well as the consulates in Osaka and Fukuoka, Japan, were shuttered. The end result, it is now clear, was a significant reduction in presence in each of those countries. Canada scaled back the number of trade commissioners it has posted in Russia over the past year from 11 to nine, while four were moved out of Japan, leaving 34.
Italy, however, was the hardest hit of all countries in the world, down from 20 trade commissioners two years ago to nine as of last week. Europe as a whole suffered from the reshuffling, losing 15 commissioners over the past two years.
Italian Ambassador to Canada Gabriele Sardo said he was not surprised that his country had lost the largest number of Canadian trade commissioners, or that the government is moving away from Europe. "This can only point to one very simple fact," he said, "that Canada is losing interest in keeping a close look at what happens inside Europe, but rather is focussing on other parts of the world, which we already knew."
Mr. Sardo said many countries are ramping up resources to engage India and China, but would not comment on whether it was a good strategy. "Everyone talks about catching up," he said. "Maybe so much catch up is not necessary, but maybe it is certainly necessary."
In explaining the changes, International Trade spokeswoman Valerie Noftle said in an email that the department "needs to ensure that we are at the right place with the right people and doing the right thing."
"Fundamentally it is about finding more efficient ways to work in support of the government's foreign policy and international trade priorities," she added. "Staffing strategies are developed in terms of recruitment and retention, so that our work force can play a key role in advancing Canada's international agenda."
Funny that my applications to DFAIT for twelve years have gone unanswered.
The department is planning to "better align" its resources in support of the government's foreign and trade policy priorities, Ms. Noftle said. "Like other departments, our annual business plan requires us to examine where our resources are and re-calibrate to respond to emerging demands and priorities. The government is ensuring that these resources are strategically allocated internationally."
India a Missed Opportunity: MP
When shown the statistics compiled by Embassy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Perrin Beatty said he was pleased to see the government devoting more trade commissioners to China and India, in particular.
"This appears to be a reflection of the priorities set out by the government in its Global Commerce Strategy, which we consider a great start to Canada's international strategy," Mr. Beatty said in an email. "The trade commissioners do an excellent job for Canadian companies, and in both of the Canadian Chamber's China and India strategy papers, our members had identified the need for 'more boots on the ground' to increase our bilateral commercial ties."
These boots have been waiting patiently. Actually there appear to be graying areas on them.
However, Mr. Beatty noted that Canadian trade commissioners are still operating out of four offices in China, whereas Australia, "which is doing much better in China than Canada is," has 15 trade offices.
" It is not strictly more people that are needed in these countries," he said. "We also need to open more trade offices in China and India, particularly in the second- and third-tier cities."
I think there is answer: outsource research and consulting to locally situated Canadian expatriates.
Mr. Bains, the Liberal trade critic, said the overall increase of trade commissioners was a positive sign, but that it merely represents "baby steps" at a time when global competition is increasing and Canada is being put on the hot seat.
These baby steps represent Canada's historical trade related risk aversion, an over-reliant complacency in terms of US market share, and domestic shields in the forms of non-tarriff barriers particularly in the educational evaluation and equivalency measures taken in the form of private contracted certification agencies which restrict immigrants from taking jobs for which they are already qualified to do.
He questioned the decision to make massive cuts in Italy and Japan. "These are two very key allies of ours, they are both foreign, mature markets and we need to maintain that relationship," he said. "You can see it's a direct trade off."
Mr. Bains also questioned whether Canada was seeing the benefit of its increased presence in China given frosty relations between the emerging economic power and the Canadian government, and whether border issues with the U.S. are being addressed to ensure the nine new commissioners there are having a benefit. " It's great that we have trade commissioners to promote trade," he said, "but if the product doesn't cross the border, that is something that needs to be addressed."
One thing that stood out for Mr. Bains was the lack of additional resources for India.
"It's a missed opportunity," he said, noting the government has said the country is a priority. "They haven't put any resources behind it. It's all window dressing, it's all photo ops and nothing substantial behind it in terms of increasing the resources. In order to take advantage of the emerging economy in India, you need to have additional trade commissioners and additional resources. Other countries seem to be putting forward additional resources and we seem to be just taking pictures."
NDP Trade critic Peter Julian said his primary concerns were that the government was continuing to put its eggs in the U.S. basket by adding more trade commissioners there, and that the government is focussing on countries with poor human rights records like China, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. "And where they've taken them away from are exactly the areas where we should be looking for growth and trade diversification, that whole list of democracies," he said.
It would be a step forward for Canadian manufacturers to investigate joint-ventures in the North South Korean Gaesong Industrial Complex.
"What the Conservatives have said is we're going to continue to put all our eggs in one basket, except that we're going to enhance our trade support in areas where human rights violations are occurring. And where we're cutting back is where human rights are not a concern and you have vibrant economies."
Mr. Julian also criticized the government for failing to put more resources into trade and investment promotion efforts. "Despite the fact that we've been calling for trade diversification and that Canada needs much more on-the-ground support for its products and services abroad," he said, "what we're seeing over a couple of years, from the old Liberals to the new Conservatives, that there's been a very, very marginal increase."
Again, opening up the virtual trade commissioner website to expatriates willing to do local global consulting would be a powerful step to having more minds thinking about the same difficult problems. Not all of us are government employees or even work for Canadian companies. However in the interests of independent consulting as Friedman remarks in "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" sharing knowledge is everything and the willingness to share it often determines your output, profit, and levels of success.
China Becomes Top Source of Eurozone Imports
China Becomes Top Source of Eurozone Imports
(Financial Times)
China overtook the UK as the biggest source of imports into the eurozone in the first nine months of this year, according to official figures yesterday that highlighted the competitive threat facing Europe-based manufacturers.
Imports from China, at €123.7bn ($178.3bn, £88.3bn) were 20 per cent higher in the year to September than in the same period in 2006, reported Eurostat, the European Union's statistical unit. Imports from the UK fell by 2 per cent to €122.3bn.
(Financial Times)
China overtook the UK as the biggest source of imports into the eurozone in the first nine months of this year, according to official figures yesterday that highlighted the competitive threat facing Europe-based manufacturers.
Imports from China, at €123.7bn ($178.3bn, £88.3bn) were 20 per cent higher in the year to September than in the same period in 2006, reported Eurostat, the European Union's statistical unit. Imports from the UK fell by 2 per cent to €122.3bn.
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