International Update

China economy and society are rapidly changing, requiring Western businesses to adapt.

Canada’s largest financial center is climbing global rankings thanks in part to a unique and healthy dialogue between regulators and the regulated.

Since 2000, China’s GDP grew from just under US$1.2 trillion to just under $7.3 trillion in 2011. In the process it has become the EU’s second largest trading partner (from US$ 100 billion to US$600 billion in trade between 2001 and 2011). No wonder the “Cities of Opportunity” study released earlier this month by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City found Beijing and Shanghai rising to top-five status among global leading cities in the categories of economic clout and city gateway.

Now that the last medal has been awarded, the crowds have gone home and the stadium lights have been extinguished, what will determine if the 2012 London Olympics were truly a success will be the legacy the Games leave behind for the U.K. According to market intelligence firm Euromonitor, an estimated £25 billion (US$39 billion) was spent preparing London for the Games, including stadium construction, regeneration, infrastructure projects and marketing — is this money well spent?

Known for the exploits of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great, among others, the capital city of Tatarstan now aims to make a name for itself as an international business hub. But first you have to find it on the map.

KONE, a Finnish maker of escalators and elevators is flowing people in various directions in the Quad Cities municipality of Moline, Ill., where the company and its partners in August celebrated the grand opening of the nearly $40-million KONE Centre on the Mississippi River waterfront.

The introduction of the mobile phone may have done more than any other single technical innovation to improve prosperity, business and innovation in Africa.

The most recent edition of the Americas IT Forum took place in Guatemala, bringing together thought leaders and innovators from different fields and countries across North and South America. The discussion ranged from technological issues and marketing trends affecting business on all levels to innovation and technology-led economic development. A novel concept in intertwined topics and in blending together people from different backgrounds, the Forum proved to work.

Investors will find much to like about Macedonia’s business climate, which the World Bank ranks 22nd in the world. But they shouldn’t wait long to jump in. The country of 2 million is one of four Balkan countries that are candidates to join the European Union, which gives Macedonia some flexibility in incentives negotiations not afforded to member countries. Other benefits include lower employment costs and less competition for labor.

South Korea, China or Malaysia? If you were forced to bet on which of these three ranks highest for global competitiveness, which would you choose? Without knowing the subject of this piece, few would have picked Malaysia, but this beautiful nation in Southeast Asia habitually beats its higher-profile neighbors to the north in some key statistics.

Can a nation be stable and dynamic at the same time? The answer from Canada is a distinct “Yes.” A look at the corporate projects unfolding across the nation reveals both Canadian stability and Canadian outreach.

Somaliland has a challenge. Many in the world do not know where it is. Many that do know where it is associate it with marine piracy and lawlessness. Those people who do know where it is probably come from countries that do not recognize it. But with Coca-Cola opening a plant and the potential of a new Free Zone then maybe the good times are returning.

Cambodia has come from the rough: its recent history is scarred by the Khmer Rouge era of the late 1970’s where the genocide of over 2 million persons remains one of the worst historical examples of man’s inhumanity to man.

Commerce between the United States and Mexico is one of the great — yet underappreciated — success stories of the global economy. In 2011 U.S.-Mexico goods and services trade reached the major milestone of one-half trillion dollars with virtually no recognition. The United States is Mexico’s top trading partner, and Mexico — which has gained macroeconomic stability and expanded its middle class over the last two decades — is the United States’ second largest export market and third largest trading partner.

Before the international banking crisis, the European Union represented a promised land for European outsiders looking in. Balkan countries, seeing a path to prosperity, scrambled to join. The lure was particularly strong for sovereign states emerging from war-torn Yugoslavia.

Buenos Aires embarked a few years ago on the creation of specialized business and industry districts, and they have been quite successful. Now this doesn’t sound like anything new, but there is an important difference. With far less going for them, as compared to other regions that have launched these types of projects, the Argentine capital has been able to do far more with far less.

Is social engineering good for business? Across the world’s markets, “economic empowerment” initiatives are emerging to help disenfranchised locals in the community contribute. Each market is different, but any business looking to establish in one of these markets needs to understand the impact on their business. In the United Arab Emirates, this is “Emiratisation,” and other markets in the region have similar mechanisms.

Thailand can’t seem to catch a break. To outsiders recently, it appears to be in a state of constant turmoil, with violent political protests and natural disasters making the news with regularity. Consider the most recent flooding, in late 2011, which was one of the worst in the past 50 years. The main river, the Chaophraya, literally was overwhelmed and changed its course to submerge much of the northern Bangkok metropolis.

It’s a time of great hope and great uncertainty in Egypt. Hope springs from the broadly successful arrival of democratic politics delivering a credible result in the presidential elections held at the end of May. President-elect Mohamed Morsi has called for unity after winning 51.7% of the vote. The next few months may see renewed tension between the President’s Muslim Brotherhood, the Army, which has decades of political, military and economic power under its command and the countless thousands of “Arab Spring” democrats whose protests brought down Hosni Mubarak, amid events that sparked protest in many Arab lands.

Iraqi opportunities. These two words don’t seem a good match, unless perhaps in the context of the oil or security businesses. But the phrase makes sense in Iraqi Kurdistan, the autonomous northern region of Iraq, where early commercial investors are now on the scene. Across many areas of Iraq, peace is fragile and daily life can still be unpredictably dangerous. But growth is returning to Iraqi Kurdistan led from its capital, Erbil. Brands such as Sheraton, Hilton, Porsche and Sony are entering Kurdistan looking to access the potential of this region of 4 million people. Nissan has opened its largest service center in the Middle East, and its new airport, opened in 2005, has one of the longest runways in the world.

The Johor Bahru region in southernmost Malaysia is emerging as a key regional oil and gas hub, and the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), which is overseeing the 2,217-sq.-km. (856-sq.-mile) Iskandar Malaysia development project, will play an important role in fostering this sector. Iskandar Malaysia comprises five component areas, or flagship zones, that in their own right will bring forth new commercial, residential, educational and industrial developments designed to transform south Johor into an economic engine for Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Three Latin American locations have a rare combination of international air service, adjacent higher education resources and available sites – a powerful combination for the right site selector.

Two Atlanta-based companies are making the case that not all new investment in China is heading to the hinterlands, where many believe more advantageous labor rates can be found relative to coastal sites. An eastern China location still delivers the labor availability and logistics edge they require as the country’s huge domestic market takes on a more central role in these companies’ growth strategies.

Québec-based IT executives at multinational computer services giants attribute the success and expansion of their enterprises to being located in Québec. An increasingly bilingual and skilled work force, higher education resources, proximity to Europe and the U.S. Northeast and a business climate that encourages capital investment are some of the assets they identify as drivers of their ability to compete. More specifically, they compete successfully with other subsidiaries of their parent companies worldwide for capital investment, or they complement those subsidiaries as no other operation can, they maintain.