North Korea’s Economic Crisis
January 5th, 2021
Via East Asia Forum, commentary on North Korea’s economic challenges: COVID-19 came at a tough time for North Korea, both economically and politically, and may have made a bad situation worse. While China’s sanctions implementation has let up somewhat, North Korea’s economic situation still became strikingly dire in 2020. As elsewhere in the world, COVID-19 […]
Read more »Iran’s Railway Ambitions Stretch Beyond Afghanistan
January 5th, 2021
Via The Frontier Post, a report on Iran’s railway ambitions: The first train departs Khaf’s rail station in Iran during the inauguration of the Herat-Khaf railway operations connecting Iran and Afghanistan. via Reuters The first railway between Iran and Afghanistan was launched in December 2020, linking the Iranian northeastern city of Khaf to Afghanistan’s western city of […]
Read more »Cambodia Begins First Crude Oil Production
January 3rd, 2021
Via South China Morning Post, a report on Cambodia’s first crude oil production: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday announced that the kingdom had extracted its first drop of crude oil from its waters, a long-awaited milestone for one of Southeast Asia’s poorest nations. The joint venture between Cambodia and Singapore’s KrisEnergy will see […]
Read more »Egypt’s Economic Pivot Takes Shape as Army Firms Up for Sale
December 26th, 2020
Via Bloomberg, an article on Egypt’s decision to sell three more army-held companies in 2021: Egypt is considering selling ownership in three more army-held companies in 2021, a potentially historic opening of part of the economy to much-sought-after private investment. The chief executive officer of Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund, Ayman Soliman, said studies are under […]
Read more »China Slowly Retreating From Pakistan’s Belt and Road
December 26th, 2020
Via Asia Times, a look at how Beijing is backing away from its initial $60 billion commitment to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project: Pakistan’s army is set to take near-total control of the Beijing-financed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a US$60 billion infrastructure building plan replete with railways, roads, ports and special economic zones (SEZs) that is […]
Read more »India-Iran-Uzbekistan Pursue Central Asian Connectivity
December 21st, 2020
Via The Diplomat, an article on how the Iranian port of Chabahar has the potential to shift some of the regional dynamics in India’s favor: India, Iran, and Uzbekistan have held their first trilateral meeting for possible joint use of Chabahar port. The meeting was chaired jointly by India’s Secretary of Shipping Sanjeev Ranjan, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.