Via Forbes, a report on Goldman Sachs’ bet on a new securities exchange as Kazakhstan follows China’s path to opening up its economy: It’s not for the long freezing winters or the haute cuisine, but Goldman Sachs is heading to Astana, the capital of the ex-Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. Goldman announced on October 1 that it […]
Read more »Via the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, a detailed look at Suriname, where a struggling country’s past and future has been shaped by Alcoa and its aluminum: It electrified this South American country even as it drowned a jungle, so the 1.2-mile-long dam Alcoa built here to harness the Suriname River is more than stone and turbines. It’s a symbol, […]
Read more »Via New York Magazine, an interesting look at Afghanistan’s offline marketplace of digital content — the “Sneakernet”: At a dusty street market in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Aziz is shopping for digital files: games, music, videos, ghazals (recitations of love poetry), and naat (anthems praising the Prophet Muhammad), to add to his already extensive mobile entertainment collection. When he makes […]
Read more »Via Future Directions International, a report on China’s economic engagement with Mozambique: China’s trade with the Portuguese-speaking countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste) grew by US$82 billion in the first half of 2018, an increase of 21.5 per cent on the previous year. While the overall leaders were Brazil […]
Read more »Via Future Directions International, commentary on the opportunities and challenges facing Jakarta which is predicted to become the world’s largest city in 2030: A recent report by Euromonitor International has predicted that Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city on the island of Java, will become the world’s most populous city by 2030. That prediction includes the population in the […]
Read more »Via the Hoover Institute, commentary on China’s BRI impact on the Middle East: Cairenes are not modest about their beloved city. It is Umm al-Dunya, they say, the mother of the world. They also call it simply Masr, the Arabic term for Egypt, suggesting, of course, that there is really nothing worth noting in the vast country […]
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