Conversations With…Filip Korinek Filip Korinek is the trade representative for WEDC covering the Czech Republic and Poland. He is also the managing director at EasyLink Business Services. Filip oversees a team of more than 25 local in-market consultants at EasyLink, which covers 15 markets in Central & Eastern Europe. He has vast market knowledge and…

The liberalization of the air services regime within Southeast Asia’s common market is leading to a proliferation of low-cost carriers, allowing many people to fly for the first time. Singapore’s Changi Airport is an increasingly important hub for air travel within Asia; its growth by the end of the next decade is projected to double to 135 million passengers per year. The aviation sector is expected to contribute $65 billion to Singapore’s GDP by 2035.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the most lucrative markets for foreign defense original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and is expected to spend $52.5 billion during the period 2013-2017.

Manufacturing production in South Africa has increased 2.9 percent in real terms year over year as of April 2016. Fast-growing sectors include electrical machinery (up 17 percent year over year), telecommunications inputs (up 10.4 percent) and inputs into petroleum and petrochemical sectors (up 8.1 percent). Motor vehicle parts and accessories rose 10.2 percent. These subsectors have all seen increased improvement since the South African currency has fallen, creating opportunities for South African exporters to take advantage of lower relative cost structures.

Russia’s manufacturing sector attracted most of the foreign direct investment in the country in 2015, as the number of projects with full or partial foreign ownership rose to a record level.

The Life Sciences 2030 plan is an initiative from the HollandBIO association, and was established by leading companies and experts in this sector. According to HollandBIO, the Dutch life science sector comprised 455 companies with 24,000 employees in 2015, mostly in research and development. One of the goals for 2030 is to have 1,279 companies and over 60,000 employees active in this sector.

The growth agenda of Peru’s newly elected president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, will encourage privately led investment opportunities across many sectors, with key opportunities in infrastructure, real estate and mining. Market-driven policies including tax breaks for small businesses, cuts in consumption taxes, reduction of the national sales tax from 18 to 15 percent, and removal of regulations. These measures are expected to stimulate the formal economy and increase government revenues, bolstering consumption and investment. Other key proposals include improving agriculture and increasing the fiscal deficit in 2017 to improve access to health care and education. This increased government spending will help attract investment into the country.

After a year of delays, construction is expected to begin on a $50 billion canal across Nicaragua. Hong Kong-based HKND Group will begin by constructing a fuel terminal and ship wharf on the country’s Pacific Coast; the new port facility will then be used to import the machinery needed for subsequent phases of construction. Financing for the 170-mile-long (274-kilometer) canal will come from debt and equity sales and a potential IPO, according to HKND Group Vice President KW Pang.

Mexico does not currently play a major role in clinical research, but because of its strategic importance, established infrastructure, and large population of potential research subjects, it could easily host many more clinical trials. In the past, cumbersome regulatory and quality issues discouraged the global pharmaceutical industry from conducting pivotal drug-approval studies in Mexico, but the situation is changing, and there is interest and potential to solve the issues standing in the way of studies by major pharmaceutical players.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of South Korea recently announced a plan to expand the Gimhae airport, located in the southern part of the country, to be more competitive as an international airport.

Japan is a maritime nation flush with scenic coastlines and thus demand for pleasure boats.

India produces around 62 million metric tons (MMT) of solid waste every year, out of which 7.9 MMT is hazardous waste, 5.6 MMT is plastic waste, 1.5 MMT is e-waste, 0.17 MMT is biomedical waste and the balance of 46.83 MMT is contributed by various other types of waste.

Every year, over 250,000 public authorities in the EU spend around 14 percent of the EU’s GDP on the purchase of services, works and supplies. In many sectors such as energy, transportation, waste management, social protection and the provision of health or education services, public authorities are the principal buyers. In order to create a level playing field for businesses, the EU law sets out minimum, harmonized public procurement rules, which are translated into national legislation and apply to tenders whose monetary value exceeds the following amounts:

The value of U.S. hardwood exports to China has been on the rise during the first several months of 2016.

Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan is a five-year plan that will help the Canadian province fight climate change over the long term. The plan aims to provide up to $8.3 billion in subsidies and incentives to businesses and homeowners through a range of programs encouraging individuals and businesses to switch to more energy-efficient heating systems, choose electric or hybrid cars, convert trucks to natural gas, add bio-fuel to gasoline, and helping the agricultural and industrial sectors adapt to low-carbon technologies.

Brazil is prioritizing the liberalization of its service sector, an indication of the government’s desire to enter into negotiations on free trade agreements. A recent presidential decree called for Brazil to “pay special attention to strategic actions to promote the competitiveness of Brazilian companies in the global value chain, investment attraction, job creation and support for small to midsize companies.” Taken together, these developments indicate an interest in increased globalization on the part of Brazil’s gove

The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) is home to about 7.3 million people, has Sydney as the state capital, and is viewed as a major global and Asia-Pacific cultural hub. In addition to being Australia’s oldest, largest and most cosmopolitan state, it is also an economic powerhouse with an economy larger than Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.