Engaged minds

GT News 4 July 2017 at 8:38:37 PM SGT Trade Trumps tariffs Brexit, Trumponomics and the recent rise of protectionist political parties in Europe have certainly brought issues of international trade to the forefront in recent months. Trump is reportedly preparing trade restrictions on steel imports from individual countries, such as China, under the US’ “Section 232” investigation. These investigations are initiated to determine the effects of any imports on US national security. Under the investigation terms, huge tariffs can be imposed to protect American producers. However, China and the EU told the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Goods Council that imposing these tariffs could not be justified on national security grounds at a meeting on Friday. Brazil, Australia, Taiwan and Russia have also raised concerns. Cross-border trade not only boosts national economies but also discourages international conflict as countries and individuals cooperate for mutual benefit. The...

Video: Why supply chain financing could confine the supplier  By The Asset The Asset talks with Gopul Shah, director, corporate treasury & structured trade finance at Golden Agri-Resources, at the Enhancing the Supply Chain roundtable on March 2 2017 in Singapore. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KRBDbVhxJmg Shah discusses how the strengthening position of the customer reduces the bargaining power as a supplier, and how to bring people together and maintain value in this environment: “focus on your customers, your company, and your vision, that’s number one; number two, technology is definitely an enabler, and I think that brings people together.”

Are local and global players adapting to a “new normal”? Learn how top trading houses are adapting to today’s low pricing, high liquidity climate • Explore differences and similarities between regional and global traders’ strategies • Learn what their plans are for growth in 2017 Panel timings: 9.50-10.40, 28th February.  General topics for discussion: 1) The “Trump effect” on trade: General discussion of geopolitical uncertainty across the world to “set the scene” but perhaps not in too much detail 2) How do trading houses adapt to pricing volatility: Unexpected bull market; prices a fraction of what they were mid-2014 but still rebounding from the crash. Hard to predict. What strategies to mitigate that uncertainty? 3) How do regional & global trading houses compare with one another in their financing strategies: Is new technology closing the gap between global & local players, allowing local firms to have global reach, and global firms to gain local o...

• Supply chains have become international, complex and driven by customer and operational needs. Supply chain is also different for each country and entities, so as the need for financing. We have to leverage trade and supply chain financing through our trade, banking, insurance, logistics, packaging, and technology partners (using current account flows) to handle deliverable, subsidiary cross border finance, manage local currency and credit exposures, enjoy profitable arbitrages between local and international financing costs and structure financing and risks which is cost, tax and balance sheet effective.  • People, teams, cross functional agenda and politics could be big challenge in integrating supply chain and financing. In managing supply chain, we have to believe in the adage that 'what is good for customers, markets and stakeholders is good for the company; what is good for the company is good for everyone' and that all efforts around collaboration, innov...

 In loving memory of our special parents Mr Navnitlal Amthalal Shah, 1930-2017  and Mrs Indira Navnitlal Shah, 1935-1998 by  Sachin Shah, Gopul Shah and their Family Respected Elders, Family Members, and Friends, Thank you for your sympathy and kind words of solace. We also thank you all for being kind, friendly, helpful and well-wisher’s to our parents and our families! Our Dad’s life journey started from Randheja (his birth place) took him to Karachi, Kadi, Patan, Mumbai, Kashmir, Bangkok, Singapore, and Vidya Nagar (final resting place). His life was modest, yet, well lived, full of energy, enthusiasm, happiness, courage, honesty, dignity, self-respect, independence, contentment, and accomplishments that will be cherished by us for a long time.  • Our dad has been a good sportsman - we remember him organising many sports and also playing street cricket with us until his late-50’s. • His work ethics, integrity, courage, positive attitude...

Treasurers need to keep a sharp eye on China’s financial regulators as they respond to changing economic fortunes and the actions of those deemed speculators. Recent changes affect treasury structures and best practice.  This workshop and disucssion take a comprehensive look at the key changes, with presentations from top corporates in the region. Take pooling. From early 2014 onwards, RMB cash pooling has been progressively liberalised until by September 2015, the procedure was accessible to most corporates who needed it. However, in January this year, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) instructed banks that provide multinational corporations with RMB cash pooling services to limit outflows so that there are no net remittance outflows of capital. Previous regulations only limited the net inflow of RMB from overseas, with no cap on RMB outflow. The new ‘regulation’, which is oral only, has made it difficult to remit money out of Mainland China although intercompany loans ...