News Analysis 1

Asian Economy

The state of the economy in Asia has been on an incline in recent months with the announcement of China surpassing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States. According to the Huffington Post the low cost of living in China and other Asian countries compared to the United States creates wealth among people who only a decade ago were simply living with a lower quality of life (Huffington Post, 2014). The Chinese GDP just barely outpaced the United States from $17.6 trillion as compared to $17.4 trillion.

Asian entrepreneurs and business people have enjoyed new success and have been faced with dealing with corruption and unethical practices in their growing economies. The research shows evidence of this according to BBC News World Asia, former Vietnamese Ocean Bank chairmen, Ha Van Tham was just arrested with accusations pf lending fraud (BBC News World Asia, 2014). Mr. Tham who is estimated to be worth several billion dollars in personal assets in real estate and hotel properties has been relieved of his title and duties as Chairmen by the Vietnamese Central Bank. Corruption will likely continue to surface as the economy creates opportunities for new people living and operating businesses in Asia. The news story does discuss in detail how Tham was exposed nor does it lend any ideas to how he did what he was accused of as this is probably an attempt to sensor the public from knowing what actually happened in this particular case.

From a different perspective, outside of corruption and negative sentiment the growth of populations expanding beliefs and religious faiths is reaching from Malaysia to Japan in the economy with the news about food products now being more readily available across borders. Bernama News just issued a report on the import of halal products from Malaysia to Japan, opening the doors for access by Muslim athletes as they head to the Olympics in 2020 (Bernama News, 2014). The agricultural industry in Japan will likely grow and create new opportunities as Aeon Group, a massive retail organization operating eighteen hundred locations will bring halal products into its stores (Bernama News, 2014).

What the reports does not talk about is the demographic details of how many Muslims already live within Japan and how many will likely continue to purchase halal products outside of the athletes that companies are marketing to. The Olympics being hosted by Japan is nearly six years away and should not be expected to drive the market for this kind of product on a long term basis. The news article does not explain other possible outlets for agricultural food processors to use the certifications that will be required in order to produce food on their equipment. The market will probably open up to other types of religious based food requirements like Kosher with this as a gateway into the market but still does not show the demographic into who will be active in the market so additional data should be sought before making final decisions about the pulse of the market based on this article.

References

BBC News World Asia (2014). Vietnam business tycoon Ha Van Tham arrested for 'fraud'. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29769252

Bernama News (2014). Japan To Import Halal Products From Malaysia. Retrieved from http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/bu/newsbusiness.php?id=1079608

Huffington Post (2014). China's Economy Just Overtook The U.S. In One Key Measure.

Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/china-gdp-tops-us_n_5951374.html