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Money rules the roost in Asia
Singapore, Nov 07: A Chinese billionaire`s dream of carving out a capitalist corner in North Korea ends in ruins. In South Korea , a newly elected president struggles to rein in powerful conglomerates.
Singapore, Nov 07: A Chinese billionaire’s dream of carving out a capitalist corner in North Korea ends in ruins. In South Korea , a newly elected president struggles to rein in powerful conglomerates.
Thailand ’s richest businessman becomes prime minister. The nexus between money and politics, seen everywhere from the United States to Italy and dramatically underlined in Russia by the arrest of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is alive and kicking in Asia too.
And despite efforts since the 1997 financial crisis to promote transparency and improve corporate governance, chances are that with a slew of elections across the region in ’04, doing business in Asia will become more intricate.
Three of the elections will be in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia — all swept into disarray in the 1997 maelstrom that exposed the close ties between politics and business and the narrow line between cronyism and corruption.
Nearly 22% of listed firms in Indonesia have political links, followed by 20% in Malaysia and 15% in Thailand , according to a study by Mara Faccio, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Tennessee . The study defined a firm as politically connected if a large shareholder or top director is a member of parliament, minister or head of state or is closely related to a top official.
Bureau Report
And despite efforts since the 1997 financial crisis to promote transparency and improve corporate governance, chances are that with a slew of elections across the region in ’04, doing business in Asia will become more intricate.
Three of the elections will be in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia — all swept into disarray in the 1997 maelstrom that exposed the close ties between politics and business and the narrow line between cronyism and corruption.
Nearly 22% of listed firms in Indonesia have political links, followed by 20% in Malaysia and 15% in Thailand , according to a study by Mara Faccio, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Tennessee . The study defined a firm as politically connected if a large shareholder or top director is a member of parliament, minister or head of state or is closely related to a top official.
Bureau Report