GlobalScan made 12,884 interviews in 25 countries asking the opinion about following statement:

The free market system and free market economy is the best system on which to base the future of the world.

The results are shown on below chart.

Chart: Public Opinion on Free-Market Economy

Findings

Besides that people in Germany (68 % approval), closely followed by Brazil and China (67% each) are most in favor of the free market economy as the system for the future, the findings show that the public opinion in several major emerging economies is supporting the free market idea stronger than people in the USA and Canada (59% approval, same as India).

Source: GlobalScan website: Sharp Drop in American Enthusiasm for Free Market, Poll Shows

On the World Bank Live website you will find links to upcoming and completed live events.

For example below you can watch the April 5, 2011 Webcast: Live Q&A: East Asia and Pacific Update in which Vikram Nehru, Chief Economist for the East Asia and Pacific region, and Ivailo Izvorski, Lead Economist for the region, discussed the latest economic update for the East Asia and Pacific region.

The next upcoming webcast on World Bank Live will be about The Challenge of Managing Crises in a Rapidly Changing World and is scheduled for April 13, 2011 at 14:00 GMT.

Despite inflation[ ((After 4.4% in 2010, consumer prices are expected to rise to 5.3% in 2011 before decreasing back to 4.6% in 2012))], high food and oil prices as well as global uncertainties, developing Asia is expected to continue to expand over the next two years. ADB forecasts the regions gross domestic product to increase 7.8% in 2011 and 7.7% in 2012, compared to 9% in 2010.

Changyong Rhee, ADB’s Chief Economis, said, “Developing Asia, having shown resilience throughout the global recession, is now consolidating its recovery and rapid expansion in the region’s two giants – the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India – will continue to lift regional and global growth.”

However, according to the report, it will be necessary to manage inflation carefully using more flexible exchange rates and coordinated capital controls.

Further information and links

• ADB News Release, 6 April 2011: Developing Asia on Firm Rebound but Must Tackle Inflation – ADB
• Asian Development Outlook 2011 website
  From there you can download the whole report as PDF file (279 pages, 3.8 MB) or specific sections.
• You can also read the report on Scribd as e-Paper    

_________

Intangibles are one of the most challenging topics in the transfer pricing     area for multinational enterprises and tax administrations because of the number and size of the disputes that arise in relation to their recognition and valuation.

Mr. Chris Lenon, the Chair of the BIAC[ ((Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD))] Tax Committee pointed out during the meeting that the business community wanted the Transfer Pricing Guidelines of the OECD (“TPG”):

• minimize conflicts among tax administrations as well as between tax administrations and taxpayers
• be sufficiently clear for all tax authorities to be able to apply it consistently
• minimize double taxation, rather than be a set of prescriptive rules

Ms. Michelle Levac, Chair of the WP6 TPI[ ((Working Party No. 6 on the Taxation of Multinational Enterprises))], acknowledged that the guidance should not be too prescriptive as valuation involves professional judgment and depends on the circumstances of each case, as well as the concerns relating to the compliance burden.

Source: OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration website: OECD meets with business commentators on the valuation of intangibles for transfer pricing purposes

Image: chrisroll / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Additional Information

• OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Adminsitration website: Transfer Pricing Aspects of Intangibles
• Ernst and Young website: 2010 Global Transfer Pricing survey

_________

Business Planet features more than 20 maps explaining issues such as How easy it is to do business, How often firms are expected to bribe tax inspectors.

Depending on the indicator, economies are ranked from top to bottom, and then assigned one of three color codings: green for the high performing economies, orange for those in the middle, and red for the lowest performing economies.

You can filter maps by various topics, regions and countries and share a link with your colleagues through a toolbar at the top right corner.

If you click on color markers you can learn more about that specific economy.

In detail

• Doing Business Map
  Shows how easy (or difficult) it is to do business in 183 economies.
• Enterprise Surveys Map
  Gives access to data on more than 70,000 firms in 104 countries containing information on firm characteristics, business perceptions, and indicators on the quality of the business environment.
• Privatization Map
  Provides access to updated and consolidated information on privatization transactions in developing countries.
• Private Infrastructure Map
  Allows to explore the leading countries and key trends in Private Participation in Infrastructure trends in the developing world, covering 4,100 projects in the energy, telecommunications, transport, and water and sewerage sector.
• Entrepreneurship Map
  Offers data on new business creation around the world. Measures of entrepreneurial activity are calculated from data collected directly from registrar of companies on the number of newly registered corporations.

Gapminder is dedicated to replace devasting myths and spread new statistical methods to make global development understandable. They developed the Trendalyzer software that converts international statistics into moving, interactive graphics and allow everbody to use their tools, interactive animations, videos and presentations free of charge.

Google acquired the Trendalyzer software 2007 and made available a Motion Chart Google Gadget and in 2009 the Public Data Explorer.

In below eye-opening and funny 1 hour video lecture Hans Rosling[ ((a Swedish medical doctor, academic, statistician, public speaker and co-founder of Gapminder))] takes you on a rollercoaster ride through the sense and non-sense statistics can make and to explore the power they have to change our understanding of the world. Enjoy.

_________

and for 2011 a:

H ours of happy times with friends and family
A bundant time for relaxation
P rosperity
P lenty of love when you need it the most
Y outhful excitement at life simple pleasures

N ights of restful slumber (you know – don’t’ worry be happy)
E verything you need
W ishing you love and light

Y ears and years of good health
E njoyment and mirth
A ngels to watch over you
R emembrances of a happy year!

I look forward to meeting you again on International Managements Notes during 2011.

For imports from Taiwan into the PRC, 539 tariff positions are affected, which amounted in 2009 to a value of nearly U.S. $ 14 billion; in the other direction, 267 customs tariff positions. The customs duties on the items in question are supposed to be decreased down to 0 % by 2013.

One important component of the ECFA is the early beneficiaries list (Early Harvest List). In it, both sides have agreed on sectors and goods for which tariffs will be reduced starting from 1.1.11.

You can download the original text of the ECFA and its appendices (in Chinese and English) as pdf-files from the www.ecfa.org.tw website.

From the perspective of the Taiwanese Government, the ECFA is necessary for not becoming marginalized in regional economic relations, especially not to fall behind regional competitors in trade with the PRC. About two-fifths of Taiwan’s exports go to China, Hong Kong and Macao. Approximately one-third of the 200 of the largest exporting companies in the PRC are Taiwanese. The Taiwanese opposition, however, sees the ECFA as a sellout of Taiwan’s interests.

History and Background: On the taiwandc.org website are links to a number of articles and commentaries concerning ECFA in English dated from 18. Oct. 2008 until 5. Sept. 2010.

Further background information is available on Wikipedia: Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement    

Remark: The debate on the ECFA started to heat up in Taiwan in February 2009.

Image: Voice of America

 
The website is part of Financial Times Recruitment Solutions[ ((Financial Times Recruitment Solutions is a multi-media platform with a global approach. They provide a way to find C-suite, business leader, accountancy, banking and finance and interim appointments. Their product portfolio includes:

• exec-appointments.com, the job board for the world’s finest talent
• Executive Appointments, available every Thursday in the Financial Times
• The Financial Times Non-Executive Directors’ Club, at www.non-execs.com
• FT Special Reports, a monthly report written from a candidate perspective

))] with offices in the UK, New York and Dubai. They claim to be the leading global job board for executive-level positions in both the private and public sectors. According to their information, exec-appointments.com has over 300,000 registered users, generating 2.5 million page impressions.
 

exec-appointments.com offers several options:

• Browse jobs: Allows to browse under business type for jobs with the kind of organization you want to work for, or by profession to see jobs in any sector by in your professional or functional area of expertise.
• Advanced search: Allows you to more accurately match your queries to their current database.
• Email job alerts: Here you can sign up for your job alert emails which you will get whenever new or updated jobs that match your selected saved searches are posted during the previous 24 hours.
• Career service overview: Offers information about how to prepare your VC, CV Services, understanding headhunting, managing your career search, networking, coping with interviews and salary negotiations.
• Recruiters A-Z: Allows you to browse through the alphabetical list of recruiters that currently advertise with them.

____________

The EU has three key funding processes to support of research and innovation. These are the Cohesion policy which is funded through the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund, the Research Framework Programme (FP7) and the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme.

The guide on the EU’s CORDIS-Website explains above mentioned funding sources and shows how the three programmes can be combined.

The Website comprises the following sections:

• Supporting your ideas,
• Finding sources of funding,
• Combining different options,
• Understanding the roles of authorities,
• Checklist for funding and
• Annexes

Finally, you can download the whole document as a pdf-file (59 pages; 373 KB) from the CORDIS-Website.

Tip: Participation is also open to third country organisations and legal entities if the minimum conditions laid down in the ‘Rules for participation’ have been met, as well as any conditions specified in the specific programmes or relevant work programmes.

A Short guideline on proposal submission and negotiation with third country participants can be downloaded as pdf-file (4 pages; 25 KB) from the EU’s CORDIS-website: Can I participate in FP7 if I am based outside Europe?.