Emerging Markets

  Asia’s most dynamic economies are amassing huge cash fortunes that they can then wield to increase their power around the world. Will 2008 be the year when we t ruly see the balance of global power shift to the ...

In our cover story this month, we investigate the idea that this could be Asia’s big breakout year...

HEALTHCARE CHARITY Global Finance charity partner Amrit Davaa spent two weeks in India providing healthcare to children at a remote orphanage and to locals. Editor Dan Keeler accompanied the medical team on its mission.     Dr Becki Giusti checks ...

    INDIA       Hold-up: Aging roads are hindering Indias growth. Twenty leading global and Indian infrastructure construction companies are bidding for the contract to build a $10 billion eight-lane expressway in the northern Indian state of Uttar ...

NEWS       China Nepstar Chain Drugstore, already the largest drugstore in China based on the number of directly operated outlets, plans to vastly increase its size with the proceeds of its initial public offering of American depositary receipts ...

NEWS     The big question for dollar-denominated debt markets in emerging market countries is whether they have decoupled from their historical dependence on the US economy and financial markets, according to analysts at Bear Stearns. While the US consumer ...

COUNTRY REPORT / BRAZIL Brazil’s commitment to developing biofuels is paying off handsomely. Investment is flooding in to other areas of the economy, too.   José Sergio Gabrielli, CEO of Petrobras For the administration of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula ...

BRAZIL     São Paulo stock exchange Bovespa Holding, which owns the São Paulo stock exchange, raised nearly $3.7 billion in an IPO that ranks as Latin America’s largest offering this year. Bovespa sold 250 million shares on October 26, ...

ECUADOR       Correa: Clamping down on the oil industry After a 15-year absence, Ecuador has rejoined OPEC in a move president Rafael Correa says will allow his country to gain greater access to technical advice and market information. ...

  DR NEWS     Grupo Clarín, Argentina’s largest media conglomerate, listed its depositary shares on the London Stock Exchange last month, making it the first company based in Argentina to have a DR listing on the exchange. The global ...

GLOBAL EQUITY/DRS     PetroChina, China’s largest oil and gas producer, added fuel to the fire of Shanghai’s overheated stock market last month with its initial public offering on the mainland. The company’s A-shares surged 163% in their $8.9 billion ...

INDIA       I ndia hopes to boost hydropower capacity Third-quarter earnings releases by UK telecom giant Vodafone Group and by Switzerland-based Holcim, the world’s second-largest cement maker, reflected growing contributions from India’s increasingly assertive domestic market on the ...

RUSSIA Russia’s greatest strength could also turn out to be its biggest weakness.   Skyscrapers go up as some of Russia’s surplus is invested in infrastructure projects Oil has been kind to Russia. In the past few years, as world ...

COMPANY TO WATCH: COUNTRY GARDEN HOLDINGS/CHINA         Shares of Country Garden Holdings, a leading China-based real estate group, rose 37% in their debut in April on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. More recently, the company postponed a ...

CHINA     PetroChina’s stock soared in initial trading on the Shanghai stock exchange China’s state-owned energy giant PetroChina Co. in early November surpassed ExxonMobil to become the world’s most valuable company. Shares of PetroChina rose from 16.7 yuan to ...

RUSSIA     Strife on the borders: Georgia’s president called for early elections and accused Russia of stirring up unrest. Afew weeks after Russian president Vladimir Putin announced that he would lead the ticket for the country’s dominant political party, ...

COUNTRY REPORT / CHINA China’s continuing economic expansion may be a bumpy ride, but the country’s prospects still look remarkably good.     Reach for the skies: China’s newfound wealth is reflected in its grand plans for Shanghai and beyond, ...

CHINA     At China’s mid-October National People’s Congress, Hu Jintao kept his position as president and made a clear attempt to further consolidate his power. Premier Wen Jiaobao clung onto his position as well, despite some criticism lately concerning ...

  Gol: Planning share buyback   Investment banks say the recent US Fed rate cut, coupled with strong domestic fundamentals, bodes well for Brazilian capital market investors. “Fed easing since mid-August has opened up a new leg of the bull ...

COMPANY TO WATCH: PETRO CHINA/CHINA     Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, who is one of America’s most successful investors, could be sending a message about China’s red-hot stock market by cashing in most of his chips in PetroChina, ...