Asia rising - random thoughts during a car wash

This is the year which the rest of the world is still struggling and Asia is rising in terms of human and economic development, GDP per capita and standard of living. As the European Union struggles with its not so unified union of countries, it is bogged down by the PIIGS group of countries which are, technically, bankrupt. Portugal, Ireland,Iceland and Greece are all part of the EU and each with massive amounts of Government debt. Bailing out these countries will, in my opinion, take another decade and whether there are other countries teetring on the brink of country remains to be seen.
They have to take the bitter pill of borrowing from the IMF and their stringent transparency requirements to pull themselves out of their quagmire. All this is new for the Europeans but in Asia, countries like Philippines, Thailand,Indonesia, South Korea have all experienced the tough times and are now much more prepared for future financial crises.

The access to easy loans at rock bottom interest rates made every country want to modernise, but with this step, countries without enough reserves, are running a very risky path, as interest rates can rise, tourism revenue is very fickle owing to terrorists potential attacks and even natural disasters like the vocanic eruption of the E.......... is causing billions of losses, again mainly in Europe. America on the other hand, has bitten the bullet and is still fighting to rid itself of the toxic assets, bankrupt and manipulating companies, and tackle the massive health care monster to get all Americans access to basic health insurance. The Obama administration has done well on the last issue, but is now tackling 'big business' to reduce and
overhaul banks ways of doing business.Its a tough objective, but again, the effects will only be seen after his first 4 years in office.

This is the year which Asia will truly shine. Led by 2 giants, China and India, partially decouple from the world economy and drive the trade between its own neighbours to new highs. Already the middle income belt of these 2 countries is easily 500 million and with their growing desire for travel, luxury good and latest gadgets like the iPad, iPhone, Blackberry will stimulate their respective economies and the economies of countries that make them too. They will want nice houses in beautiful locations, gamble a little, safe living environment and let their children attend good schools. Ideally, in their home countries or at a neighbouring country. Many people are switching to educating their children for higher education in neighbouring Singapore which is an education hub with many top US,UK,European and Australian Universities housed in the Lion City.

So cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai and Chennai, Sydney, and Melbourne will all thrive for the forseeable future. Its the Asian century and lets make the most of it !