*

BY PRIYANKA RAI CHARUTA JAGTAP SANJOT NIKAM EKTA SRIVASTAVA

* Political

systems in Asia can vary from democratic to totalitarian.

* Examples of democratic systems in the Asia region: India,

Indonesia (a new democracy).

* China * High

is a mixture of capitalism and socialism, whilst Vietnam is a socialist state. political instability in most countries affect foreign investments. in political opinions and strained relationships between countries affect business at times.

* Differences

* Each Asian country has its own currency. The convertibility

of a currency determines how difficult it is to convert one currency to another convertibility means that both residents and nonresidents can purchase any amount of foreign currency

* Full

* Hard currencies are usually fully convertible, e.g. US$ * Soft currencies are non convertible, e.g. Kyat (Burmese)
and Dong (Vietnamese) currencies

* Governments

impose various exchange restrictions to control their limited supplies of foreign exchange.

* Currency * Regional

exchange rates can be greatly affected by political changes e.g. the Indonesian rupiah changes substantially with each major political development. economic groupings (AFTA,EAEC, etc.) will impact economies of both member and non-member countries.

* Chinas entry into WTO has a profound effect on the other

SE Asian economies.

* Asians,

generally speaking, have certain similarities when compared with Westerners, but within each Asian nation there are differences. * The main elements of social/cultural factors affecting this subcontinent are: Religion, Values and attitudes, Language (both verbal and non-verbal), Customs and Manners. * They all have varying cultures and festivals. Their manner of working too varies greatly. * The major population of Asian countries is younger and hence provides for a formidable work force. * There is a wide gap among the social classes in major countries of the subcontinent.

* Expansion

of infrastructure in low, middle as well as high-income economies of Asia in recent decades for both rural and urban areas. * The World Bank estimates that the Asian economies will need to acquire infrastructure equalling the existing infrastructure of the United States and of Europe over the next twenty years. * Only the infrastructure markets of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore can be said to have achieved significant maturity. * While country like Vietnam still needs to invest heavily in the areas of water supplies, roads, and electricity.

While most Asian governments encourage Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), there are often rules and regulations governing foreign investments, such as:

* Investment

granted only on a joint venture basis (as in many construction companies).

* Local content requirement may be must. * Export/import requirement * Transfer pricing controls.

Marketing of products may be subjected to the following controls:

* Safety standards, registration, labeling requirements * Price controls (especially for essential products
cooking oil, rice)

like

* Advertising

content (scantily clad Caucasian models are not allowed in Malaysia), sales promotion techniques dealer in South Korea, once the appointment is made)

* Exclusive dealerships (e.g. it is very difficult to change a

Throughout the Asia-Pacific region, rapid economic and population growth creates serious social consequences from environmental problems of:

* Urban excess * Deforestation * Overfishing * Global warming * Air pollution * Limited safe water supplies

* Governance
reversible.

reforms in Africa are slow and easily

* Some

African countries are politically stable, recording positive progress in terms of governance and combating corruption, others have significantly deteriorated. some African countries have made advances in eradicating corruption and improving accountability and transparency through citizen participation in government as well as advances in the realm of press freedom, governance still faces tremendous challenges.

* While

* African countries are not quite as strongly exposed to the

risks of the global economic crisis, as is Asia, there will, however, be significant indirect effects if Official Development Assistance (ODA) is curtailed and exports, foreign direct investment and Diaspora remittances are reduced. is a need to develop and stabilize the financial markets in Africa With the world economy faltering, and global institutions under immense stress and change the importance of regional blocs or groupings is strikingly clear. by poor transport , interconnectivity and communication.

* There

* Progress towards regional integration has been hampered

* In

much of the Continent, a third of the people are underfed and more than 40 per cent live in conditions of poverty. * High mortality rates due to deaths among children and mothers resulting from HIV/AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse, crime and violence, among others. * Africans are burdened by lack of basic infrastructure and access to health services, low levels of education and illiteracy and by gender inequalities. * Thirty-four (34) African countries feature among the 50 least-developed countries on the United Nations list; and African countries occupy the bottom 20 spots on the UN index for quality of life.

* In

the past decade, growth in Africas manufacturing sector was very low and, in some cases, negative. technological gap could be the source of its increasing economic deterioration. in African countries often lack the expertise to determine which new skills, technical knowledge and organizational techniques are required to make newly imported technologies function at optimal levels.

* Africa's * Firms

* Faced

with various opportunities and challenges in the international arena, Africa needs to speak with one voice. needs to harmonize the rules and regulations that facilitate intra-African trade and investments and promote market access for African products. this end, the AU will provide the necessary platform for adoption of relevant legal instruments that support regional and continental integration, and for promotion of ratification and entry into force of all outstanding legal instruments adopted by the Assembly of the Union.

* Africa * To

* To achieve continent-wide sustainable development, Africa

must preserve its natural environment.

* Climate
* The

change is at the root of floods, droughts, desertification and global warming, and poses a major threat to rising prosperity in Africa. GHGs emission rates observed in African countries remains negligible due to their low level of industrialization. Africa must gain access to sufficient global resources including access to innovative forms of carbon financing, payment for environmental services and new areas for avoidance of deforestation and reduction of land degradation.

* To mitigate the effects of climate change on the Continent,

* In *

Europe, companies are affected by legislation at EU and national levels. The EU is similar to a confederation, where many policy areas are federalised into common institutions capable of making law. the EU does not, unlike most states, control foreign policy, defence policy or the majority of direct taxation policies. areas are primarily under the control of the EU's member states although a certain amount of structured co-operation and coordination takes place in these areas.

* However * These

* The

constitutional basis and organisation of the European Union is based on its treaties. * The EU itself as a legal personality and a set of governing institutions empowered by the treaties. However sovereignty is not invested in those institutions, it is pooled with ultimate sovereignty resting with the national governments. * EU laws exist at two levels: (i) regulations that are binding on member states and (ii) directives that are binding only through enactment of a law within the member state in line with the directive. * The role of competition policy, then, is to encourage competition in the EU by removing restrictive practices and other anti-competitive activities.

* The *

EU has established a single market across the territory of all its members. 17 member states have also joined a monetary union known as the Eurozone, which uses the Euro as a single currency. Funds and Cohesion Funds are supporting the development of underdeveloped regions of the EU.

* Structural

Economic motives of the EU:

* Internal market * Competition * Monetary union * Financial supervision * Energy * Infrastructure * Agriculture * Environment

*A

major demographic change that will continue to affect the demand for products is the rising proportion of people over the age of 45 in the EU, and the decline in the younger age group. * The rise in one-person households, households with no children and the growth in dual-income families. * More people are living alone by choice, through divorce or bereavement. * The proportion of couples who have no children has also increased. * The free movement of workers around the EU has also encouraged the growth of subcultures.

* The

policy priorities in new EU members have been increasingly devoted to research and development (R&D) and innovation as the key drivers of productivity growth. * Imitation and innovation are used as modes of technological development in many instances. * Most of the countries in EU are developed and have access to latest technology. * An increase in the size of the science-based manufacturing industries leads to higher intra-industrial trade between the countries. * Some of the worlds best technical institutes are present in European continent.

Five environmental issues are of particular concern:

* Combating global warming * Pollution control * Conservation of energy and other scarce resources * Use of environmentally friendly ingredients and
components

* Use of recyclable and non-wasteful packaging

* Australia is a federal parliamentary democracy. * The head of state is the Queen of Australia (Elizabeth
II, since 1952) and the head of the government is the prime minister.

* Political

and governmental power is highly decentralized in Australia, with authority being distinctly divided between the states.

* The

desire to be a republic is slowly growing in the nation, as the Australian Republican Movement slowly gains national importance.

* Australia recorded a healthy annual average GDP growth rate

of around 3.3% during 200207.

* The * The * The

economy has been experiencing a downturn since 2008, however, with a lower GDP growth rate of 1.5%. government has continued with its policy of monetary easing along with fiscal stimulus. state has funded various projects supporting telecommunication and IT infrastructure, broadband services for local and rural areas, the development of green telecommunications, and carbon trading. tourism sector provides employment opportunities and accounting for more than 3.5% of GDP for fiscal yr. 2007-08. and social importance, helping its nationals both directly and indirectly.

* The

* The minerals industry in Australia is of considerable economic

* Australia

has an impressive healthcare network. The country has also entered into several healthcare partnerships in Asia Pacific. * The country is challenged with a weak social security system and professional work pressure leading to high stress levels. * Another problem that is now becoming a worry is the aging population and the corresponding reduction in the labour force. * As the large Australian baby boomer generation progressively moves into older age brackets, maintaining high per capita income growth will become harder to achieve

* On

the R&D front, the country has entered into scientific pacts with many countries, including India, China and the US. * However, low levels of productivity and high wage costs have dampened its activity in this regard. Also, the number of patents being awarded is on a declining trend. * The telecommunications sector has been one of the fastest-growing industries in Australia. * The country has also entered into scientific bilateral collaborations with the US, Canada, South Korea and Japan.

* The * The

Australian judicial system includes a supreme court for each state, the High Court for the whole country and many district level courts within a state. nation has specific anti-terrorism laws and supports many countries to fight terrorists. in the world by the OECD.

* Australia is also listed as one of the most open economies * The

country follows market friendly policies and has a very liberal legal regime. a number of liberalization measures, a few restrictions with respect to investment in particular sectors still exist in Australia. Namely: media, transport and communication etc.

* Despite

* The Australian government has comprehensive policies in

place to protect the environment. * One of the most severe effects of rising pollution levels has been the decreasing area of the Great Barrier Reef. * Australia is also facing pollution due to forest fires in South America that produced excessive amounts of carbon monoxide. * Australia has entered into several international agreements, enabling the country and others to fight pollution with collective strength. * Australia has environmental pacts with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, the US and also several neighbouring countries.