2011 Asia Business SA

So since my spiritual thought got skipped somehow during the trip I got the privilege of posting about anything I wanted to. That being said, one of my favorite parts of the trip was the baseball game.I've been to my fair share of baseball games (go Angles!), but the atmosphere there was just different, it was electric. Dustin asked me if I'd rather be an average baseball player in the states or a Japanese star and the decision was easy. The Japanese have special cheers for each individual player and they scream them at the top of their lungs. Plus it was cool to see all the Japanese people having fun instead of all serious. It was epic, great group!

Hi Friends and Families!

This is My Nguyen reporting on May 23, 2011. I think most of us have fallen in love with this country already after only two days of staying here. Mongolia, the country of the blue sky, has offered us so much. We’re all grateful that we have the chance to visit this wonderful land.

We started out with two business visits. It was quite fascinating to see the differences between Mongolian and Japanese businesses and how they talk about themselves. The Japanese tend to be extremely humble and reserved. On the other hand, the Mongolians are a lot more aggressive and straightforward. We could tell instantly how proud they are of their motherland (I’d be really proud too. Their motherland is marvelous!)

The people here are proud not only of their land, but also of their heroic ancestors, especially Genghis Khan. They have a deep love and respect for him here. We saw pictures, paintings, and statues of him everywhere. And most of the paper bills prominently feature his picture. We also got to see a humongous statue of Genghis Khan on top of a museum 50 kms away from the capital. It was really cool.

The weather was perfect. The sky was so clear and blue. We took the bus to the National Park to stay at the Ger campsite (Ger is the traditional house in Mongolia). We passed by one of the most fantastic sceneries we have ever seen. I don’t think you can capture this kind of scenery in any picture; you just have to experience it with your own eyes…

Right when we got to the campsite, we were ready to ride a camel. For most of us, it was our first time. It was quite exciting. Many wanted to continue riding camels everywhere in Mongolia, which would have been the coolest!

It didn’t get dark till pretty late. Some of us decided to hike up and watch shooting stars. On the hillside, smoke from the fire we set earlier poured gently from the Gers. Above us the sky was clear and the only light was from the stars…

It was a long but tremendous day. We are so lucky to have met such great people and see different things everyday on the trip. And we promise that pictures and more are to come…

With love from Asia!!

My Nguyen

Hello friends and Family! Today our group got to visit LG (life's good). We were spoiled by the considerate staff there (VIP lunch, etc.) and got to learn many amazing things about LG's electronic industry as well. We got to tour around their showcase room, play some videogames, watch 3D video clips and other such technologies. After our wonderful LG visit we were privileged to go to the Korean War Memorial. Not only did they have monuments honoring the recent Korean War, but they also had a museum to remember the history of all Korean Wars from ancient times to the present. The history of Korea is fascinating. There is a strong and almost sacred sense of the Korean's (both North and south) to be reunited...I hope that one day, hopefully in our lifetime, this will come to pass. After visiting the War Memorials we had the marvelous opportunity to go to the Seoul, Korea Temple. It is a haven of peace and serenity in the midst of a loud, bustling city. Despite hilarious incidents such as the font being extremely small, the spirit was powerfully strong and comforting. How blessed we are to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ where the spirit is the same no matter where you are in the world. We send our love and best wishes to all ya'lls at home and know that we are having a blast and learning lots! :)

Here we are in Korea!

Family and Friends... From Asia,

After a delicious breakfast (the semi-cooked scrambled eggs, toast, granola, and fresh fruit were all popular), we caught two subways to get to church. About an hour and a half after leaving the hotel, we arrived safely at the chapel. The ward did an incredible job accommodating us, translating many of the classes and talks into English. The ward itself was a unique mix of Japanese, Peruvians, Brazilians, Filipinos, and Vietnamese so English actually was the most comfortable common language for everyone anyways.

Following church, the ward hosted a potluck. The ward was super friendly and the food was delicious! There were all kinds of dishes - rice balls, noodles, chicken, salads - and we all ate until we were full. During lunch, many of the returned missionaries were able to use their languages to talk to the ward members - Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese.

When we all got back to the hotel, most people chose to use rest of the Sabbath as a day of rest and recovery. We've been pushing hard and most of us needed it!

We spent Thursday, May 12, in Hiroshima. In the morning we went as a group to the Hiroshima Peace Park. This is a museum/park that has been built in memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The park has been built really close to the actual epicenter of the A-bomb. It was a really solemn experience walking through the exhibits, seeing pictures and learning the history of what actually happened. This picture is the frame of a dome building which still stands from the A-bomb.

After the peace park, we had a business visit at Mazda. The Mazda facility is absolutely massive! The HR management did a very great job at giving us a Q&A session. It was very informative and a great learning experience.

This news item concerns all of the countries we will visit that have stock markets. The WaPo reports that "Asian markets perked up" today when Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 24,279.15 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose to 9,617.34.

Because of the earthquakes and tsunami that struck Japan, many companies, especially manufacturing companies, are feeling less confident than they were before the disasters hit. The Tankan, a quarterly review by the Bank of Japan released data before the disasters, which said that companies were at a plus 3 ranking and that after they reported a minus 2 ranking. This shows that Japan’s business owners felt optimistic in their next 3-month reports before the disasters, but that an overall pessimistic view has settled in after. Luckily, many economists feel that although Japan will go through a tough spot, eventually their economy will pick up with the re-building of cities and will then grow very steeply after the recovery is in affect.

I thought this article was very interesting because it clearly shows the impact that the earthquakes and tsunami has had on the companies in Japan. I’m glad to know that the entire country hasn’t felt this downturn from our discussions in class, but it’s clear that the companies near the disaster do. I’m also glad to read that economists feel that the companies will be able to recovery in a fairly short amount of time. It’s amazing how economies go through cycles and although this cycle was imposed on Japan, it’s clear that they will recover.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/business/global/05yen.html?adxnnl=1&ref=japan&adxnnlx=1302116780-TFqlrQjAngwtIizZJIhjRg

Amie

Koreans were in a bit of a flurry when they heard that possible rain could carry some of the radioactive particles from Japan into their country. Seaweed, salt and face-masks were sold to protect the people. The reason that this article interested me is we will be in Korea and I wanted to see if there would be any possible dangers in the rain. Koreans were also displeased with Japan’s decision to release 10,000 tons of radioactive water into the Pacific because of a prior agreement to make all information known quickly. There could be some hostility between the two.

Matthew Smith

As crude oil prices soar around the world, china is jumping on board by raising their prices by 4%+. This could have great changes on the Chinese market as far as business is concerned. IT also means that traveling cost to China will also increase. As citizens in Africa are hit by the wars, the global market feels the after effects of raising oil costs. I think this is very important to us because this can effect how business in the future is done. Often, trade companies will put those price fluctuations directly on the shoulders of the consumer. The question is, will this, and how will this effect the great rise of the China economy?

Abattoir workers get fat rise
Over 100 Sheung Shui slaughterhouse workers are slated to receive a 16% pay increase when a new minimum wage goes into effect in May. A representative from the Federation of Trade Unions explains that although the wages are still very low, workers are satisfied with the increase. Protestors from the Hong Kong Trade Union Council are marching near HSBC and Central Government offices to raise awareness for how low-paid workers are mistreated.
I find this interesting because this shows the other side of Hong Kong from a lot of what I had read. I have become familiar with the rising middle class and the rising wealthy, but haven’t heard much about the poor. It will be interesting to see class distinction in Hong Kong and to compare it with the disparity of classes in mainland China.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=109850&sid=31926084&con_type=1&d_str=20110406&fc=4

Aeon Co., Japan’s second biggest retailer, is 12.3% stakeholder in Parco Co., which operates 21 shopping centers of brand name stores in Japan. They are trying to get President Hidekazu Hirano of Parco Co. to step down from his position claiming that he hasn’t increased shareholder value in the company. Mr. Hirano of Parco Co. is in a state of disbelief after these allegations especially in lieu of the most recent natural disasters to hit the area. I find this article particularly interesting because it feels like addressing this issue so quickly after the natural disaster comes off as if Aeon Co. is more concerned for profits than people. Being a publicly traded company, I wonder how this will affect their stock price in the eyes of shareholders and future investors. - Nick

The article “Korean Battery Makers Ramp Up Investments” is about the Korean companies Samsung and LG increasing investments in their rechargeable battery businesses. The demand for consumer electronics and electric cars has increased, and these two companies want to keep up with demand by producing more batteries. LG’s target is to expand from producing 100,000 batteries per year to 350,000 batteries per year for electric cars. While both companies say their increase in production is not related to Japan’s recent earthquake and supply problems, inevitably Korea will receive more pressure to supply batteries to companies that Japanese producers used to supply to. I liked reading this article because it is fascinating to hear that there is more demand for batteries and especially electronic cars. It makes me wonder if the world really is making the transition from gas to electronic cars.

According to The New York Times, Japan has released more than 11,000 tons (that's 22,000,000 pounds) of low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean this week. What is "low-level?" Tokyo Electric says that the water has more than 100 times the radiation of the legal limit. But that's nothing compared to the water being pumped into the containers used to dump the water this week. Water with 1,000 times the legal limit will be filled into the containers used to dump this week's load.


While this may sound like a lot, the news article said that "[m]ixing radioactive water with uncontaminated seawater can lead to a rapid decrease in radiation levels," according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Still, the dumping has marine biologists nervous because the radioactive elements may be eaten by small fish, which in turn are eaten by larger fish, which means the problem may grow with time.


This all makes me wonder what will happen of the mighty Japanese seafood industry. Just like BP's oil spill caused economic havoc for Gulf Coast fishers, will this crisis be similar for their Japanese counterparts? --Philip Volmar

Inflation is something that we worry about here in America, and something we here about often, well China is no different from any other country in its quest fight inflation. China’s central bank raised interest rates for the second time this year on Tuesday, much of the reason to avoid preventable inflation. With China’s increase in rates, it’s growth needs to be governed. “We already had a rate hike penciled in for April. Looking ahead, with incoming data suggesting that the economy has started to slow and that inflation is leveling out,” says Mark Williams, senior China economist with Capital Economics.

-Rich

This article talked about Mongolia and how they are worried about “Dutch Disease”. Dutch Disease is when a country focuses too much on their strongest of best export and don’t diversify enough. While that one export might be able to sustain the country at a high level for an extended period of time, eventually supplies will run short, prices will rise, or demand will fall and the country will then be in serious trouble. Mongolia fears this with their mines. Mongolia hopes to be able to better diversify its production to be able to compete with China and Russia. They know they will never be at the same level as them, but they don’t want to be dependent on them either. The plan to focus more on cashmere, meat, and services. They already are better at producing cashmere than China so I would view this as a good strategic move for them.

-Steen

According to this article, about 1,000 university graduates are currently living on CSSA welfare payments and this number is growing rapidly—20% growth a year. Highly educated young people are well able to find a job and earn a living but they simply do not want to. This article says that those young people find there is no way to move upwards, no matter how hard they try, until they finally give up trying. I think this is very interesting, because Hong Kong is full of businesses and I think there would be more opportunities to be succeeded. This is very ironical to me. I want to go see Hong Kong, what’s going on, with my own eyes.

Minji Choi

This is rather sad news right after the General Conference. As you can see from this title, this article is basically about how thousands of people pre-purchased the 3D pornography movie tickets. This might be showing that there is a big pornography industry in Hong Kong, which it would be very sad. The director is proudly saying, “It will leave audiences feeling like they are sitting right there at the edge of the bed. I don't think anyone has ever seen a film like ours.” I knew pornography is universal problem, but reading this news right after the General Conference is very sad. The church has a lot of works to do and I hope we can be the example of good saints there.

Minji Choi

China has detained activists, tightened controls over the Internet, Chinese news media as well as harassed foreign journalists. Chinese officials have wrongly imprisoned Liu Xiaobo, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner and Feng Xue, an American geologist accused of stealing state secrets. Most recently, Chinese security officers detained Beijing artist, Ai Weiwei. Following his arrest, his wife and a number of his staff were detained for questioning and have not been released.

In the Four Seasons Hotel on Wednesday, in front of prominent Chinese scholars and officials, the U.S. ambassador to China, Jon M. Huntsman openly criticized China’s human rights record. He stated: “The United States will never stop supporting human rights because we believe in the fundamental struggle for human dignity and justice wherever it may occur…We cannot move forward if, when differences emerge, only one of us is fully engaged.” There is speculation that after Mr. Huntsman leaves his diplomatic post this month, he will seek the Republican nomination for president.

My objectives in writing the summary to this article are to emphasize the sensitive nature of Chinese officials towards activists and the suppression of media. Let us not be surprised by the Chinese view of politics and human rights. Also, let us avoid accusations of stealing “state secrets”. On another note, wouldn’t it be great to have Jon M. Huntsman run for the Republican nomination for president?

Hong Kong has a company, specializing in coral reef fish aquaculture worth around one billion dollars. The company see the fish to restaurants, stores and diners. they also say for an excellent looking and good size, it will sell for a 100$ each. The fish grow in large tanks kept under UV lights to generate perfect growing environment. Also Moskalik says " The demand for live coral grouper completely exceeds supply. If demand keeps up, you won't see this species in the wild in three to five years." For the fish that is sold certificates are not needed by the Fish Marketing Organization concerning how or where they are caught. This article was interesting to be because we are visiting Hong Kong and will be eating in restaurants, and I like to know where the food is coming from. I hope I can learn more about heir culture when we visit.

Many have recently reported on the disappearances occurring in China. This article mentions another detainee, Ai WeiWei, a famous and influential artist, who has been taken by Chinese officials. Despite requests from France, Germany, Britain, and the US to release WeiWei, Mr. Ai may be convicted of subversion. Last year I researched another famous individual, Liu XiaoBo, who won the Nobel Peace Prize and is still imprisoned by the Chinese government. I think it is so interesting that the Chinese government is so worried about uprisings and any governmental opposition that they are arresting many people. China wants to avoid a situation like those occurring in the Middle East; however, I almost feel that all these arrests may anger the Chinese and instead of causing fear, may cause the people to stand up to the government to an even greater degree.

If you thought the U.S. is the only nation hurting with the fluctuations of gas prices, think again. SOuth Korea as the fifth largest crude oil importer in the world imports 100 percent. The sovereign nation is now trying to calm inflation pressures and see if they can create competition within their own market to make oil pricing more competitive for the consumer. I like that even though not everything is done in a capitalistic way in the world, nations such as Korea are trying to continue to pursue capitalism as the best way that everyone can have an equal opportunity to be successful and not grow dependent on the government. Tyson Bryan

At only Age 45, Mrs. Nakagawa was promoted to CFO of Nomura Holdings Inc. This is the first time that a women has taken such a high role in one of Japan's leading banks. Nomura itself accounts for a fourth of all investment bankig activity in Japan. Her role is to now manage to expand into the global markets and compete with the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. Her company has recently had consecutive losses in the global markets and I think with her experience and drive, she will be able to get the job done. In Eastern culture, this is a very big step for human equality. I am happy that beyond all the tragedy in Japan, that businesses are still continuing to do what they do and continue to progress. Tyson Bryan

By Xinhua

People’s Daily Online

In Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, the Mongolian government and the U.S. Department of Defense met to go over the third phase of the annual "Gobi Wolf" disaster management exercise. Mongolia is a country where there is potential for a major natural or man-made disaster and the disaster management exercise is a plan that will be implemented in the event of a disaster. In the past year Mongolia has experienced more than 30 earthquakes with magnitude of over 3.8. The exercise will last 11 days, and personnel evacuation and rescue in schools and hospitals will be the focus in case of disaster. This is already the third year of the conference so it is not in response to the disaster in Japan but the discussion should include things they could possibly do better or be more prepared. It will be interesting to see how the members in Mongolia have responded to the disaster in Japan, it could very likely be the case that the members are already prepared for hard times as we have been asked to be.

Sam Gardner