Publish Date:

Indonesia is a country where over 50% of the population is under the age of 30. It is a country where the GDP has maintained an annual growth rate of 5% - despite “regulatory slowdowns” that many on the ground here believe could add 2-3% to that figure. And it is a country where hiring an immigration services facilitator to obtain an entry visa and clear customs is advisable, lest the traveler incur their own “regulatory slowdown.”

Publish Date:

Manila is a relatively short plane ride from Singapore, but a world apart. In Singapore, as I reported last week, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is the topic of the minute (even if some officials admit it’s “a lot of hope and not a whole lot of change, yet.”) In the Philippines, on the other hand, one high ranking government official estimated awareness of ASEAN at about seven percent in the general population and roughly 30 percent among businesses. He could not site any numbers for the AEC specifically.

Publish Date:

Oudtshoorn, the capital of ostrich industry, has been enjoying prosperity from ostrich farming since the 1880s. These big-eyed birds provide jobs to the locals and attract tourists from all over the world. Before I went on this trip to South Africa, I never knew ostrich farming could be turned into a profitable business. During the visit, I observed several advantages and disadvantages of ostrich farming.

Publish Date:

Spain's economic depression has changed many aspects of the country, one of them arguably including the abdication of its king, but recent reports have shown that the demographics of Spain's workforce have experienced a dramatic shift. Due to the lack of economic opportunities for Spain's youth, the cost of living, and high unemployment rate, many Spaniards have left the country. Spain experienced it's first population decline since 1971 in 2012, with statistics now stating that over 310,000 citizens have left the country since the end of 2012. In spite of this, five million foreigners have entered the country's workforce, mostly from Russia, China, and other Asian countries in search of bargains for valuable factory properties, water sources, and natural resources.

Publish Date:

This past week here in Spain, news outlets were dominated by the announcement of the abdication of King Juan Carlos, who has ruled the country since 1975. While the king's rule has been generally supported by the Spanish public, due to his implementation of a democratic system following the oppression of the fascist Franco regime, Spain's support of the king has dwindled rapidly in pace with the country's economic deterioration over the past 6 years. Although the king proclaimed that the succession of the throne by his son Felipe would bring new energy towards facing Spain's economic issues, new political parties, including "Podemos" that won 1.2 million votes in Sunday's elections, believe that the economic and political system created by Juan Carlos' government needs significant changes to meet the economic needs of the Spanish people.

Publish Date:

While the globalEDGE team is comprised of students and professionals with various academic backgrounds, one common theme amongst us is our passion for international business and to experience first-hand the effects of an increasingly globalized economic, political, and cultural world outside of the classroom. In my case, I have been given an incredible opportunity to work this summer with a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Poleas Global in Barcelona, Spain, which works to promote the coordination and multiplication of successful international relationships between the different sectors of the business world and projects aimed at social development. Alongside working in a dynamic international business-focused environment here in Barcelona, I will also be reading news articles from local sources, such as La Vanguardia and El País, to utilize different perspectives for analyzing global business news.