GreeN Growth - Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report

Laurence Brahm:Know Your Sun TzuIndo Korea ConnectSuccess Story ofKorea’s KakaoTalkasia-pacificwww.biztechreport.comVol. 3, No. 8, 2011reportGreenGrowthParadigmShift inDevelopmentand EconomicGrowthformer koreanprime ministerHan Seung-sooS. Korean Growth Rate RevisedDownward, Following 1Q GrowthImportance of Logistics Industryfor Growing EconomiesChinese-made Luxury YachtsNow Have a Status TagAsia Tech Coming Cleanwith Green SolutionsDrought in China andits ImplicationsChina Fightsfor Richesof the SouthChina SeaSchools inAsia GoHigh-Techwith iPadsW8,000 | £5.00 | €6.00`80 | US$7.00 | CN$7.00

asia-pacificwww.biztechreport.comreportContents Vol.3, No. 8, 2011Cover StoryGreen GrowthEmerging Paradigm Shift in Development and Economic Growthpage 8Publisher: mr. lee Deuk HoEditor-in-Chief: mr. lee Deuk HoPublished by: Asia-Pacific Business& Technology Report Co.Registration date: 2009.09.03Registration number: 서올중. 라00307Price: `80, W8,000, US$7.00, CN$7.00, £5.00, €6.00Annual subscription fee: W62,000/ US$62Senior Editorial Advisor:Mr. Sung-Woock ChoChief Consultant:Dr. Lakhvinder SinghChief Business Development Officer:Mr. Kim Cheol HoEditorial and Marketing Consultant:Mr. Parthasarthi JenaCreative Director:Mr. dan thwaitsEditorial Advisory Board:Mr. Suresh P PrabhuFormer Union Cabinet Minister for Power,Government of IndiaMr. N K GoyalPresident, Communications & ManufacturingAssociation of India, CMAIDr. Mezyad AlterkawiAssociate Professor, King Saud UniversityDr. Emanuel Yi PastreichDirector, The Asia InstituteMr. Jungsoo JangPresident, Korea Future InstituteMr. Michael BreenInsight Communications ConsultantsDr. donald kirkAuthor and JournalistTo contact Asia Pacific Business and Technology Reportfor advertising, submissions, subscriptions or generalcomments please email to contact@biztechreport.comThe views and opinions expressed in the articles are thoseof the authors and do not in any way reflect the editorialpolicy of Asia Pacific Business and Technology ReportVol. 3, No. 8, 2011PRINTED IN SOUTH KOREAQa &Korea Taking the Lead in Pushing Green Growthhan seung-soo — pa g e 9laurence brahm — pa g e 26cho chung yeon — pa g e 48green14 Biofuel: Answer to Tomorrow’s EnergyNeeds in Southeast AsiaBy SHAMILA JANAKIRAMAN14 Asia Tech Coming Clean with GreenSolutionsBy lynette wu15 New Green Laws: Asia-Pacific Inc.Re-strategizing their Carbon Liabilities andForecastingBy priyanka sharma16 Green China: Increased Use of Biofuelsto Reduce CO2 EmissionsBy kevin liuspecial event18 Indo Korea ConnectBy staff reporterdiplomacy22 China Fights for the Riches of the SouthChina SeaBy donald kirk23 Philippines Seeking Answers toUnprecedented Chinese Activities onSpratly IslandsBy vinti vaid24 UN Peacekeepers to Keep their Date andWithdrwaw after East TimorPresidential Elections in 2012By vinti vaidleadership28 Prasanna Patsani: Leader with PoeticTouchBy parthasarthi jenabusiness30 Chinese-made Luxury Yachts are theNewest Status SymbolBy yashika dhingra31 Implications of the Drought in ChinaBy yashika dhingra32 South Korean Financial LeadersDeflect OECD Criticism of RisingInequitiesBy donald kirk33 South Korean Growth Rate RevisedDownward, Following 1st Quarter GrowthBy rashmi gupta34 Importance of Logistics Industry forGrowing EconomiesBy shamila janakiramanentertainment36 Bollywood Sharest its Greatest Loveas PiFAn ClosesBy sun bangtravel38 Jeju Island: Halla Mountain and OlleHikingBy jin-suk yangtechnology40 Asian Schools Go Hight-Tech with iPadsBy lynette wu41 Opportunistic HackersBy meenakshi42 Google Panda: What it Means for YourBusinessBy rajani baburajan43 Mobile Handset Market in IndiaBy meenakshi44 Fastest Wireless Transmission CircuitTechnology Developing in JapanBy anuradha shukla44 Success Story of KakaoTalk, theKorean TwitterBy staff reporter45 Will Humanoids Conquer Asia First?By oliver plaetevoetsports46 Korea’s Winter Wonderland Overjoyedat Prospect of Hosting 2018 OlympicsBy donald kirknew & notable: GOOGLE+ — pa g e 50

companies covered in this IssuecompanyAloe Private EquityAppleAsian Development BankCity Evening DailyDaido Steel Co. Ltd.FujitsuGoogle+Global Green Growth InstituteIndo Korea ConnectInternational Monetary FundLGNew Energy and Industrial TechnologyDevelopment OrgNews Corporation GroupNovozymesPanasonicSamsungSharp CorpSinopecSoftbankSonyToyotaUnileverWireless Gigabit Alliancearticle(S)• Asia Tech Coming Clean with Green Solutions• Asian Schools go High-Tech with iPads• Asia Tech Coming Clean with Green Solutions• Cho Chung Yeon of City Evening Daily• Japan to Develop High-Efficiency Concentrating Photovoltaic Cell• Will Humanoids Conquer Asia First?• Google+ Gives the Rare Gift of Internet Privacy to Social Networking• Green Growth: Emerging Paradigm Shift in Development andEconomic Growth• Indo Korea Connect• Asia Tech Coming Clean with Green Solutions• Success Story of the Korean Twitter• Japan to Develop High-Efficiency Concentrating Photovoltaic Cell• Asian Schools go High-Tech with iPads• Green China: Increased Use of Bio-Fuels to Reduce CO2 Emissions• Fastest Wireless Transmission Circuit Technology Developing in Japan• Asian Schools go High-Tech with iPads• Japan to Develop High-Efficiency Concentrating Photovoltaic Cell• Green China: Increased Use of Bio-Fuels to Reduce CO2 Emissions• Green Growth: Emerging Paradigm Shift in Development andEconomic Growth• Will Humanoids Conquer Asia First?• Will Humanoids Conquer Asia First?• Green China: Increased Use of Bio-Fuels to Reduce CO2 Emissions• Fastest Wireless Transmission Circuit Technology Developing in Japanasia-pacificwww.biztechreport.comreport

coverstorycoverstoryGreen Growth:Emerging ParadigmShift in Developmentand Economic GrowthGlobal Green Growth Institute Leads the WayNotable figures attending from abroadincluded Lykke Friis, the Danish Ministerfor Climate and Energy; UNESCAP ExecutiveSecretary Noeleen Heyzer; and AngelGurria, the Secretary-General of the OECD.Korean President Lee Myung-bak also spokein the opening ceremony, and in attendanceby recorded video was Ban Ki-moon,Secretary-General of the United Nations.The date itself was also quite significant,as this year is the 50th anniversary of theOECD, the 15th anniversary of Korea joiningit, and the one year anniversary of theGlobal Green Growth Institute, launched inKorea.The point of the summit was to try topush a more responsible civilization whichwould change policies and influence publicand private sectors to use more sustainabletechnologies in order to try to avoid theproblems that the industrial revolution hascaused the planet. President Lee said at theopening ceremony, “We can make changesif we concentrate all our efforts on harmonybetween man and the earth. The key to agreen economy with low carbon emissionsis technology.” The President’s office saidthat he hoped the forum would become thepremier forum in which to discuss globalgreen growth issues.The two days of the summit had differentfocuses. The first day was designed toreinforce cooperation between countries inthe development of green growth, and forsharing development strategies. The secondday focused on new partnerships andleadership in green growth. Because it wasalso an OECD meeting, some of the topicsdiscussed on the second day veered awayfrom green technology and into discussionsabout Korea’s economy.Notable statements during the summitThe point of the summit was to try topush a more responsible civilizationwhich would change policies and influencepublic and private sectors to usemore sustainable technologies in order totry to avoid the problems that the industrialrevolution has caused the planet.Han Seung-soo | Global Green Growth Institute ChairmanBy Matthew WeigandIf you were in the vicinity of the Lotte Hotel in downtownSeoul on June 20 to 21 of this year, you mighthave noticed an increased security presence and an unusuallylarge number of nondescript black cars. Thatwas due to the Global Green Growth Summit, in which91 foreign dignitaries from 25 different countries gatheredto discuss the issues of climate change and thetechnological response to these unfortunate realities.Qa &Korea Taking theLead in PushingGreen GrowthThe Asia-Pacific Business and TechnologyReport interviewed Dr. Han Seungsoo,former Prime Minister of Korea, inhis new position as the Chairman of theGlobal Green Growth Institute, whichis an organization dedicated to promotinggreen growth around the world. Wespoke with him about green growth,governmental support, and the future ofa post-Industrial Revolution globe.8 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 9

coverstorycoverstoryincluded one from Masayoshi Son, Chairmanand CEO of Japan’s Softbank, who saidthat Japan needed to reduce its nuclear energydependence. He apologized to Japan’sneighbors by saying, “We feel very sorry toour neighbor countries like Korea, China,Taiwan and so on, and also for polluting theair around the world. This is a big change.And I feel so sorry about that, so we have tomake some change to the Japanese environmentdependence on the [nuclear] energy.”There was some good news as well fromSuntech’s CEO Zhengrong Shi. Suntech isthe world’s biggest maker of solar panels,and its CEO noted that the cost of electricityhad gone down in the past year. “Today,I’m very pleased to see that we, Suntech,together with all our global PV [photovoltaics]companies have driven down the costof solar electricity by more than 70 percentsince 2001. It is now as low as 50 US centsper kilowatt hour in many regions evenwithout government subsidies,” he said.The summit was a significant step for Koreaas a whole and the Lee administrationespecially, since Lee Myung-bak has beenpushing for the promotion of green growthas one of his major policies for his entire administration.Korea is trying to place itselfat the forefront of the global green technologypush with its Global Green Growth Instituteand the government-led research anddevelopment of wind power, solar power,and fuel cells. This summit laid a strongerfoundation for a good next step in that direction.In fact, Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, VicePresident of the Asian Development Bank,praised Korea on the first day, saying thatits road-map for green growth was a rolemodel for other countries. She expressedhopes that countries would cooperate onnew environmentally-friendly policies similarto Korea’s.The Global Green Growth Institute(GGGI) was heavily stressed during the summit.The Chairman of the institute, Dr. HanSeung-soo, also gave one of several openingspeeches. The GGGI is the natural progressionof the activities at the summit, and bycooperating with it, the concerned countriescan further coordinate their agreementsreached at the gathering. The GGGI,even after just one year of operation, alreadyhas an impressive list of accomplishments.The institute has opened two branchoffices, one in Copenhagen and the otherin Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. The GGGI hasalso been active in Kazakhstan by attendingthe EBRD’s 20th annual meeting in Astanaand giving a presentation entitled “BuildingKazakhstan’s Green Growth Pathway” onMay 19 (the EBRD is a major multilateral developmentbank). The GGGI agreed to helpimplement Kazakhstan’s National GreenGrowth Plan in the upcoming months. Itsstrategic partnership with EBRD will aid inthe efforts of both organizations to promotegreen further around the world.The GGGI also signed a memorandum ofunderstanding with the World EconomicForum on January 30 of this year, aimingIn Korea there is a government-led push for greentechnology development. How does that match upwith the private sector in Korea? Are there significantprivate sector initiatives for green growth?Green growth is a new growth paradigm different from traditionalquantity-oriented fossil fuel-dependent growth. So it has tobe initiated directly by the government. On the growth paradigmshift, the government has to be a leader while the private sector isa follower. Once the government sets the strategy in motion, thenthere will be incentives for the private sector to join in. That is whatwill happen in Korea.For example, when the green growth policy was initiated in January2009, green technology was one of the most important componentsof its policy package. We then identified 17 sectors as newengines of growth under 3 different categories. These included sixprojects under the category of green technology industries such asrenewable energies, low-carbon energies, advanced water management,LED applications, green transportation systems and greencities; and another six industries in the category of fusion technologyincluding IT fusion with manufacturing technology such asrobot applications, new materials and nano fusion, biomedicineand high value-added food industries. Finally, an additional fiveprojects make up high value-added job-creating industries suchas globalized healthcare and education services, green financing,content and software development, medical services, and so on.The government is to allocate 2 percent of the GDP as R&D ongreen technology and green growth-related areas. Through thiswe are trying to broaden the infrastructure for the private sectorso that it can join in when the time comes.How does Korea stand up on the global stage comparedto other countries that are also focusing ongreen growth technology?As you know, Korea is the first country that implemented thegreen growth strategy. Green growth is Korea’s response to thechallenge of climate change. Most countries are trying to respondto climate change, but unless you change the system, you will notbe able to solve the fundamental problems of climate change. Climatechange is one of the best examples of externality on a globalscale and what we are trying to do in Korea is to internalize it byendogenizing climate change as a domestic variable in our policyplanningequation.Korea is the first country that has been actually implementinggreen growth policies since January 2009. We have several institutionalframeworks initiated. The Presidential Committee on GreenGrowth was established and the National Assembly passed a FrameworkAct on Low Carbon Green Growth, the first of its kind in theworld. We are in the third year of implementing the first Five YearGreen Growth Plan (2009-13). There is no other country that is goingthrough this kind of system change at this moment.Two years ago when I was the Prime Minister and served as Chairof the 2009 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, I was able to garnerunanimous support of the participating ministers to adopt theDeclaration on Green Growth. Based on that resolution, the OECDSecretariat began to study green growth, producing this year a veryimportant document entitled Towards Green Growth.You are very invested in global sustainability, beinginvolved with many different international initiatives.What are your worries about the future of theworld, and your hopes, as far as green issues areconcerned?I am currently on the UN Secretary-General’s High-Panel onGlobal Sustainability and serve as Co-Chair of the Working Group IIdealing with paradigm shifts.I am worried that the year 2012 is the final year of the KyotoProtocol and there is no prospect of any new agreement that willreplace it. For the success of the Conference of the Parties of theUNFCCC, many world leaders met at COP 13 in Bali, COP 15 in Copenhagen,and COP 16 in Cancun but no concrete agreement wasmade. I am worried that unless we find a new modality to tacklethe challenge of climate change, the future of the world cannot butbe very gloomy.10 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 11

coverstorycoverstoryI believe that mitigation alone will not solve the problem of climatechange and that in order to change the system, the new paradigmof growth, i.e. green growth, has to be adopted globally. That’swhy Korea’s green growth strategy is timely and this new paradigmof growth will be able to fundamentally solve the problem. The GlobalGreen Growth Institute (GGGI) was created to share Korea’s knowledgeand experience on green growth with developing countries.There are many differences between developedand developing countries. As a leader of the greengrowth technology philosophy, what kinds of solutionscan you suggest so that developed and developingcountries can move forward together?When faced with the problem of climate change, we tend topoint fingers at each other, blaming another party for being moreresponsible. It is true that those countries, i.e. Annex 1 countries definedin the Kyoto Protocol which benefitted greatly from the firstindustrial revolution, are more responsible than the others. Thatis why the principle of common but differentiated responsibility isinscribed as the most important principle of the UNFCCC. However,with the rapid economic development of emerging economies, theirresponsibility is also increasing. That is why the National AppropriateMitigation Action (NAMA) was agreed at the time of COP13 inBali, opening the door for developing and emerging economies totake some responsibility.A paradigm shift is a good idea, and after thenuclear crisis in Fukushima many countries havedecided to shift from nuclear to other sources. Buthow realistic is it for developing countries to have ato work together to support green growththrough public-private partnerships. Morespecifically, the two organizations willwork together to promote low-carbongreen infrastructure and a more intelligentuse of water resources. GGGI has receivedfinancial support and encouragement fromincreasing number of partner countries includingDenmark, the UAE, Australia andJapan. During 2010, GGGI launched workin its first three countries: Brazil, Ethiopiaand Indonesia. Work will continue in thesecountries during 2011 and begin in Kazakstan,the UAE and Cambodia. Not bad afterjust one year of work.The summit emphasized a few key points,and their continual emphasis from manydifferent sources could serve as a measureof the pulse on the current status of climatechange opinion. Every official attending thesummit believed that something shouldbe done about climate change, which is awelcome contrast to the debate still ragingin the popular media of many countries.paradigm shift, like for Korea to shift from nuclearto sustainable energy?When I went to Hannover in 2009, I had a long talk with thePresident of the Max Planck Institute who said that although weare trying to develop new and renewable energy as a major substitutefor massive fossil fuel usage, it will take many years for thisnew and renewable energy to replace fossil fuels, and until then theonly alternative clean energy is nuclear. Unfortunately, because ofthe impact of the tsunami on the Fukushima nuclear plant, publicopinion is now against nuclear plants. At the time of the Three MileIsland incident and at the time of the Chernobyl accident in 1986,public opinion was also against nuclear energy. I think it will takesome time to restore the confidence of the public in clean nuclearenergy. In an age of climate change, nuclear energy seems to be theonly alternative for some time to come.China is the biggest polluter in the world. Until weare able to solve this problem, able to bring Chinaon board, nothing concrete will happen. What areyour proposals to solve China’s crisis?China is now the largest carbon emitter followed by the UnitedStates, Russia and India. They are all heavy polluters. China has actuallybeen doing a lot to solve this problem. For example, theirrecently announced five year plan’s annual growth target was loweredfrom 8 percent to 7 percent. By reducing the growth rate theyare trying to use less fossil fuel. After that, they are trying to replacethe whole system of electricity-generating plants using gas and oilby other hydroelectric and even nuclear plants. So in their own wayChina has been trying very hard to reduce carbon emissions.Members of panels in the first few sessionsspent quite a long time politely agreeingwith each other on the seriousness of thesituation and the dire consequences tohappen if nothing was to be done aboutclimate change. This widespread selfagreementamong the attending membersindicates that one should look to those absentfrom the summit for dissenting opinions.In that case, notable absentee nationsfrom the summit included Russia, China,and the United States. One wonders whattheir reluctance is to participate in suchan altruistic endeavor.Also, another theme that was repeatedthroughout the two days of the meetingwas the need for greater international cooperation.The officials in attendance atthe summit all agreed that the problemwas larger than just one or two countriescould solve together, and any solutionmust be a concerted global effort. The discussionsreminded those in attendance ofthe discussions surrounding the KyotoProtocol in 1997. The solutions recentlyoffered to the problems of global climatechange also require international cooperationon the scale of the Kyoto Protocol,or even beyond that. The GGGI seemsto be an excellent framework throughwhich to encourage such internationalcooperation, and with a few more yearsof work it may be able to engineer a comprehensivepolicy change throughoutmost of the world.The third major point that was emphasizedthroughout the summit was theneed for a technological answer to climatechange. This marks a new step beyond theidea of a simple reduction in pollution.If the ideas of the Global Green GrowthSummit are implemented, this wouldresult in a comprehensive, worldwide effortto develop and use the technologiesneeded to comprehensively change theway the world gets and uses energy. Somecountries have a head start in developinggreen technologies, such as the Netherlands,Denmark, and the United States.The Netherlands and Denmark are knownfor their development in wind power,while the United States has been workingon solar power initiatives for quite sometime and several of the most successfulsolar-power-based companies are locatedthere.Other countries have the unfortunateposition of not having made any investmentinto green growth technologies, andalso not being fully powered by conventionalfossil fuels either. This leads to somepotential for criticism and finger-pointing,as countries which have not fully participatedin the industrial evolution feel likethey have now perpetually fallen behindthe rest of the world, and as industrializedcountries move on to the next step ofgreen technologies, those same countrieswhich benefitted from the industrial revolutionare now trying to discourage othercountries from having their own industrialrevolution. However, hopefully with thecoordination of the GGGI and like-mindedinternational organizations, such problemscan be solved for the betterment ofthe world as a whole.All in all, the summit can be said to havebeen a success. It was encouraging to seeso many different countries on the samepage and working with the same ideas oftechnological solutions to climate change.The boost in visibility that sustainable,technological solutions to climate changehave received through this summit andthe continued work of the GGGI can onlyhelp our home in the long run. A-PIt is commonly said that greentechnology is a luxury of the rich.It is the luxury of countries thathave already achieved everythingelse and now they can care aboutsuch things as the environment.What is your response to such anidea?That is exactly the problem facing uswhen we want to emphasize the need fora growth paradigm shift. I think that thegreen growth paradigm shift is facilitatedby the rapid advancement of informationand communications technology. Many developingcountries are beginning to benefitfrom the development of information andcommunications technology. Green growthis not a luxury which can only be affordedin developed countries but a necessity forany country which wants to grow and atthe same time enhance climatic and environmentalsustainability.Cooperation between India andKorea is very strong, with US$20billion in trade. But cooperationbetween India and Korea ingreen technology is that not thatgreat. Why do you think that is?You have to remember that Korea hasembarked on this new paradigm only twoyears ago and we hope that we will be ableto closely cooperate with India on this issuein due course.What are your future plans, whatis your vision? How can Koreaand your institute play a leadingrole in the adoption of greengrowth technology?Our ultimate vision is for the world toemulate what Korea is trying to do in tacklingthe fundamental problem of climatechange. GGGI was created only a year agobut has been affecting many countries already.We hope to continue to share theexperience and knowledge of green growthwith developing countries where the domesticcapacity is lacking. Developed countrieswill not have any problem in emulatingwhat we have been doing. As the mainfactor of production in green growth is newideas, transformational innovations andstate-of-the-art technology, GGGI has to doits best in promoting green technology. A-P12 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORTA-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 13

greenIqoncepDreamstime.comGreen China:Increased Use ofBiofuels to ReduceCO2 EmissionsBy Kevin LiuJust like other countriesin the world today, Chinais faced with issuesrelated to the environmentand climate change aswell as growing concerns onenergy security more thanever before.Energy production is dominated by theuse of large quantities of coal and fossil fuelswhich are polluting, non-renewable, andfacing imminent depletion. Oil prices continueto surge in the global market, therebyputting more pressure on the Chinese governmentto support the country’s growingeconomy, the increasing number of privatecar ownerships, and the mounting impactsof environmental pollution.To address these issues, China has embarkedon a new Five Year Plan for 2011 to2015 with a major thrust in finding renewablesources of energy to support the economyand its booming industries. The use ofbiofuels will play a significant part towardsthis end and a domestic biofuel industry willprovide a viable option for the governmentin its efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.In the recent past, the development ofbiofuels, which include biodiesel and ethanolfuel, was largely supported by incentivesfrom the government. However, the industryis now faced with conflicts between foodsecurity and energy production, promptingthe Chinese government to stop the productionof ethanol from grain crops. China hasno option but to pursue development insecond-generation biofuels which are producedfrom agricultural waste instead of edibleoils, sugar, starch, and other foodstuffs.While the United States and Brazil lead ethanolproduction in terms of volume, Chinamay be on its way as the leader of a secondbiofuel generation, and it has placed this onits political agenda.This focus will be a major step in improvingthe nation’s energy efficiency andreducing the country’s reliance on coal, petroleum,and other fossil fuels. Technologiesin this area are available now and are providingunique opportunities for China for cleanenergy production. Biofuel production willalso be a means of developing a new socialistcountryside by providing new sources of incomeand other employment opportunitiesfor people in rural areas. Biofuel productionwill help ensure continued economic growthby reducing dependence on expensive fossilfuels while at the same time lowering thenation’s overall carbon footprint.Issues and Challenges forBiofuel Use in ChinaThe Chinese government is keen on reducingthe country’s dependence on petroleumand other fossil fuels, and has reliedon biofuel production as a viable alternative.However, China has seen how an increaseddemand for corn as feedstock for ethanolproduction resulted in crowding out land inthe United States and Brazil – land that wasprimarily intended for food production.What this simply means is that convertingland from growing conventional foodcrops and switching to biofuel crops wouldaffect the country’s food production. This isnot a viable scenario for China, with its verylarge population and only 10 percent of itsland area being arable. Food security has alwaysbeen a big issue for China, and it loomslarge in the country’s future struggle to supportits very large population and rapidlygrowingeconomy. In the past, China hasbeen known to implement drastic measuresto mitigate concerns on population andfood security – and the government wouldnot risk going through that entire struggleonce more.This concern for food security promptedthe government to put restrictions on theuse of grain crops for ethanol production.However, there is still an urgent need to producealternative fuels, prompting the governmentto push and support the developmentof alternatives and non-grain crops forfeedstock. The country desires to have foodsecurity for its growing population, and findingalternatives for biofuel feedstock wouldbe a welcome option that the governmentand emerging industry would embrace.Trends in Biofuel Use in ChinaIn 2005, China emerged as the third largestproducer of biofuels next to the UnitedStates and Brazil, with the government’stop planning agency, the National Developmentand Reform Commission, settingproduction targets to meet 15 percent ofthe country’s transportation energy needsby the year 2020. The country now has fourfacilities with a total capacity of 2.2 millionmetric tons, or approximately 47,000 barrels,per day.These facilities can produce up to 1.02million metric tons of ethanol from graincrops plus another 800,000 metric tonsfrom corn. But faced with growing concernson food security and price inflation, Chinamoved away from using corn and grains asfeedstock for ethanol production and hasswitched to non-grain crops for production.The use of second-generation biofuel technologieswill further address this issue andhelp the country reach its goal of using nonfossilfuel energy sources to supply at leastwww.biztechreport.com11 percent of China’s total consumption bythe year 2015.The use of second-generation biofueltechnologies will not only have the potentialof reducing CO2 emissions by as muchas 90 percent from what the country isproducing right now, but it will also have alesser impact on food production, supplies,and prices. Agricultural waste also creates asignificant impact on the environment, particularlyon current disposal methods andthe resulting pollution. Using it as feedstockfor ethanol production will help mitigatethis environmental concern.A good example is the agricultural provinceof Anhui where farmers previouslyburned surplus hay, with the resultant ashused as fertilizer to provide nutrients to thesoil. The problem, however, is that burningstraw would produce severe air pollutionaside from causing interference with localflights. Unilever, however, made good useof this agricultural waste by converting it tofuel for manufacturing laundry detergentpowder in its Hefei factory in Anhui. Thefactory has strict controls for protecting andmaintaining air quality, and the resultantby-products are also used to produce bricks.Last year, the China Petrochemical Corporationpartnered with the China NationalCereals, Oils, and Foodstuff Corporation andNovozymes, a company producing enzymesused for the production of bio-industrialproducts, to build a 10,000 ton-capacity biofuelproduction plant that will make use ofthe leaves and stalks of corn to produce fuel.This pilot plant will be upgraded to 20 timesits current size starting the end of 2011 until2013, where the plant will have a commercialcapacity of up to 100,000 metric tons ofbiofuel production.Aside from using agricultural wastes forbiofuel feedstock, China has also started agriculturaldevelopment in growing non-foodcrops in less agriculturally-productive lands.Such crops include sweet sorghum and jatrophacurcas, which can be grown and extractedfor oil that can be used as feedstockfor biofuels. The seeds from the jatrophaplant produce the highly poisonous toxalbumincurcin, but it also produces about 27 to40 percent oil which can be processed intohigh-quality biodiesel. What makes jatrophaideal for planting in less-productive lands isthat the plant is resistant to high degrees ofaridity and can be grown even in deserts.Sinopec, the country’s largest state oilcompany, invested US$5 billion in jatrophacurcas production for plantations in Chinaas well as in other locations like Indonesia.Last year, the Guizhou Province appliedto the National Development and ReformCommission its plans of building a 50,000-ton biofuel industrialization demonstrationproject using oil from the jatropha curcas asfeedstock. Working with the provincial governmentis the China Petroleum and ChemicalCorporation, which invested US$19 millionfor a 30 percent stake in the project.A 300-ton trial production line has alreadybeen established and plans of upgrading theplant to 1 million ton per year capacity ison its way.China’s Green Future withBiofuelsAccording to the International EnergyAgency, the consumption of biofuels on aContinued on Page 2316 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT

specialeventspecialevent(In this photo) Mr. JS Ham, VP Samsung Electronics; Mr. K Balaji, MD, The Hindu; Mr. Gireesh Sanghi, Ex. MP and Chairman of AGA Publications; Mr. Lee Jae-sang, Director, KoreaTourism Organization; Mr. Balakrishnan, Past President of ICAI; Mr. Sivagnanam, Director, MSME Govt. of India; along with Director Indo Korea Connect Ms. Madhubala Nahar; IKBPFPresident Dr. Lakhvinder Singh; and Chairman of Adbureau Mr. M Abirchand Nahar.Indo Korea Connectby staff reporterIndo Korea Connect – The first ever platform for Koreanand Indian Companies and professionals to cometogether for networking, fellowship and business in Indiawas inaugurated in Chennai, India on June 24 at theluxurious Taj Coromandel Hotel, amongst a dazzlingarray of business stalwarts, government officials, politicians,professionals and trade and business forums.Being the first such forum of its kind,Indo Korea Connect is expected to facilitatethe objectives of the Inda-Korea ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership Agreement(CEPA) in association with the governmentof India, and MSME, joined by the WorldwideAdvisory Net.Key Objectives of Indo KoreaConnect1. To bring companies and professionalsof both countries together andenhance each other’s capabilitiesinternationally, thereby acceleratingthe mutual growth process throughthe Connect initiatives.2. To organize company specific meetingsbased on the individual companies’requirements.3. To organize support functions likecompany formation, obtaining PANnumbers, providing audit and accountfunctions, tax and investmentplanning, financial advice about India,etc.4. To help in identifying locations forfactory and office set ups in specialeconomic zones and other areas,organize the required manpower,organize business centers, organizemeetings with regulatory authorities,organize meetings with relevantIndian ministries, organize meetingswith customers if required, and facilitatefunctioning of local business.The business conference was organized togive a visible start to the initiative and thiswas achieved with flying colors as the registrationcounter was kept busy all throughoutthe conference.To showcase the solidarity toward this initiative,top brass from reputed corporationssuch as Mr. J S Ham, Vice President, SamsungElectronics India Ltd; and Mr. K Balaji,Managing Director, The Hindu; Ms. MadhubalaNahar Director, Indo Korea Connect;Mr. Sivagnanam Director, MSME Govt. of India;Mr. Gireesh Kumar Sanghi, ex. MP andChairman AGA publications (Varth Group);management representatives from RelianceMoney, Reliance Composite Insurance,Ashok Leyland, Tata Teleservices, the IPL– Amalgamation group, Korea Tourism Organization,India Tourism, PWC, KPMG, BiztechReport Asia, Standard Chartered Bank,and over 270 business owners and professionalswere present at the venue. Trade andprofessional forums such as the Indo-KoreaBusiness and Policy Forum, The Institute ofMarine Engineers India, TIE, Andhra Chamberof Commerce, Hindustan Chamber ofCommerce, Young India Entrepreneurs andGovt. Departments such as MSME, Govt. ofIndia, STPI Govt. of India and India Tourismpartnered with this initiative.While the key objective of the conferencewas to disseminate information aboutQa &Madhubala NaharDirector of the Indo Korea Connect & Worldwide Advisory Net, Ms.Madhubala Nahar is a two-time “Intellectual Women of the Year” awardrecipient for 2008 and 2009, a celebrated Chartered Accountant withover 15 years of experience, an Information Systems Auditor, a CouncilMember with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for over 12years, a two-term committee member of the Reserve Bank of India (ApexBanking Regulator in India) State Co-ordination Committee, recipient ofthe Gov’t. of India Recognition for Academic Excellency, having received98 percent, the highest marks in pre-university, a sought-after speakerin the USA, UAE, Singapore, and Malaysia on the subjects of IFRS, DoingBusiness in India, International Taxation, and the list goes on. Indeed, thislady entrepreneur has quite a glittering profile.The Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report got close to Ms. Naharto learn a little more about her journey so far, and also her future plans.Madam, hailing from a wellplacedbusiness family, alife of peace and luxury wasalways your surroundings. Sothen, what inspires you to putin all the hard work to do thethings that you have done overthe years?Life, as they say, needs a purpose. I rememberthat even when I pursued mymasters after marriage with two kidsin my lap, it surprised most people andraised the obvious ‘why?’ But I did clearmy Chartered Accountancy, and the restas they say is history. My inspiration hasalways been the vision to create a legacyfor future generations to come. “Withgreat power comes great responsibility”and it was only a matter of time beforeI fulfilled my purpose and delivered onmy responsibility.You’re a role model of sortsfor many women and a pioneerin starting many initiatives.How difficult is it to takethe lead?Any new venture comes with its ownshare of challenges and difficulties, butthe trick is in not getting overwhelmedby it but rather in seeing the opportunitiesand learnings in them. Perseverancewithout doubt is one of the key traits;innovation and to large extent courageare also vital ingredients.How does being called the IntellectualWoman of the Yearfeel?I am humbled by the recognition butit also calls for a great deal of introspection.One needs to channel energies forthe greater good and make sure thatone is worthy of the honor.As an established entrepreneurand a reputed businessconsultant to many MNCs,what do you think makesdoing business in India attractiveto these foreign companies?The biggest and most obvious reasonfor any consumer-driven business fromacross the globe would be the sheer sizeand depth of our consumer market,coupled with the fact that India todaycan boast of a very young and financially-growingpopulation, which makesthe Indian economy very attractive.So what are the key servicesthat MNCs look out for and18 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORTA-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 19

specialeventspecialeventThe relationship between India and Korea has always beenwarm, and now with the advent of CEPA (the ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership Agreement) the business ties and tradeopportunities have the potential of being taken to successheights never before seen. One of the key objectives of our servicesfrom India would be to facilitate the flow of activities betweenIndia and Korea, knowledge dissemination and exemption,and also managing the local legalities in India. The samewould ably be supported by the Indo-Korea Business and PolicyForum from Korea.As a woman of many achievements, what is yourgreatest feat thus far?As the famous painter once said, “My greatest painting is yetto be painted.” My greatest achievement is yet to come.How do you manage work life and balance yourbusy work schedule?My work is my passion but family and friends are my firstpriority on any day, and hence we as a family try to take timeout whenever opportunity presents itself. I try and ensure thatat least one meal a day is together with everyone in the family,and with technology we today are at least aware of each oneswhereabouts.What is your vision for the future?Thanks to advancements in technology we can stay connectedwith anyone in any part of the world. I dream of a globalvillage where there are no language or place barriers, whereeveryone comes under the same umbrella and business flowswith the harmony of a mountain stream.After the grand success of Indo Korea Connect2011, the motto of the conference “Join thegrowth, let’s Connect” has become a commonphrase on the lips of many. How do you feelafter starting something that has had this farreachingeffect?Well, the fact that the motto was readily accepted and alsoembraced by all made the conference a bigger hit than whatwas expected. The motto was coined to emphasize the need ofthe hour that growth demands unity - unity of both countries,unity of companies and businessmen, and unity in mutualgrowth. And we sincerely hope that it fulfills its purpose of inspiringmany more toward taking advantage of the opportunitythat lies ahead of us.Tourism is touted as one of the biggest opportunitiesbetween the two countries. What is yourtake on this?Tourism without a doubt is a huge opportunity and more so,also a perfect way for people to build stronger ties with eachother. IKC 2011 had a session dedicated to tourism, where theKorea Tourism Director, Mr. Lee Jae-sang, shared the sessionwith the India Tourism Regional Director. We would conductmore of such sessions and direct meetings to showcase the importanceof tourism and would do our bit in its proliferation. A-Pthe CEPA and its advantages, the industryknowledge and domain expertise shared bythe partnering forums added to the event,bringing to life the true essence of the mottoof the forum – “Join the Growth, Let’sConnect.“Ms Madhubala Nahar thanked the Presidentof IKB&PF Dr. Lakhvinder Singh for hiscontributions toward making this conferencea grand success. The honored speakersat the conference not only enthralled thedelegates with their research and insightfulness,but also ensured that their presentationseducated and motivated the audienceof businessmen toward internationaltrade and commerce.The other sessions covered during theconference included: Automobiles, Bankingand Financial, International Media andits importance, CEPA, Shipping and opportunitiesin ship management, IFRS and InternationalTaxation, and Insurance. Therewere also special guest lectures on Yoga,Nutrition and Healthy Living and an exclusivesession on International Brand Architecture– Brand assessment and valuationfrom Asia’s perspective.The Event was covered by over fourteennational dailies in India. “Join the Growth,Let’s Connect“ has become a commonphrase amongst industries and companiesand with time will only grow larger. A-PKorean Trade MinisterKim Jong-hoon andIndian CommerceMinister Anand Sharmashake hands after signingthe ComprehensiveEconomic PartnershipAgreement.The CEPA in brief:The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is a free trade agreementbetween India and South Korea. The agreement was signed by Indian CommerceMinister Mr. Anand Sharma and South Korean Commerce Minister Mr. KimJong-hoon. The objectives of this agreement are to liberalize and facilitate tradein goods and services and expand investment between the parties, strengtheningeconomic relations. Further objectives include to establish and promote fair competition,and improve efficiencies and competitiveness for everyone involved.Ms. Madhubala Nahar, the Director of Indo Korea Connect, a CelebratedChartered Accountant, Past Council Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountantsof India, an erstwhile member of the State Co-ordination committee ofthe Reserve Bank of India, winner of the Central Government award for higherstudies, and a two-time winner of the Women of the Year Award (2009 and 2010),was recognized as the key patriarch of the initiative and said, “I am humbled bythis honor and responsibility“ at the inaugural.As for the future, Indo Korea Connect will continue to create bridges and tiesbetween the two countries through its connect initiatives in different cities inIndia and S. Korea. Dr. Lakhvinder Singh assured his full support toward the initiativeand would shortly be handling the external affairs based out of Korea.Further information on the upcoming Business Networking and Knowledge Summits, Buyer–Seller Meets, and Indo Korean Cultural Festivals will be available on www.indokoreaconenct.com and with the IKB&PF’s office.how can their entrances into India be madesmoother?Most companies that have entered the Indian shores so farare of commendable stature and have come with a certain levelof market study before entering the country, and hence the servicessought out have been administrative, legal, accounting,financial, and managing taxation. Services such as the formationof companies, getting manufacturing or business licenses,opening and managing bank accounts, managing accounts, fulfillingstaffing and manpower requirements, and so on, havebeen in demand. But efforts are being put in place in terms ofservice offerings to an extent that would enable even a micro orsmall company or investor to do business with India with easecomparable to doing business in their own countries.What is Indo Korea Connect all about?Indo Korea Connect is perhaps the first ever global platformwhere Korean and Indian companies and professionalscan come together for networking, fellowship, and business inIndia. It would help in accelerating the growth process by enhancingthe capabilities of companies from both countries internationally.The initiative has the blessings of various ministriesof the government of India, including the MSME ministry,and it has already seen heartwarming support from corporateand industry interests in India.In addition, Indo Korea Connect would provide the followingservices to Korean companies who plan to set up companiesor offices in India and the same would be co-ordinated by theIndo-Korea Business and Policy Forum in Korea.1. One-to-one meetings with Indian companies;2. Doing government regulatory works, like formation ofcompanies; availing the PAN (permanent account nos.),and DIN (director information nos.); opening bank accounts;arranging for LCs with banks for export and imports,and IE code nos;3. Providing audit and accounts assistance, providing manpowerfor IT professionals;4. Establishing business centers to start offices;5. Supporting end-to-end solutions to set up businessesand networking, including marketing solutions in India.Could you shed some light on CEPA and what itcould do for the relationship between India andKorea?Reporting from India, International correspondent - Biztech Report Asia,Avinash Nahar20 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORTA-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 21

diplomacyChina Fights for the Richesof the South China SeaBy Donald KirkThe sparks are flying inwhat has been a diplomaticand propagandawar for a little-known islandchain claimed in whole orin part by half a dozen powers,notably China but alsoTaiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines,Malaysia, and Brunei.Stunnedmullett | Dreamstime.comMysterious sightings of Chinese warplanesover distant islets, atolls, and reefs inthe South China Sea have fueled reports ofChina’s expansionist aims in these troubledwaters. They have assumed importance withthe realization that a fortune in oil and gaslingers beneath the shallow sea. The contestmost recently has involved a strange realignmentof interests in which big brotherChina, Hanoi’s main ally in the war that culminatedin the victory of North Vietnam’sforces in 1975, is now Vietnam’s foe.Hostilities so far have consisted of sporadic“incidents.” Vietnam accused a Chinese fishingboat of deliberately getting entangled inthe cables of a Vietnamese vessel lookingfor oil and gas on behalf of Petro Vietnam,Vietnam’s state energy company. The Chineseaccused the Vietnamese of draggingthe Chinese vessel for 30 minutes beforetwo more Chinese boats came to the rescue.Earlier, the cables of another such Vietnamesevessel were slashed. Finally, China senta 3,000-ton maritime patrol boat, the Haixun31, complete with helipad, to reinforce“rights and sovereignty” over 1.7-millionsquare miles of the South China Sea, includingthe Spratlys and the Paracels, anotherisland grouping to the north. The Haixun 31would “carry out patrolling of the marineareas being developed in the South ChinaSea,” said Takung Pao, a newspaper in HongKong that has long been a mouthpiece forBeijing. Vietnam responded with live-fireexercises off its coast, and demonstratorsprotested outside the Chinese embassy inHanoi and the Chinese consulate-general inHo Chi Minh City. “Stop the invasion,” saidone of the signs in Vietnamese.The government-sanctioned outpouringof widespread Vietnamese sentiment wasbackground music to formal statementsand protests. Prime Minister Nguyen TanDung led the chorus, declaring the country’ssovereignty was “incontestable” andproclaimed his determination to defend it.At the heart of the Vietnamese stand wasa geographical fact that the Chinese preferto ignore. The Vietnamese were looking foroil and gas inside their 200-mile, 370-kilometer“exclusion zone,” within which theyclaimed the right to do as they pleased inaccordance with the 1982 United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea.Actually, relations between China andVietnam began deteriorating even beforethe momentous victory of communist forcesfrom North Vietnam in their war againstthe American-backed South Vietnameseregime in 1975. China seized the Paracelsfrom South Vietnam in 1974 but refusedto turn them over to its former Vietnameseally. Then, China backed the KhmerRouge through nearly four years of bloodyrule over Cambodia before the Vietnamesedrove out the Khmer Rouge regime in 1978.Next, China attacked Vietnam’s northernfrontier at the end of 1978. The Vietnamesefended off that invasion with the same ferocitywith which they have battled the Chineseperiodically over the centuries. Morequietly, they occupied half a dozen atolls inthe Spratlys, sending in tanks as artillerypieces while dispatching marines and patrolboats.Over the years, China has seized atollsin the Spratlys and built facilities servicedby Chinese navy vessels, thinly disguised astrawlers. The Chinese, who first occupiednine of the islands in the 1950s, control ananchorage known as Mischief Reef, whosesubsurface atolls shelter a horseshoe-shapedlagoon that forms an anchorage four kilometerslong and two kilometers wide. Nowit is feared the Chinese want to form a smallairstrip on the reef, several feet above waterat low tide but only inches above the wavesat high tide. Yes, it would be an engineering“miracle,” but it could happen. Complicatingmatters still further, the anti-communist“nationalist” Republic of China onTaiwan has held the biggest of the Spratlyssince the surrender of the Japanese at theend of World War II. “Nationalist” Chinesetroops have never relinquished the islanddespite their defeat on the Chinese mainlandin 1949.The Philippines controls the second biggestisland in the Spratlys, 200 miles west ofthe long Philippine island province of Palawanoff the west coast of Mindanao. Theisland, named Pagasa, has no permanentresidents but boasts a lighthouse, municipalhall and multi-purpose building, a post officeand clinic, all for 75 to 100 constructionworkers who get there by planes that landon a 2,000-foot airstrip. There are no realpermanent residents, but life is not totallyaustere. There’s fishing and swimming, andthe recreation hall features karaoke and billiards.There’s also an elected “mayor” whoclaims Pagasa as home though he lives mostof the time in Puerto Princesa, Palawan’scapital.China initially denied a report that twoof its MiG fighters buzzed the area, butthere was no question something was goingon after Chinese patrol boats were seen onChina’s national television network blastingaway at one of the atolls while a pair of MiGfighters zoomed above. It was all a militaryexercise, according to the official report,featuring fourteen boats “defending atollsand protecting sea lanes” as they pretendedto be attacking submarines while leapinginto the surf and running onto beaches.The confrontation over the island groupingof strategic and economic significancegoes back decades. Named for the 19th-centuryEnglish sea captain who sighted them,the Spratly Islands persist as an issue whileChina increases its strength in the face ofprotests from the Philippines and Vietnam.The problem for the Philippines is thattheir forces have their hands full combatingsimmering revolts by communist andMuslim grouping elsewhere, and do nothave a clear sense of what’s happening onthe Spratlys. Thus it was that the Philippinespresident, Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino,spoke in the vaguest of terms when askedwhat he believed the Chinese were doing.Regarding the MiG sightings, he did notthink it was “established conclusively thatthey were from China” and “it’s difficult toaccuse them when it’s not very clear whosethey are.”The dispute over the islands confrontsWashington with a delicate diplomatic andmilitary puzzle. The US and the Philippinesare locked in a mutual defense treaty thathas survived for 60 years despite the Philippines’refusal to extend the agreementfor enormous US air and naval bases in the1990s. Several hundred US military advisersare now “embedded,” as a US official put it,advising ill-equipped troops on combatingrevolt in Muslim-dominated southern Mindanaoand the Sulu archipelago. US militaryreservists regularly come here for joint exerciseswith Philippine forces. Washingtonshies away, however, from any plan forworking with the Philippines on the defenseof Philippine claims in the Spratlysother than to reaffirm the US commitmentto the mutual defense treaty.Indicative of US reluctance to get involved,the American ambassador to thePhilippines, Harry K. Thomas Jr., hostingPresident Aquino at a reception aboard theUS aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, said, “Weare dedicated to being your partner wheneveryou are in harm’s way” – all part of “acommitment born of our shared historiesand close ties.” Beyond such generalities, USofficials won’t get into specifics or detailsabout a commitment to the Philippines inthe Spratlys.Washington, in fact, would like to remainabove the fray, calling for a multilateral understanding.That’s anathema to Beijing,which insists on bilateral talks with each ofthe claimants – a ruse to keep them fromforming a de facto alliance against Chineseambitions. The US, however, is not backingoff entirely. US navy ships occasionally plythe waters, just to show they’re international,not Chinese, and the aircraft carrierGeorge Washington made a courtesy call offthe central Vietnamese port of Danang inAugust 2010, the headquarters for US marinesduring the Vietnam War. The UnitedStates and Vietnam, after talks in Washingtonin June, shared common cause, issuingContinued on Page 30By Vinti VaidThe Philippines and its neighbourscontinue to be hassled by Chineseintrusions into their territorial watersaround the Spratly Islands.After an incident in March of this year when a Philippine surveyship was disturbed by Chinese patrol vessels along the ReedBank, despite the vessel being well within its territorial waters,the Manila government filed a complaint seeking clarificationfrom the Chinese government.In the last week of May, the South China waters seem to bebeckoning Chinese interference once again, this time along theAmy Douglas Bank. Unidentified wooden posts were removed byPhilippine patrol boats as the government intensified its watchover these waters. These incidents are on the increase.Boxall Reef was also strewn with unidentified wooden postsrecently, which were promptly removed by patrol forces. Philippinefishermen are reporting greater movement of foreign boatsaround the area and palpable tension is building there. The Philippinegovernment has again sought clarification from the Chinesegovernment.www.biztechreport.comPhilippines Seeking Answers to UnprecedentedChinese Activities on Spratly IslandsContinued from Page 16global scale will increase from its currentlevel of 55 million tons to over 750 milliontons by the year 2050, and will significantlyreplace the same volume of crude oil. Interms of transportation fuel, the market willuse biofuels more and more, rising from itscurrent 2 percent level to 26 percent by theyear 2050. Second-generation biofuels willaccount for about 90 percent of total biofuelproduction by that time.Biofuels and energy will not be the onlyproducts that will be produced using second-generationbiofuel technologies. In thefield of biochemicals, agricultural waste canalso be harnessed to produce plastics andother chemicals such as plant-based glycolwhich can be used for other industrial applications.One example is an upcomingAspenrock | Dreamstime.comproject by Novozymes in Jilin Province thatwill produce not only biofuels but biochemicalsas well.As this industry continues to mature andbetter technologies are developed, Chinaand several other economies that will adaptthese technologies can stand to benefit interms of energy production and climatechange mitigation. China is expected toconsume 12.7 billion liters of biofuels bythe year 2020, with automotive ethanol accountingfor 100 percent of transportationenergy requirements, according to China’sNational Development and Reform Commission.The industry also has the potentialof generating up to US$230 billion globallyby the year 2020, which will provide bettereconomic stability for China and othercountries entering the market. A-PHistory of the DisputeThe Spratly Islands ownership has been disputed by the Philippines,Vietnamese, Chinese, and other neighbouring nationsfor some time. The first instance was in 1995, when Chinese constructionon Mischief Reef, one of the Spratly Islands, sparkedtrouble. While efforts were made to resolve the dispute, in 1999,more structures were found on the reef again. The Philippinesconsider these to be military installations, while China says theyare merely fishing structures. All aggrieved countries with theexception of China have agreed to follow guidelines of the nonbindingcode signed in 2002 to settle disputes amicably.The Foreign Ministry Seeks Answers“This latest incident calls for clear guidelines” says ForeignAffairs spokesperson Ed Malaya. “What we would like to see isconcrete progress towards a more binding agreement on theconduct of parties in this part of our region,” said the Minister.However, no clarifications have been forthcoming from theChinese Government on these incidents.Tensions Rise with Vietnam Mounting ArtilleryDrill to Counter Chinese Illegal ActivitiesAnother Chinese neighbour, Vietnam, is also preparing tocounter China’s claims over banks and reefs of the Spratly Islandsaround the South China Sea.The Vietnamese have called these “exercises of routine training,”while a Chinese spokesperson strongly criticized them, sayingit was “a military show of force to defy Beijing.”Expert OpinionPolitical scientists from the University of New South Wales,in Australia, say the rich oil and gas reserves in the Spratly archipelagoare leading to a power struggle between the strongerneighbours and the smaller, distributed nations.Experts like Carl Thayer believe that China is being “heavyhandedto stop oil exploration activities in its waters by claimingoverlap, and it’s a question now of how far is China going topush it because China has not responded to any of these issuesin a conciliatory fashion.”Philippines Hardens its StandWhile Manila continues to seek non-military answers to thedispute, it has decided to become more pro-active and has calledfor a renaming of the areas in its ownership as the West PhilippineSea. With the ASEAN Regional Forum to begin in July andthe East Asia Summit in November, the Philippines is ready tomount its proposed changes within the scope of internationalforums. A-PFurther Reading:• Make Biofuelwww.makebiofuel.co.uk• EIN Newswww.biofuels.einnews.com• Environmental News Networkwww.enn.comCompanies Mentionedin this Article:• Unileverwww.unilever.com• Novozymeswww.novozymes.com• Sinopecwww.sinopecgroup.com22 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 23

diplomacyUN Peacekeepers to Keep their Dateand Withdraw after East TimorPresidential Elections in 2012By Vinti VaidThe United Nations willfinally wind up itspeacekeeping servicesin East Timor in 2012, andall preparations to keepwithin this deadline are infull swing.It was almost six years ago that the EastTimor government enlisted the United Nationspeacekeeping efforts in 2006, followingunprecedented civil riots and factionalfighting that was taking one of the youngestnations in the world to the brink of internalstrife and civil war.The United Nations is involved, andUnited Nations security forces have beenprotecting the nation because of longstandingpolitical and historical events.To understand the significance of the UNsecurity forces finally handing over thebaton to East Timor, one needs to knowhow the current scenario came about andhow the coming date with East Timorpresidential elections in 2012 is so vital tothis emerging nation.The Tumultuous History of EastTimorThe Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste,located in Southeast Asia, is a nation witha tumultuous political history. It consists ofthe eastern part of the island of Timor andthe islands of Atauro and Jaco. Declaring itselffree from Portugese colonial powers in1975, East Timor soon found itself invadedby Indonesia and until 1999 remained aprovince of Indonesia for 24 years. A UNsponsoredreferendum led to a resoundingvote for the young nation’s independencein 1999.However, anti-independence Timoresemilitia have since slain more than 1,400Timorese and forced 300,000 individualsinto refugee status in West Timor. The InternationalForce for East Timor (INTER-FET) ended the violence, and under UNadministration, it has been an independentstate since 2002.East Timor after IndependenceThe UNTAET, or the United NationsTransitional Administration in East Timor(UNAET), was formed in 1999, and its ownmilitary command was transferred to it in2000. Later in 2001, elections for a constituentassembly to draw up a new constitutionwere held, and in May 2002, Xanana Gusmaowas elected President and Mari Alkatirias Prime Minister. However, peace andcalm have continued to elude the youngnation.Peace eludes East Timor evenafter IndependenceCarsten Reisinger | Dreamstime.comDespite being recognised by the internationalcommunity and being made amember of the UN in September 2002, unresthas been the norm there ever since.Student protests continued, with rioters inDecember of 2002 carrying an injured studentto the National Parliament Building.This act was attributed to foreign influenceas the violence continued.Strained Relations with AustraliaRelations with Australia became strainedas maritime boundaries between the twocountries were disputed. The island ofTimor Gap, with its rich reserves of petrolproducts and natural gas fields, is the islandmost under contention, as both countriestry to establish their ownership over theseresource fields.Even as the new Timor government washandling foreign repartee, the studentunrest continued unabated until clashesbetween government forces and civiliansreached a crescendo in 2006. This was EastTimor’s first crisis after independence.Another Major Crisis in May2006The legacies of political managementof crisis and poor structuring of the EastTimor military could not sustain the developmentof the island nation.The clash between the government andthe civilians, which started as governmentaction against military recruits who hadabandoned their barracks, snowballedinto a complete crisis. The segregationof the police and military forces such asthose with Indonesian training and localFalintil troops redefined the fate of thenation in 2006. Some believe this infightingcould also be the outcome of unfairdistribution of oil funds as well as the disorganizationof the Timorese army and itspolice forces.The Prime Minister choose to handlethe crisis with an iron hand and accusedthe detractors of initiating a coup. He thensought assistance from across the world tohelp him handle the uprising, resulting inmilitary help from Portugal, Malaysia, NewZealand, and Australia. The crisis endedwith 23 deaths.The nation later called for the Prime Minister’sresignation, and he resigned in Juneof 2006. In the following year’s presidentialwww.biztechreport.comelections, Jose Ramos-Horta was electedPresident while Gusmao was elected PrimeMinister in April 2007.Role of United Nations MissionsThe continuous unrest had led to a substantialpresence of the United Nations securityforces at various stages when EastTimor sought its independence from Indonesia.During the transition of power fromthe Indonesian format to East Timor sovereignty,the United Nations mission in EastTimor had been present from the start ofthe crisis in June, to October of 1999.It is important to mention here that theUnited Nations can send its security forcesas missions which need to be constitutedfrom member nation military and policepersonnel.Following UNAMET was the United NationsTransitional Administration in EastTimor from October 1999 to May 2002 forthe new constituent government to comeinto power. This was followed by the UnitedNations Mission of Support to East Timor(UNMISET) from May 2002-2005 to help thedemocratically elected political leaders tomaintain peace and order in the country.From May 2005 to August 2006, the UnitedNations Office in Timor Leste, or UNO-TIL, was formed, and the overall structureof military and police administration in thecountry was put in place.Then, in August 2006, the present mission,called the United Nations IntegratedMission in Timor-Leste, or UNMIT, has continuedto play a role in East Timor’s development.However, the Political Director of theUnited Nations Mission in East Timor, GaryGray, has announced that by 2012, thepeacekeeping forces shall vacate the island,following the 2012 presidential elections.The Winding Up of the UNMIT“Things have stabilized basically sincethe 2006 problems and we’re pretty confidentthat’s going to continue through theelections beginning early next year,” Graysaid.Leading up to the withdrawal of thepeacekeeping troops in March 2011, operationalcontrol was handed over to the localpolice and only a thousand or so UN policeforce now remain.The reasons for East Timor’s growing stabilityare primarily due to the presence ofhuge offshore oil and natural gas reserves.The nation’s current double digit growthis also due to these cash-rich natural resources.Educational focus and a decreasein poverty are also viewed as contributingfactors to the growth of the nation.Better relations with Indonesia and theresolving of pre-independence struggleatrocities through grievances with the jointTruth and Friendship commission havehelped a long way in establishing peace inthe region.Though there is still friction amongst thepowers that be with regard to compensatingvictims of previous conflicts, these arelogistics which will hopefully be resolvedwith the passage of time. Gary Gray predictsthat the high rates of unemploymentand other legacies of the long-standing underlyingtensions would not take long toresurface, and that they need to be handledwith care and prudence. A-P24 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT

QaLaurence Brahm:Know Your Sun TzuBY victor ficLaurence Brahm (www.laurencebrahm.com) is a member of the United Nations Theme Group on Povertyand Inequality, a global activist, international mediator, lawyer, economist and author. He leads the way in advocatinga fresh development paradigm –- The Himalayan Consensus – an innovative approach to development (see www.laurencebrahm.com).With thirty years of experience in Asia, including China, Laurence advises global corporations and regional governments.He divides his time between Beijing, Lhasa, and Dakar. He is also the author of Doing Business in China The SunTzu Way. Laurence gave this interview to Victor Fic (vfic@hotmail.com), our special correspondent for business and politics.Understanding Chinese NegotiationLaurence, why is Art of War aclassic that is widely read inpolitics, strategy, and the businessworld?It is a philosophy and very pragmaticguide to life, whether for business or politics.The book is foremost about war buton a deeper level about strategy which isbroadly applicable to life.Did you translate it yourself?No, I am not a scholar. Instead, I used aChinese text commonly available in bookstoresin China. The best version is byThomas Cleary. As a warning, James Clavel’sversion is lousy. I checked the various translationsagainst the Chinese.What qualifies you to offer adviceabout it?I am a professional negotiator and mediatorin China and Asia -- a three decadeveteran of major multinational take-oversand mergers and other negotiations, fromdealing with mafia bosses extorting moneyfrom foreign investors to complex, secondtrack mediation between governments. Ipragmatically see how its philosophy andideas apply to life. For academic analysis ofSun Tzu and the Warring States Period, consultscholars.You squared off against mafiabosses -- and lived?Thuggery is common in China. Duringthe early 1990s, cutting deals for foreignmultinationals was win-win – plenty ofchampagne and excitement. By the late1990s, I was restructuring these falteringdeals as foreign investors bought out theirChinese partners or pulled out. By then, Imostly investigated product and documentfalsification and running funds into multiplebank accounts. One dead board chairmancould not be found – I’ve said enough!That must have disappointed you.I did not want to change from deal makerto criminal investigator. Then the Shanximafia staked out my own private propertyin 2003, but the police only provided hotelrooms and body guards while I was lockedinside with the boss for a day negotiatingextortion money for peace. My manager wasnearly beaten to death. Finally, we countedout the cash -- at the police office. This isnormal even for many foreign investors.So when highly-paid analysts in designershirts, ties, and cuffs give nice PowerPointpresentations about China -- I just laugh.You insist that the Chinese strikefirst and hard, back away, holdthe position and never compromise.Provide specific examples.I wrote many books partly to vent thesestories -- read them, please! The bad outweighthe good. Mao taught, “When the enemyis near, I am far; when the enemy runsI pursue; when the enemy is tired, I harass;when the enemy rests, I strike.” For the strategicand economic dialogue between Chinaand the US, or for a maid who wants a raise,this is the tactic. When she stops cleaningand breaks your stuff, she signals you. Foreigninvestors figure out the obvious, repetitivegame. Sun Tzu would admonish themfor losing the element of surprise.Is the Chinese idea that relationshipswith outsiders are basicallyzero sum?All relationships in China entail mutualexploitation. Under Mao, when peoplelacked money and commodities, theytraded favors or power. They still do. AndChina today is about money as the zero sumgame. Chinese “friendship” means “we dobusiness on my terms only” or you are nota good friend.Sun Tzu said that all warfare isbased on deception. How doesthis relate to negotiation?All negotiation in China and a lot of itelsewhere is based on deception, so howkeen is your perception? What do you actuallyneed? At what price? Intelligence is crucialfor diplomatic and commercial negotiations.When you perceive that the otherparty’s bottom line is not its public stance,the game changes and you can low ball theprice or commodity exchange. It is all aboutsmoke screens and mirrors to get the bestoutcome for yourself.Experts also warn that the Chinesequickly see or sow divisionand play off factions or pitch onegroup against another... is this atactic?Anybody who claims to be a China expertis kidding himself. Even the Chinese cannotentirely understand their complex, changingnation. Yes, Chinese played off factionsthrough their 2,000 year history. The WarringStates and Three Kingdoms periods areclassic metaphors for daily politics in anyChinese enterprise or level of government.So find their crack point and open up thosechannels. Or they will do that to you!But many Westerners find theChinese will unify against theoutsider and conceal or heal theirsplits -- like a wall...They build walls and think people cannotintrude. But their weakness is money.The Qings bribed a Ming general to passthrough. As a lawyer, I advise you to nevertake or give a bribe. But as a writer, I willreveal the truth.Sun Tzu said that force is secondbest to peaceful victory -- meaning?Yes, using psychology to wear downyour opponent and winning without himrealizing your actions is ideal. But in Chinatoday, brute force is more common. Peopledo combat in factories for a raise and in thestreet over a traffic slight. Sun Tzu taughtpatience and hiding your emotions!How does it compare to Americanhistory?The State Department should read mybook, stop invading others, and use psychologyto attain America’s true interests. ButAmerican culture overly emphasizes scoringpoints to understand a subtle approach.I am doing a speaking tour in Washingtonthis November to think tanks and universities.Lets see if they agree or stay focusedon whether or not China will appreciate theRenminbi’s value.Do Chinese judge Westerners andespecially Americans as weak andgullible in talks?They feel superior. Partly it is cultural.China was the middle kingdom. It inventedchopsticks! So leveraging this is natural.Do the Chinese respect the Westas a partner?The Chinese paradoxically disdain andrespect western culture. But following the2008 crash, with the US economy in decayand Europe in debt, many Chinese are confidentthat their system is superior. It’s likethe Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynastyagain. When the English sought trade tiesand showed the emperor their manufacturedwares, the Chinese ruler replied thatwe have everything and need nothing fromyou! Let us see how sustainable it is.How well is the Chinese way understoodin the West?The West does not understand Chinaand vice versa -- equally -- regarding values,goals, and means. They look through stereotypedand blinkered frames. But far moreyounger Chinese are studying in the Westand the other way around, so barriers willcontinue to fall.What are the biggest errors thatWestern firms or governmentscommit in negotiations withChina?Being so naive. Timothy Geithner shouldread my book. China’s strategy is “ge anguan huo,” or “observing the fire from theother banks” by smirking at the post-2008Wall Street crisis as signaling the death ofthe Washington Consensus. China feelsmaybe correctly that it has time that theTreasury lacks.Where is the Chinese approachweak?They are not naive. Their one goal is-- money. They have the most. Maybe theyread the book. A-P26 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 27

leadershipwww.biztechreport.comPrasannaPatsani:Leader withPoetic Touchby Parthasarthi JenaBorn into Ghiakhala inthe famous Khandlkotarea of Khorda, Odisha,Parliamentarian PoetPrasanna Patsani has comea long way.Khandlkot, birthplace of the famous Annapurnatheater which made a strong statementin Odisha’s famous age-old drama traditionmade an early impact on Dr. Patsani.Born into Kaviraj and the village Sarpanch,Aniruddha Patsani, who witnessedseven of his children die, was apprehensiveof the life of Dr. Patsani and sold him to awasherwoman “Heera” who influencedDr. Patsani’s early life. While his parentswantedDr. Patsani to be a doctor, Patsanideveloped a feeling towards writing,acting, and dancing to whichhis parents did not approve. Butsoon Dr. Patsani became rebelliousagainst the system, the systemwhich oppressed the majorityof its own people. Educated at BalugaonHigh School and GodavarishaMaha Vidyalaya, Dr. Patsani was presidentof the college union for three consecutiveterms and started fighting against corruptpractices, propagating social reform. In thecollege he was editing one magazine called“Bela.”“Commitment is the key to success.Something committed if abided with sincerity,and dedication bears results. A busyperson always finds time whereas a lazyperson struggles,” explain Dr. Prasanna Patsani,Always in a hurry, Dr.Patsani has visitedmore than 110 countries. He moves withcrimson robes and wields a “Blessed Wand.”Dr. Patsani has published 60 books rangingfrom poetry to philosophy in Odia, Hindi,and English and has written around morethan 100 articles. He has been a visitingprofessor to many universities in India andabroad and has delivered talks in numerousuniversities and colleges worldwide on differentsubjects ranging from art and cultureto philosophy, history, language and spiritualism.Dr. Patsani asserts that he has been influencedgreatly by the beautiful lake Chilka,where more than four hundred differentkinds of birds come every winter. His earlylife until college was carefree and simple,and Dr. Patsani enjoyed it to the hilt. Butsoon life changed its course.During that time, eminent poets whopropagated revolutionary messages likeJwalamukhi, Nikhileswar, and ShesanandaRaju touched millions of hearts. Dr. Patsani’spoetry had nothing to do with Naxalism,he was writing out of poetic justicefor the millions suffering in India. But theGovernment of Odhisa misunderstood, andslapped him with 12 years of imprisonment,and thus his journey as a wanderer started.Beginning this difficult period in his life inthe Odisha West Bengal border, he reachedDelhi with the help of a poet from West Bengaland marched to Hardwar and Rishukeshon foot. There he met Maharashi MaheshYogi who taught him Patanjali Yoga and fora brief period he stayed in Kathmandu andthen went to Switzerland.After the warrant was lifted in 1975, hecame back to India and in 1978 joined politics.Since 1980 he has been winning electionafter election, serving people first as anMLA and then a minister in the Odisha cabinet,and now as a parliamentarian from theprestigious Bhubaneswar constituency.Dr. Patsani has traveled widely throughoutthe world and within India has traveledaround 2,70,000 km by road. Easilyaccessible to everybody, Dr. Patsani is theauthor of sixty books and has developed anew style in Odia poetry. He has been soinfluential that around ten scholars havedone Ph.D.s on his work from differentuniversities in and outside of India.With life’s myriad hues, Dr. Patsani’sromance with poetry is on and goingstronger as time passes.He likes to gorge himself on homecooked food and spend time with hisfamily. Dr. Patsani symbolizes an erawhere time stands still. He explains themost difficult political situation with aneasy little smile and laugh. This is perhapshis biggest message to the new age politicianswho tread this difficult path of governingthe biggest the most difficult functioningdemocracy of the world. A-P28 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT

usinesswww.biztechreport.comChinese-Made Luxury Yachtsare the Newest Status SymbolBy Yashika DhingraChina’s industrial confidenceis brimmingover nowadays, andthe best illustration of thisis the setting up of luxuryyacht-building companiessuch as Xiamen Hangsheng,Kingship Marine Ltd, andseveral others in Hong Kong.Continued from Page 22a joint statement calling for “peace, stability,safety and freedom of navigation” -- andsettlement of “disputes in the South ChinaSea” through diplomacy, not “use of force.”The Chinese try to sidestep controversywhile making no real concessions as muchas possible. They deny the reports about thetwo MiGs and avoid discussion of reportsthat Chinese forces have been seen on sixatolls, reefs, and shoals. A top Chinese official,Jiang Shusheng, vice chairman of thestanding committee of the 11th NationalPeople’s Congress, said in a visit to Manilathat the issue “should not be a hindrance toour special relations”—the same term thatUS officials use to describe US-Philippinerelations. He dismissed as “mere incidents”These Chinese yacht makers are todayeyeing the global luxury boat and yachtsegment. The luxury market for yachts inChina itself is booming, due to the increasein the number of Chinese billionaires.Chinese yachts not only ooze style butalso are high value, status tag products. Asalmost all of the yacht builders use the bestinternational designers, so the whoompfactor is optimized. While luxury and pollutiontaxes spiral upwards for high-ticketitems like jets and yachts, the Chinesemadeyachts give a better ROI for the nouveauriche Chinese.Considering that this is an emerging industryin China, its phenomenal growth inless than a year, with a turnover of close toa billion dollars, is worthy of a second look.The region now has more than six yachtbuilders competing such as Azimut Yachts,Ferretti Yachts, Princess Yachts International,and Brunswick Corp. These luxury yachtbuilders are reputed to build the most complexmachines with an emphasis on precisionengineering as well as great aestheticdesign concepts. Most are ready to investheavily in quality designers and pay higherwages.Sunbird, one such builder, uses internationaldesigners such as Brian Holland, andis currently building a 70-foot yacht for anItalian market to be displayed at Genoa,Italy. Hansheng, another Chinese yachtbuilder, has its boats designed by Bill Dixon,a reputed designer from the UK. QingdaoNauticstar Marine Co. Ltd paid over 13.8reports about the MiG overflights and Chineseforces on some of the reefs.Although China sees the entire SouthChina Sea as within its sphere of influence,the sense is that the contest for the islandswill not erupt in a serious shooting war untilor unless huge deposits of oil, gas, andother minerals are found there. Barry Riddell,a long-time diplomatic and politicalanalyst in Manila, believes that China doesnot want to “provoke any kind of confrontation.”Yes, he told me during a recent visit,“China wants to keep alive the claims, tokeep acting.” Yes, he said, “Some oil explorationis going on” -- and “will keep on goingfor a long time.” No, he seemed confident,the Chinese “will not do much more unlessthey find oil down there.”Typhoonski | Dreamstime.commillion euros to pick the best designer inthe industry, Cantieri Navali di Lavagna.On average, Chinese yacht building staff,who lack the skills of their proficient Italiancounterparts, are paid close to 2,000 yuaneach month, while skilled, certified electriciansand carpenters are paid almost threetimes more at 6,000 yuan per month. Thisis twice the average in Chinese wages, butbuilders are nevertheless able to maintainforeign competitiveness.For the Chinese, these Yachtsare more like Status SymbolsSignificantly, Chinese are restricted fromyachting, as they require travel permits toenter provincial waters. Therefore, there isgreater emphasis on the specialized natureof use and customization to meet local demand.Spending quality time or entertainingon yachts with mah-jong salons, karaokelounges, and bowling alleys, the billionairehost’s status shoots higher with every novelfeature on his high-end yacht.These large Chinese sloops are thus primarilyused for entertainment and shortweekend trips, and with their state-of-thearttechnology, these sea-going gadget museumsrepresent the changing tastes of therich and the famous. Chinese-made yachtsare no longer just luxury items but are fastbecoming status symbols as well. A-PBesides oil, of course, the brouhaha isabout the environment, marine life, resorts,and fishing rights. What really fuelsit, though, is whatever is beneath the shallowocean floor around the atolls. A retiredPhilippine navy captain, Rex Robles, didnot hide his anger over Chinese expansionism.“You see somebody in your back yard,”he said. “He says, ‘Let’s talk this over,’ buthe refuses to leave.” Robles had no doubtsabout the underlying issue. “It is a primeoil and natural gas area,” he said. ArturoCarlos, a former member of the board of aPhilippine oil company, told me during avisit to Palawan some years ago that “waterintrusion in the oil” has impeded exploration.Nonetheless, he assured me, “There isblack gold underneath.” A-PImplicationsof the Droughtin ChinaBy Yashika DhingraChina‘s freshwaterresources representabout 6 percent ofthe total global availableamount.However, the Yangzte River basin,around the middle and lower parts of thevast country, has remained parched for severalmonths now. The drought continues tobe a grim reminder of the unscientific overuseof limited water resources that has fedChina’s growth in the past century.Early Warning Signs of DroughtThere have been indicators forecastingthe worst Chinese drought in several years.Weather changes, declining coastlines, andthe quick rate at which several vital feederlakes such as Lake Honghu disappeared andwere replaced by fields and fish farms, allportended drastic drought conditions.The Danjinagkou Dam, which is oneof the largest water reservoirs slated tofeed one of the largest water projects inthe country, has been consistently dryingup over the last decade. The consequentlyparched northern cities, including Beijing,are thus being fed by water diverted fromthe Yangtze.The Three Gorges Dam, which is one ofthe largest hydroelectric power projects inthe world, is again shrinking by millimeterseach day. Lakes in Central Hubei provinceare known to have shrunk to 207sq km ofwater from their earlier 348 sq km, despitethis being the time of year when waterneeds to be at maximum capacity.“I’m 70 and it’s never been this bad. Youcan walk across and it only comes up toZhaoyineptune | Dreamstime.comyour knees. We used to always worry aboutfloods, not droughts, not ones as bad asthis,” says Xiao, one of the residents aroundthe lake.Yangtze Feeds China’s Farmsand Industrial HubsOne of the country’s biggest rivers isthe Yangtze, which acts as a lifeline alongwherever it flows. It represents almost onethirdof the total water resources availablein China. With one-fifth of the world’spopulation, China has been in the throes ofdrought over the past year, especially in certainkey regions that have affected the entireproduction and availability of producefor domestic consumption and export.The Yangtze feeds farmlands as well asindustrial hinterlands, especially along themiddle and eastern course of the river. Thisregion too now suffers from severe drought,possibly the worst in the last 50 years. Rainfallin the region has fallen by over 40 to 60percent annually and has created additionalpressure on the localized water resources ofthe region.There are several worst-case scenariosoccurring around Lake Honghu, where innumerablefarmers are losing crops, fishfarms, and will soon lose drinking water aswell. The once lush green fields are todayparched patches in colors of barren yellow.Once hot-spots of aquatic culture, thesefields and ponds are now without their richsources of fish, shrimp, or crab. The landscapeinstead has wilted into dwindling drylotus ponds.The Yangtze region is not facing such anextreme a case as this in other parts, andwith the coming rains, it is expected to regainits full capacity. However, the warningsigns are now being sounded for possibilitiesof floods to occur.Lessons to be Learned from theDroughtHydrologists at the Chinese Academy ofSciences in Beijing are a highly worried lotnowadays. This year’s drought has truly sentthese environmentalists to read the biggerlessons behind the tenacious dry spell. SaysXia Jun, a hydrologist at the institute, “Therehave been even worse droughts before, butnow these episodes can be increasingly serious,because economic development isbringing increasing pressure on water resources,and the effects of disaster spreadout wider and are felt in more ways.”Experts are of the opinion that thesedroughts will give rise to further droughtsin the future, which will continue to wreakhavoc on the overall balance of the ecosystemof the region. A prominent water expertat the Chinese Academy of Sciences,Liu Changming, says, “The accelerated extinctionof such lakes in recent decades hasdeprived areas along the Yangtze of a naturalbuffer against drought and flood.”The situation calls for planned and properaction, as close to 1,000, or one third, ofnatural Chinese lakes are disappearing, andthis will impact the production of severalfood crops, including the all-important ricecrop.“A single drought this year won’t lead tothe collapse of China’s economy, but thiswill have an impact, one that shows thethreat that China faces from water stress,”said Xia.Implications of the Drought onChina and the GlobeThat Chinese exports influence globalconsumption has been conclusively provenyet again with the slowing down of its grainsoutput. The seriousness of the drought isbetter understood when statistics show thatover 35 million people from close to fiveprovinces in the central and lower parts ofthe Yangzte river basin have been economicallyaffected. The direct impact in financiallosses comes to the tune of 15 billion yuan,or US$2.3 billion.Government officials claim price cropswill be sustained at the national level, butthese five provinces cover half the total acerageof rice production in the country. HeXuefeng, director of the China Rural GovernanceResearch Center at Huazhong Universityof Science and Technology in Wuhan,capital of Hubei, says, “Our estimate is thatthe affected area would amount to no morethan 10 percent of Hubei’s total acreage,and even these areas will be able to plantlater crops if rains come.”Food and trade analysts say that decreasedproduction in rice may be sustainedat the national level of common food cropssuch as rice, but it is corn consumption thatwill be most affected, and close to 1.5 milliontons will have to be imported from theUS alone to sustain the country’s demands.Other food grains too are continually beingsourced from lesser-priced countries suchas Argentina, as a food reserve alternativeto the US.Drought will Impact DomesticPowerOne of the immediate effects of droughtis hydroelectricity production. The loweredproduction levels have seriously impactedthe quantity of electricity available for distributionby the government authorities.By late May of this year, the Three GorgesDam, one of the largest hydroelectric power-generatingstations in the world, had fallenfrom a water level of 152.7 meters, andwas expected to reach close to 145 metersby June 10. The period of May to October isthe peak period of electricity production inContinued on Page 3530 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORTA-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 31

usinesswww.biztechreport.comS. Korean Financial Leaders DeflectOECD Criticism of Rising InequitiesBy Donald KirkAtough report issuedby the Paris-basedOrganization forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment portrays thedownside of modern SouthKorea, despite the “miracle”of the rise from the ashes ofthe Korean War that ragedsome 60 years ago.Against the image of Korea as a newlyshininggiant spewing forth cars, computers,ships, and chips for global consumption,the OECD opened its annual reviewof the country with the pointblank declaration:“Korea is confronting a serious challenge.”What, in the view of the OECD, does Koreanow have to do to respond effectively?First and foremost, it must “improve incomeequality in the context of a severe demographictransition” – that of “transitionfrom one of the youngest populations inthe OECD at present to the second oldest by2050.” That attenuated process, the reportwarned, “may boost the need for publicspending and slow economic growth.” Butthe problem goes much deeper than that,according to the report. “Sustained rapidgrowth during the first decade of the 21stcentury has been accompanied by a markedrise in income inequality,” it noted. “Underlyingsocial problems were further exacerbatedby the 2008 global economic and financialcrisis.”Even “as Korea integrates into the globaleconomy, said the OECD study, “it facesmany of the same forces that have led to risinginequality in other OECD countries. “Inthe Korean case, however, the problem isactually worse than in most member states.“First, its level of social spending is amongthe lowest in the OECD area,” said the report.“Second, the impact of its tax andtransfer systems on income distributionand poverty is among the weakest. Third,Korea’s dualistic labour market is highlysegmented between regular and non-regularworkers, leading to wide inequality inwage income.”The OECD report offered starkly-realisticrecommendations that Korean politiciansand bureaucrats do not appear in any hurryto accept: “As the pace of population agingis accelerating, it is important to act quicklyin a wide range of areas.” These include:• “Policies to sustain Korea’s growthpotential in the face of falling laborinputs;• “Measures that improve both growthand equality;• “Carefully-targeted increases in socialspending to reduce inequalityand poverty;• “Financing higher social spending,with priority given to a reform oftax and social security that minimizesthe negative impact on outputgrowth.”The chances of Korea’s digesting such amenu appear remote given the emphasis ofthe conservative government on welfare –not social welfare but that of the chaebol,the conglomerates that dominate businessand industry. Korean bureaucrats preferto dwell on the country’s recovery fromthe economic crisis that swept the worldin 2008 – a “downturn” from which theworld’s economic leader, the United States,is far from recovering.“Korea has recovered from the global financialturmoil triggered by the sub-primemortgage crisis faster than other OECDcountries thanks to its rapid and decisivepolicy responses,” said Kim Dong-soo, chairmanof South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission,the day after the OECD issued its report.“The Korean economy posted positivegrowth (2.9 percent) in 2009 when majoradvanced economies were contracting.”Then, in 2010, Kim Dong-soo told a meetingin Seoul of the American Chamber of Commercethat the Korean economy “grew byas much as 6.2 percent, the highest growthover the last eight years.”No less an economic analyst, adviser andpolicy-maker than the International MonetaryFund “commended Korea for its exemplaryperformance in recovery from thecrisis,” Kim observed. Moody’s accorded Koreathe ultimate badge of honor by raisingKorea’s national credit rating from A2 to A1in April 2010, he said, while the World Bankforecast in May that six countries, Korea, Indonesia,and the BRICs, (Brazil, Russia, Indiaand China) “would account for more thanhalf of the world’s economic growth for thenext 20 years.”After all that success, then, what couldbe going wrong? Kim preferred to lay theblame on popular opinion rather thangovernment policies. “The problem is thatthe general sentiment on the economy isnot improving in Korea,” he said, “despitestrong signs of recovery from these macroeconomicindicators.” Besides “inflationarypressure in the Korean economy,” he acknowledgedthat “large companies’ undueinfluence over small and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs), collusion practices, institutionaland structural factors” and “thecreation of monopoly and long-sustainedmonopolistic market structures” were all“aggravating the current conditions.”Kim addressed the issue of reforms, however,in vague terms that suggested few realpossibilities for reversing a trend in whichthe power of the chaebol has been smotheringcompetition from upstart rivals. TheFair Trade Commission “is implementingcompetition policies,” he said, that would:• “Create an open market where entryor exit of the market occurs freely;• “Uncover and correct illegal practicesof companies that harm the principlesof a market economy;• “Ensure shared growth betweenlarge companies and SMEs by inducingthem to change their corporateculture voluntarily;• “Create an environment where consumersserve as competitive pressure.”Kim Dong-soo spoke of “the ultimategoal” in verbiage that resembled that of apastor inveighing against sin. The key, hesaid, was “to spread competitive principlesacross the economy, building more transparentand sound economic systems, therebykeeping the national economy stable.”He predicated those fine words on PresidentLee Myung-bak’s “three values” for a“fair society,” that is, “autonomy, fairnessand responsibility.” Considering Lee’s backgroundas top executive of Hyundai Engineeringand Construction and his supportof expanding the chaebol while paying lipservice to the SMEs, one had difficulty viewingsuch “values” as anything other thanwindow-dressing.Kim himself recognized the problemfrom his years as president of the KoreaExIm Bank. “Unfortunately these experienceshave brought me to the conclusionthat mutual partnership between large andsmall companies has yet to take root in Korea,”he said. Kim, however, was not in favorof rules and regulations that might bringabout change. “Companies need to improvetheir culture and attitude through their voluntaryeffort,” he made clear, “rather thanbeing forced by laws or regulations.”Bahk Jaewan, minister of strategy andfinance, answered concerns about incomeinequities and the power of the chaebol inremarks that left open the question of exactlywhat the government would really do.“The government will finely tune up socialsafety nets and encourage shared growth,”he declaimed in a speech at the Seoul ForeignCorrespondents’ Club after the issuanceof the OECD report. No way, however,could people expect handouts. “The government’swelfare policy,” he said, “is aimed atencouraging recipients to work rather thanrelying on welfare benefits.”On the sensitive issue of what to do aboutSMEs, Bahk promised that the governmentwould “encourage shared growth by largecompanies and SMEs while enhancing faircompetition by closely monitoring unfairbacking practices between affiliates.” Yes,he vowed, “We plan to prevent large conglomeratesfrom gaining unfair benefitsthrough trades with their own affiliate orsubsidiary companies.” But what would thegovernment really do? Cooperation on thepart of business would be “voluntary,” hesaid, spurning the idea of new “rules andregulations.” Bahk acknowledged, however,that the government under PresidentLee had done away with “regulations” thatwere only impeding business growth. Heargued that Korea was actually doing morethan most other countries to close the gap.“Through deregulation and tax cuts the governmentwill enhance economic freedom,”he said, “and reduce government influenceto revitalize private sector activities.”That laissez-faire view provided a rationalethat would only contribute to the repressionof SMEs and deepen inequities tocure the ills that Bahk claimed to want toaddress. The Korean position also defiedthe recommendations of the OECD, whichKorea joined 15 years ago in a great showof national pride over acceptance into oneof the global economy’s most elite clubs.The OECD placed top priority on increasingthe efficiency of labor in a system in whichhours are long but productivity in the servicesector is half that of the manufacturingsector and 40 percent of the service sectorin the United States. “Faster labor productivityin services requires strengtheningcompetition through regulatory reform,”said the OECD report.The OECD report called for “greateropenness to the world economy as one wayto boost productivity in an inward-lookingsociety in which foreign direct investmentas a percentage of the gross domestic productis the second lowest in the OECD area.”Foreign affiliates, it said, account for only 8percent of service-sector turnover and fourpercent of employment, “well below OECDaverages of 19 and 10 percent.” The reportadvised “strengthening internationalcompetition” by “reducing barriers to FDI,Continued on Page 39By Rashmi GuptaSouth Korea continuesin its position asfourth-largest economyin Asia with a 1.3percent growth in GrossDomestic Product.However, although early estimates inApril showed 1.4 percent growth, theBank of Korea affirmed in the first weekof June that the first quarter GDP growthstood at 1.3 percent.In fact, it was noted that South Korea’seconomy grew at this pace during Januaryto March largely to spurt of growth inthe manufacturing sector. Yet there weresignificant figures pointing to a slowdownin domestic demand.Sebastian Czapnik | Dreamstime.comSouth Korean Growth RateRevised Downward, Following1st Quarter GrowthBank of Korea EstimatesThe Bank of Korea stated that theslower pace of growth was largely due toweaker domestic demand combined withvery slow facility investment, althoughexports were robust.“Despite weakness in capital and constructioninvestments, robust exports ledthe overall growth in the first quarter,”said bank officials. Although goods goingout of the country remained at a steadypace, especially in the semiconductorand automobile industries, lesser spendingby consumers and investment in facilitiesaffected overall economic performancerates.Construction investment fell off as thegovernment was concentrating more onsocial infrastructure, while tech sectorinvestment delays led to slower spendingthere.Jung Young-taek, director of the BOK(Accounts Division) says that, “If investmentin social infrastructure revives, thedomestic demand is likely to pick up.”Key Rates to StagnateIt is expected that the central bankwill freeze the key rate to 3 percent forthis month too, as there appears to begreater uncertainty brewing. Some of theleading economic experts, such as ParkSang-hyun at HI Investment & SecuritiesCo., believe that “With poor industrialoutput in April and slow recovery paceof domestic demand, it is likely that thesecond-quarter economic growth maycool to below 1 percent.”In fact, inflation risks are peaking asconsumer prices rose beyond the Bank ofKorea’s guidelines of 2 to 4 percent forthe fifth month in a row in May. In comparisonto the previous year, inflationslowed to 4.1 percent in May from 4.2percent the previous month. However,key prices excluding the expansive oiland food prices were higher, at 3.4 percentfrom the previous year.However, the most important contributorto South Korea’s GDP, its exports,grew by 4.6 percent by quarter in the firstquarter, exceeding estimations of 3.3 percentgrowth.Gross National IncomeDeclines by 0.1 PercentThe GNI reflects the actual purchasingpower of a nation, and the present GNIfor the first quarter is at 0.1 percent lowerthan the previous quarter. This was thefirst recognized fall in over two years.Recommendations by KoreaDevelopment Institute or KDIKDI predicts that “2011 inflation willrise to 4.1 percent instead of the former3.2 percent estimate,” and suggests thatthe Bank of Korea should lift its key ratedespite the perceived inflation risks. A-P32 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 33

usinesswww.biztechreport.comImportance of Logistics Industryfor Growing Economiesby Shamila JanakiramanLogistics involves thedelivery of products orservices for the clientwith assured quality andquantity.The logistics industry also depends onthe timeliness in which products are deliveredto a destination. Promptness is of utmostimportance, as delayed delivery canresult in significant losses to the recipientof the consignment in most cases. ‘Betterlate than never’ does not work well for thelogistics provider.The logistics industry depended previouslyon transportation more than anything.Nowadays, however, good infrastructureand record-keeping have beenimproved by advancements in technology,integration, globalization, legislation, andconfederations.The immense growth witnessed by theretail and manufacturing industries hasbrought warehousing and logistics facilitiescloser to towns and cities. Previouslysituated in remote areas near waterfrontsand rail tracks, these facilities are now increasinglybeing located within rural areasand city borders.Logistics forms an important part of thesupply chain and involves the planning,implementation, and effective forward andreverse flow of goods, services, and relatedinformation from origin to recipient. A logisticiancontrols the smooth functioningat every stage within legal boundaries enablinglogistics management.Logistics management is comprised ofmaterials management, channel management,physical distribution, and supplychain management. It also includes thewarehouse management system whichtakes control of stocks, and streamlines themovement of goods in the storage units.Logistics Industry TrendsCertain logistics activities can be outsourcedto third-party logistics (3PL) providers,which include transporters whoferry goods from company warehouses toa port or vice versa. Fourth-party logistics(4PL) providers use resources, capabilities,and technology to manage the entire logisticsprocess for a customer, unlike a 3PLChristos Georghiou | Dreamstime.comThe immensegrowth witnessedbythe retail andmanufacturingindustrieshas broughtwarehousingand logisticsfacilities closerto townsand cities.provider who takes care of only one function.A 4PL provider manages other 3PLs,including truckers, forwarders, and customhouse agents comprising the entiresupply chain.The immense growth in the logistics industry,especially in the emerging economiesover the past decade, ensures a brightfuture with 3PLs. Shipping logistics companieshave gained a lot in these regions,with a large contribution coming from3PLs such as transporters, warehouse facilityowners, and brokers in freight-relatedjobs.Non-asset-based logistics providers donot include transporters or couriers. Theterm refers to providers who undertakeconsultation services on packaging andtransportation, freight quoting, financialsettlement, auditing, tracking, customerservice, and issue resolution. These expertsdo not own any physical assets, but ratherpossess freight industry knowledge, informationtechnology know-how, and associatedassets.On-demand transportation is an evolvingfield within the 3PL industry. The ondemandmodel includes services like fulltruck load (FTL), hotshot (direct, exclusivecourier), next flight out, or commercialairline shipping, and international expedited.As this field caters to the specialneeds of clients, it comes at a premiumprice and hence is profitable for 3PL providers.Asian Logistics IndustryThe robust trade, economic growth, andliberalization policies followed by manyAsian countries have resulted in increasedtrade volumes. The ensuing increase intransportation, handling, and warehousingneeds has led to a demand for integratedlogistics solutions in the region.Increased globalization in manufacturingand other technological advancements hasmade companies focus more on core activities,and thus logistics activities have beenoutsourced as a cost-effective solution.In the case of India, the growing economynow requires a boost in its logisticsservices to keep the goods flowing at anincreasing rate. The logistics field is nowestimated at a value of more than $US14billion, with further growth envisioned.Logistics-related services in India encompasstransportation of goods by air, land,waterway, and railway.Air freight ensures rapid, safe, and evensame-day delivery of goods and is hencemuch preferred. India, which boasts anextensive network of roads, prefers touse them to transport household goods,machinery, and vehicles. Another costeffectiveand older mode of logistics is viathe railway transport system, which carriesvehicles, oil, and coal from one end ofthe country to the other in huge volumes.Shipment of goods on waterways is especiallyuseful in international shipments ofhuge quantities of goods like grains, oil, orsensitive articles like uranium.The logistics industry in India has grownfast, overriding major sectors like metalsand mining. Strategically located cities likeMumbai were earmarked for setting up logisticsparks with investments to the tuneof US$200 million. Export processing zoneshousing several companies ranging fromgarment to electronics have necessitatedthe need for a good logistics backbone tosupport the domestic market as well as internationaltrade.The Indian logistics industry is poised togrow annually at the rate of 15-20 percent,reaching a revenue outcome of US$385 billionby 2015. The market share of the organizedsector in logistics will also grow to 12percent by 2015, opine market analysts.Data reveals that nearly 110 logisticsparks covering 3,500 acres, set up at a costof US$1 billion, will become operational by2012. This will include huge warehousingfacilities developed by logistics companiesat an expense of US$500 million.China and Taiwan have been cooperatingin efforts to improve logistics techniques.Since the advent of online shoppingin China, the importance of deliveryfirms has grown manyfold. Taiwan’s logisticscenters are assisting Chinese logisticsservice providers nowadays. The hugepotential of China’s logistics scenariocan be proved by the overall turnover inFactoids• Logistics forms an important partof the supply chain and involves theplanning, implementation and effectiveforward and reverse flow ofgoods, services and related information.• In order to maintain a competitiveadvantage, logistics companies mustleverage available knowledge moreefficiently to evolve into innovationbasedlogistics service providers.2010, which was estimated at 110 trillionChinese Yuan (US$16.6 trillion). This representsa huge business opportunity forlogistics-related companies. The expectedincrease in China’s GDP will give a furtherboost to this industry.The logistics costs in China are high,yet they can easily be lowered. One hurdleChina faces in this industry is that there isno unified business tax system. Currently,a three percent business tax is levied ontransportation, loading and unloading,along with another five percent levy onwarehousing and distribution and othertaxes.In spite of the growing economy inChina, the logistics industry can be said tobe continuing to suffer, but all city governmentsunderstand the importance of logisticscenters for rapid urban development.Taiwanese logistics companies are preferredby Chinese clients over ones fromHong Kong and foreign enterprises for upgradingChina’s logistics sector.With the Chinese logistics businessscene as potentially lucrative as it is, severalTaiwanese companies have set up logisticscenters on land provided by Chineselocal governments. A food logistics parkwas established in Chengdu by the Hai-Pa-Wang Taiwanese seafood restaurant, forexample. Another cross-strait commerceand trade cooperation zone was set up inKunshan in Suzhou.Logistics operations can also be simple,as in the case of the Philippines, where buslines are used to carry goods in provincialoperations. Although not entirely dedicatedto carrying goods, almost all bus lines acceptpackages for delivery on their routes.The sender has only to deposit the packageat the nearest bus terminal and inform therecipient about the consignment.As buses operate between routes continuously,this localized logistics systemserves a huge population and may even bethe fastest mode of delivery. Perishableslike vegetables, fruits and flowers alsofollow this mode to reach urban marketsfrom villages in all parts of the world, oftenreaching their destination in the weehours of the morning.Continued from Page 31China, 20 percent of which is generated byhydroelectric power.However, analysts believe the main reasonfor the current power shortage is largelythe lower power prices which are being controlledto feed manufacturing units, therebypreventing hydroelectric power generationfrom being optimized. Drought is incidentalto the overall lowered production of hydroelectricpower in China, presently.Technology in LogisticsA systems-driven approach using advancedsystems to integrate and simplifylarge, complex operations is required tostreamline production activities up todelivery. A fully-integrated supply chainmanagement solution will help systemsintegration and management besides enhancingdecision support and visibility ofthe company’s worldwide inventory.Information technologies in the logisticsindustry include the application of datacollection technologies and the Internet.Data collection and exchange are criticalfor logistics information management andcontrol, as they can be leveraged to delivercustomers’ goods more accurately and efficiently.The bar code system and radiofrequency identification system (RFID) aredata collection technologies that are usedwidely for this.Companies rely on information technologyto enable integration, order and transportationmanagement and warehousemanagement. RFID technology is used totrack vehicles, pallets, and even smallerunits to gain greater visibility.Electronic data interchange (EDI), electronicordering system (EOS), logistics informationsystem (LIS), enterprise informationportals (EIP), and knowledge management(KM) are information technology elementsused in the logistics industry. Electronicdata interchange involves inter-companycomputer-to-computer exchange of businessdocuments in standard formats.A good logistics company integrates allthe supply chain functions ranging fromraw material sourcing and manufacturingto the distribution of finished goods. Thecompany has to control costs of transportationand inventory while working out strategiesto serve customers optimally withinset time periods and budgets.All this makes supply chain managementcomplex, and therefore companiesneed real-time visibility to gain optimal insightsinto the flow of goods from suppliersand even suppliers’ suppliers. Better visibilityreduces wait times, and helps manageinventory and costs. Different companiesneed different solutions designed accordingto the product, volumes involved, location,and so on.Global supply chain management canbe enhanced by systems integration andmanagement to provide a tight vigil onworldwide inventory and transportationexpenditure. Supply chain management,lean logistics which emphasizes waste reduction,inventory control, standardizedwork, and mistake-proofing are other requisitesof a good logistics provider. In orderto maintain competitive advantage, logisticscompanies must leverage availableknowledge more efficiently to evolve intoinnovation-based logistics service providers,say experts. A-PThe Road Map AheadChina has a very limited pathway aheadof it. It has to improvise and implementgreener practices of production as the presentheavy pressures on the limited water resourcesavailable for both irrigation and industrialproduction is creating a widespreadnegative impact. Alternative resources forindustries have to be found, since there aresuch a large number of industries involved.Economic growth at the cost of environmentdegradation is a non-progressiveroute. Sustained development will providea positive impact and better all-around resultsfor China. A-P34 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 35

entertainmentwww.biztechreport.comBollywood Shares its GreatestLove as PiFan Closesby Sun BangThe 15th annual PuchonInternational FantasticFilm Festival (July 14-24) in Korea opened withRakeysh Omprakash Mehra’sThe Greatest Love Story EverTold, the Bollywood documentarycelebrating Indianmusicals.The film made its world premiere at theFestival de Cannes out of competition andmade the Asian premier at PiFan this pastJuly. Mehra, who is most well-known forRang De Basanti (2006), was expected to attendedthe festival’s opening ceremony withan ensemble of Indian and international castto celebrate this special screening occasion.But unfortunately he could not attend theevent because of some unavoidable situationback home.Bollywood movies, films created in thepopular style representative of India’s cinemaindustry, now stand firm as one of Asia’smajor cultural resources with sufficient ripplepower to reach all corners of the globe. InKorea, several Bollywood movies have beenshown with much heated response. Thegenre is now being combined with fantasyand science fiction, increasing entertainmentvalue, and the Greatest Love Story Ever Toldpleased the eyes and ears of the viewers forthe entire 81 minutes, displaying dazzlingscenes with the charms of the songs.The Asian films in Puchon Choice featured36 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORTcompetition including Mongolia’s OperationTatar, Malaysia’s Resurrection, Hong Kong’sRevenge: A Love Story, Japan’s SlapstickBrothers and South Korea’s The Yellow Sea.Also, this year’s lineup had a strong selectionof Southeast Asian horrors, including Indonesia’sThe Perfect House, Thailand OmnibusFour and, from Malaysia, Claypot Curry Killersand Limah Goes Home. Also from Thailand,the festival screened Friday Killer andSaturday Killer, the first two parts of YuthlertSippapak’s multi-genre hitman series.Other highlights in the World FantasticCinema section included the award-winningInvasion of Alien Bikini, Dante Lam’s TheStool Pigeon and Hong Kong-set thriller RedNights, directed by Julien Carbon and LaurentCourtiaud. The Vision Express sectionexplored the boundaries of Asian genre filmswith Singapore’s Forever, Japan’s Hospitalitéand Ringing in Their Ears and, from Taiwan,Honey Pupu and Make Up.Ever since PiFan’s 7th hosting in 2003 includeda special section for Bollywood movies,PiFan has introduced new Bollywoodmovies every year with special affection. Byopening the 15th festival this year with aBollywood movie, PiFan attempted to moreactively showcase Bollywood films to Asianand international moviegoers.The festival screened 221 films (127 featuresand 94 shorts) from 34 countries, includingnotable Bollywood films such as AbhinavKashyap’s Dabang, S. Shankar’s Robot,and Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om, of whichapproximately 78 percent of screenings weresold out completely. Top-sellers were Gantz:Perfect Answer, Detective Conan: Magician ofthe Silver Key, while the top selling Koreanfilm was PiFan’s closing choice, The Blind. A-P

travelwww.biztechreport.comJeju Island:Halla Mountainand Olle Hikingby Jin-Suk YangJeju Island, the largestisland in South Korea,lies to the south of theKorean peninsula. It isa volcanic island but it iscurrently dormant.This volcanic island is dominated by HallaMountain, the tallest mountain in SouthKorea, which rises 1,950 meters above sealevel. Jeju Island’s unique geographical locationwith its subtropical climate, whichis much warmer than rest of the Koreanpeninsula, has made it a favorable touristdestination, appealing to many couples asa popular locale for honeymoon trips andto many tourists as a popular sightseeingdestination. Traditionally the major touristattractions in Jeju Island were its beaches,colorful natural scenery, historical relicsand national parks, but recently hiking hassurfaced as one of the most popular tourismthemes among Jeju Island visitors.Halla Mountain HikingHalla Mountain (1950 m), a dormant volcanocharacterized for its gentle slopes, issituated at the center of Jeju Island. Baeknokdam,its summit crater, is where thelegendary story has it that an ancient mysticwho traveled on a white deer came forrefreshment. Halla Mountain also features asteep cliff and rocks in a variety of shapes,along with the surrounding 40 oreums (parasiticvolcanos, or small volcanoes formedaround a major volcano), and the mountainboasts distinguished and outstanding scenicviews throughout the four seasons. HallaMountain is also called a living ecologicalpark because it acts as a natural habitat forapproximately 2000 of the 4000 species ofplants that are found in Korea. It also hasthe largest ecology of Korean fir trees at thesummit. For its outstanding scenic appeal, aswell as geological and biological value, HallaMoutain was designated as a World NaturalHeritage by UNESCO in the year 2007.There are six major trails for Halla Mountainhiking, namely, Eorimok, Yeonsil,Songpanak, Gwaneumsa, Donnaeko, andEoseungsaengak Trails. The Eorimok, Yeonsil,and Songpanak Trails are the most popularand recommendable.Eorimk Trail is a 6.8 kilometer long traillaid on the northwest side of Halla Mountainand begins at the Eorimok Square onthe 1100 Road. It is the most popular trailbecause the views of Jeju oreums can beseen right away. The Eorimik trail runsacross Witseoreum at 1,700 meters abovesea level. It stops at the junction of themountain’s southern cliff due to the RestyearSabbatical System around the top area.For a return course, trackers could take eitherthe Yeongsil or Donnaeko Trails.The Yeongsil Trail is southwest of HallaMountain which is a 5.8 kilometer course.The path to the trail is on the 1100 Road.Although it is the shortest course, the outstandingscenery along the trail is one ofa kind. It also offers the best autumn foliage.Because of the steep angle of the stonestairways from 1,400 meters above sea level,trackers may have to rest more frequently.The Rest-year Sabbatical System is currentlyapplied around the top of Halla Mountain.For this reason, trackers are only allowedto the junction of the mountain’s southerncliff after passing through Witseoreum atContinued from Page 33including foreign ownership ceilings in keyservices, and liberalizing product marketregulations.” Besides, it added, it’s “importantto foster a foreign investment-friendlyclimate by enhancing the transparency oftax and regulatory policies and reformingthe labor market.”The issue of social spending lay at the1,700 meters above sea level.Seongpanak Trail is a 9.6 kilometer longcourse that is located on the east side of HallaMountain. The trail begins at the 750 meterspoint above sea level on the 516 Roadthat runs across the mountain and the trailcontinues to the summit. It is a good coursefor trackers for all ages and genders due tothe trait’s gentle slope. The SeongpanakTrail boasts the spectacular beauty of springwith the field covered by azalea blossomsand greenery of the Korean fir trees. As areturn course trackers could take GwaneumsaTrail.Olle hiking“Olle” [Ole] is the Jeju dialect for a narrowpathway that is connected from thestreet to the front gate of a house. Hence,Olle is a path that comes out from a secretroom to an open space and a gateway tothe world. In a sense, if the road is connected,it is linked to the whole island and therest of the world as well. In short, Olle is atrail route path along the pristine coastalperimeter of Jeju Island that has been purposefullymarked by volunteers to enablewalkers of all ages to enjoy the unspoiledbeauty of the environment. When pronouncingthe word Olle, it sounds like saying“Would you come” in Korean, so Jeju’sOlle sounds like saying “Would you cometo Jeju?” Since the year 2007, when the firstOlle trail was opened, there have been effortsto develop and open more Olle trails.There are currently a total of twelve trailheart of the problem of overweening inequities.“Social spending – at 7.5 percent ofGDP – remains well below the OECD averageof 20 percent,” said the report, whileKorea’s “tax and transfer systems have thesmallest impact on inequality of any countryin the OECD area” and “well-targeted taxand benefit programs are needed to mitigateincreasing inequality trends.” That wasroutes equaling 200 kilometers of walkingtrails. It is said that trackers who explorethe Jeju Olle could experience peace, happinessand healing on the road.On average, each Olle trail is about tento eighteen kilometers long, and each offersa distinct opportunity to soak in thebeauty of the Jeju coastline that varies fromlowlands to highlands. Among the twelvemajor routes, route 7 which connects OedolgaeRock to Wolpyeong is known to be themost popular among visitors. This route is aseaside hiking trail beginning at OedolgaeRock and passing through Beophwan portand the Poonglim Resort until it reachesWolpyeong port. Some of the most lovedpoints on the route involve coming acrossabundant pampas grass and wildflowers.Moreover, visitors should never miss outon Soobong pathway and Soobong Bridge,which are named after Kim Soobong. Hebuilt the pathway and bridge himself usingshovel and pick to clear the road and movingbig stones to make the bridge.Hiking in Jeju Island is a unique experiencein a way that visitors can directly experiencethe natural environment. It offersvisitors the opportunity to fully enjoy JejuIsland itself, Halla Mountain, beaches, andoreums which have not been artificially manipulatedto fit a tourist’s needs. Hiking canbe done alone, with families, or even withfriends. To fully experience hiking in JejuIsland, participants need just three things:appropriate clothing, comfortable shoes,and some pocket money. A-Pan area in which Kim Dong-soo of the FairTrade Commission did not care to venturewhile calling for “open competition” on a“level playing field.” A-PDonald Kirk is the author of numerous books andarticles on Korean business and economic issues,including “Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and ChungJu Yung” and “Korean Crisis: Unraveling of theMiracle in the IMF Era.”38 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 39

technologywww.biztechreport.comThomas Perkins | Dreamstime.comAsian SchoolsGo High-Techwith iPadsBy Lynette WuThe phenomenal rise ofApple’s iPad is changingthe face of mobilecomputing in almost all majoraspects of Asian society,including education.Schools in more economically-advancedAsian countries are now going high-techwith the integration of the iPad and othersimilar tablet devices as a comprehensivelearning solution for their students, whichwill eventually replace traditional paperbasednotepads.Using digital books will make it a lot easierfor students in these Asian schools touse the tablet as a primary learning tool insteadof physical textbooks and notebooks.iPads and tablets can store literally thousandsof pages of textbooks that studentscan easily access as well as serve as a notetakingdevice. Not only will students doaway with lugging heavy school bags filledwith books, pens, and paper when going toschool, but a paperless classroom will begood for the environment as well.In Japan, the Future School project is alreadyunderway with classrooms from tendifferent elementary schools fitted withelectronic blackboards which will be amore interactive communication platformbetween the school and the students. Asidefrom that, Japanese students from theseschools will be provided with one tableteach as a primary learning tool.In South Korea, schools are equippedwith WiFi zones and these areas are used bythe education ministry as a testing groundfor digital textbooks to which students canhave access. These online texts would bepart of the education ministry’s plan of supplyingtablets to all schools nationwide.The education ministry in Singapore, acountry known for its high level of mathand science education, will be providingschools with grants to purchase tablets,software and services. One example is theNanyang Girls’ High School, where morethan 120 students and 16 teachers werealready provided grants to the tune of100,000 Singapore dollars. These grants arein line with the nation’s goal of providingone iPad to each student in the country by2013.Redefining the Classroom inAsian SchoolsClassrooms around the world todaygenerally look the same that they did incenturies past. But everything is changingnow in this digital age, particularly in Asianschools, which are already way ahead inthe game of digitizing education. Learningwill also evolve from traditional teacherstudentinteraction, but tablets will makeit easier for students to give learning feedbackto one another using their tools andonline resources.In some schools in Singapore, where theuse of iPads and similar devices are now beingused extensively by both teachers andstudents, learning can be both fun, interactive,and more interesting with these devices.Students can move numbers aroundto study factorization or learn more aboutparts of the cell or the human body by simplyclicking on a section in a diagram. Thehuman DNA double helix structure cancome alive on the screen, making it moreinteresting for students to learn. These andother similar educational applications arebeing developed and made available for thetablet.The growing penetration of tablets inAsian schools is just a reflection of the device’spopularity in mainstream society.Sam Han, an instructional technology fellowat the City University of New York anda US-based expert on the role of technologyin education, foresees that the use oftechnology in some Asian countries mayeven surpass or leapfrog that of the West.According to Han, this is primarily due togreater broadband Internet access penetrationin these countries as well as better Internetinfrastructure than countries in theWest, including the United States.Not all experts are keen on loosely dumpingtechnology on Asian schools. Educationexperts and psychologists are concernedthat students may get distracted with theavailable social networks and games online,which would be accessible from theirtablets. Thus they could neglect the maingoal of the device as an educational tool.The penetration of social media amongAsian youths is very high and has growneven more so with the proliferation of tablets,smartphones, and other web-enableddevices. Providing students with Internetconnectedtablets would give them freereign to access social networks or playonline games instead of studying their lessons.However, these experts also acknowledgethat the use of technology in schoolsis inevitable and will be the trend of educationalsystems in the future. Tablet makersare now developing devices intendedfor educational purposes, and alongsidecome software developers that will providevarious applications intended for teachingor learning. Educational applications andonline learning systems could actually increasestudent thought and analytical skills– once they overcome the novelty aspectsof owning an iPad or a tablet.Tablet Makers Targeting theEducation MarketRupert Murdoch, the famous media mogulknown for his News Corp group, saidin one of his speeches that the use of tabletcomputers and the rush of software applicationsthat goes with it for educationalpurposes would be a huge business withan immense potential growth. Murdochsaid that education technology is the “lastholdout from the digital revolution” andhis own company would be pushing intothe realms of this new market. His vision isto provide a personalized learning systemwhere lessons will be delivered by someof the world’s best teachers to studentsaround the world using the Internet.Apple’s iPad is expeted to be the primarytool to deliver this educational technologysystem, but it would not be the only one.Several tablet makers and start-up technologycompanies are joining the bandwagonin providing educational tablets for studentsworldwide. This includes companieslike mySpark Technologies, Vinci Tab, andScrollMotion – all moving towards providingeducation solutions to students andchanging the way they study, do theirhomework and share information withteachers and fellow students.Most of these tablets will be based on theAndroid operating system and will featurea 10-inch screen where students can downloadand read digital textbooks, run educationalAndroid applications, sync withtheir school calendars, and collaboratewith teachers and peers using instant messaging.Going beyond the boundaries of traditionaltextbooks, students can learn moreeffectively using these interactive materialsas well as from online educational videosand other web-based courses. Tablets likethe MySpark will be provided with a specialstylus which students can use to take downand annotate notes.While tablets like the MySpark will betargeting college students, other educationaltablet manufacturers like Vinci Tab willprovide tablets intended for non-schoolage kids. Children can learn and feed theircuriosity from the storybooks, games, andmusic videos that will be made available.These applications can provide a focus forthese kids and develop their analyticalskills. This will be a better alternative tothe iPad or even the Galaxy Tab, which maybe too heavy and unsafe for toddlers andyoung kids.Other startups will focus on providingdigital educational content on their tablets,such as ScrollMotion, which has workedwith traditional educational printed contentfrom publications like McGraw-Hill,providing these materials available to onlinereaders to supplement their education.This digital education-based content rangesfrom the availability of online versions oftraditional education texts to online learningplatforms focused on students from differentlevels.These materials will also feed the naturaltendency of students to socialize even ifthey choose to avoid their schoollibraries to supplement their education.Using the power of socialmedia, students can benefit froma more collaborative learning environmentwhere the collectivelearning input from the studentcommunity will benefit each andeveryone’s learning journey.Marketplace CompetitionIndustrial research expert Gartnerreported that the worldwidetablet market will almost doubleits sales in 2010 and may reachup to 54.8 million units this year.Gartner predicts that the marketwill continue to grow and surpass208 million units by the year 2014.The education technology marketwill take a major part in this withindustry leaders Apple and Samsungtaking a larger piece of thepie. Other players like educationaltablet startups will focus on nicheeducation areas and grab theirshare of the market.This competition among tabletplayers, whether they’re industrygiants like Apple or start-ups likeMySpark, is favorable for educationalinstitutions not only in Asiabut also in other countries aroundthe world. Each of these manufacturerswants to develop their ownproduct that will provide teachersand schools better technologicaltools for learning – all intendedfor the benefit of the students. Studentscan learn better with interactivelearning applications thatwill enhance the learning experience,making it easier for the studentsto study and provide teacherswith more effective tools.These new educational platformswill not only foster a newexperience and environment forindividual learning, but they willalso facilitate more efficient andeffective virtual study groups.Students can share educationalcontent with peers, collaborateon school work, and collectivelywork on a school project – a betterand more dynamic learning experiencethat students can easilylearn to enjoy. A-PFurther Reading:• Yahoo Newswww.news.yahoo.com• Channel Insiderwww.channelinsider.com• Gartnerwww.gartner.comCompanies Mentionedin this Article:• Applewww.apple.com• Samsungwww.samsung.com• News Corporation Groupwww.newscorp.comOpportunisticHackersby Meenakshi ShankarAs the world is soaringto ever-greater heightswith innovations incomputer and Internet technology,there is an increasinglyhigh risk in terms ofunauthorized use of computerand network resources.Computer crime authorities are trying tofind a way to stop hackers who are continuingto gain public attention through high profilehacks. Privacy protection has become a corenecessity in this cyber universe.Regardless of the widespread availabilityof WiFi security tools, nearly half of all homeWiFi networks can be hacked in seconds, accordingto a new survey. Reports indicate thatmore than 50 percent of Internet users arevulnerable to serious data security breaches.With steadily increasing users of smartphonesand wireless networks, it has becomefar easier for hackers to crack usernames andpasswords.Additionally, today there is a fundamentalsocial shift occurring in hacker culture.Activists are disrupting major corporate andgovernment web sites, stealing and leakingsensitive data, and thereby changing the waywe use the web. There is greater trepidationnowadays with regard to Internet-related securityissues, which are a consequence of anincreasingly technically-adept gang of facelesshackers who are seemingly increasing innumber by their own will.Stree Naidu, vice president of Asia-Pacificand Japan at the data security company Imperva,said he believed smartphones had creatednew security problems that had been consideredmainly an issue with web programming.“For example, it is considered a commonsecurity practice to encrypt data transferredfor login forms,” he said. “However, we witnessedthose same forms passing the data inunencrypted format when the login page ispresented via a mobile-dedicated login page.”Mobile security has all the potential to beexploited quite easily by hackers. In September2010, a virus began infecting more than amillion mobile phones in China. Masqueradingas an anti-virus application, the “zombie”let hackers access the phone’s SIM card andautomatically send spam text messages topeople listed on the phone’s address book.Frost & Sullivan forecasts that smartphonesales in the Asia-Pacific region alone will doublethis year to 100 million units, accountingfor 20 percent of the mobile devices shippedin this region. Additionally, the informationtechnology research company InternationalData Corp. predicted that downloads of mobileapplications worldwide will rise to 77 billionby the end of 2014 from 10.9 billion in2010.The opportunity certainly exists for hackerswho are capable of creating tremendousdamage. To cite a incident back in March ofDmitriy Shironosov | Dreamstime.comthis year, forty South Korean websites, includingthose of the presidential office, theNational Intelligence Service and the defenseministry, were reportedly targeted for threedays in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS)attacks, where it was indicated that maliciouscode flooded the networks with fake accessrequests, causing them to crash. In April,more than 2 million South Koreans lost accessto their accounts at the National AgriculturalCooperative Cooperation, known in Korean asNonghyup Bank.Hacking has also progressed from a stagewhere it was done for fun to a serious enterprisewhere you can make money from sellingcredit card numbers and other accountinformation. An attacker could grab multipleauthentication tokens by setting up a Wi-Fi accesspoint with the same name of a commonwireless network provider and wait for smartphoneswith default settings to automaticallyconnect to a previously known network andstart syncing immediately, according to thereport. Here, the attacker could capture authenticationtokens for each service that attemptedto sync.Not only is the calendar data exposed, butalso information about user contacts. An attackercould also change the stored e-mailaddresses of contacts, and the user can be atrisk by sending sensitive information to theattacker instead of the intended recipient, theresearchers noted.Hackers smash into computers and computernetworks without any authorizationand cause chaos and harm to the owners ofthe system. Most of the culprits are teenagersand young adults with criminal intentions.LulzSec, the cyber crime rulers, have hackedwebsites of major companies and intelligenceagencies over the past several months.Recently, the electronics giant Sony saidthe names, addresses, emails, birth dates,phone numbers, and other information fromPlayStation service customers were stolenfrom its servers as well as an “outdated database”from 2007 which contained details ofaround 23,400 people outside the US. That includes10,700 direct debit records for customersin Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, andSpain. Sony’s PlayStation hack incident has alreadysparked legal action and investigationsby authorities in North America and Europe.In this biggest breach, hackers compromisedthe security of 100 million credit card–backedaccounts on the PlayStation Network.Hackers have also been operating from Chinaand stealing sensitive information fromWestern oil companies. Similarly, a targetedattack on Google got to the Gmail accounts ofmany users, which included some high-levelUS government officials. A Romanian hackerclaims to have breached a computer serverat NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center andgained access to confidential satellite data.Internet banking, online shopping, and allContinued on Page 4740 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 41

technologywww.biztechreport.comGoogle Panda:What it Meansfor Your Businessby Rajani BaburajanWhat do you see when you open your Internetbrowser? Well, most of us have theGoogle home page that opens with a searchbutton “ready to go.” What is your desiretoday? A decent restaurant nearby? A hotelbooking? Admission to college? For anythingand everything, Google is the answer.The search browser has become an inseparablecompanion for most Internet users.With the recently introduced Google Panda(also known as Farmer update), things aregoing to be even easier. There’s lot more toexpect from this search engine in the comingyears.While Google Panda is going to makethe search process more meaningful, it’sgoing to impact the web sites, and in turn,businesses, in a big way. The impact ofthe search engine update is already visibleamong several web sites. While the pageranks of some sites have shot up, those ofothers have fallen, creating a panic amongweb site owners and businesses alike. Thus,a journey through Google Panda will helpalleviate the worries of businesses active inthe Internet space.“The name “Farmer update” is related to theconcept of removing content “farms.” However,there’s no clue why the Farmer has beenrenamed Google Panda. Some geeks attributethe name change to Google CEO’s passion forKung-Fu and the Kung-Fu Panda.What is Google Panda?Search engines play a crucial role in improvingthe quality of web sites. Google,the search engine king, has been at theforefront of innovation, acting as a rolemodel for similar web sites. Google Pandais a major step in the evolution of searchengines, as it filters web sites based on thequality of their content. Unlike many previousalgorithms that didn’t bring noticeablechanges in search results, Google Panda isclearly going to have a great impact on theperformance of web sites.The Real ImpactAccording to Google, the new algorithmhas had an impact of 12 percent of its searchresults in the US, where it initially rolled outthe changes. With worldwide rollout beingcomplete now, Google Panda is likely to havethe same level of impact in other countries,as it is applicable to non-English search resultsas well. The company also announceda few minor updates in April, which is estimatedto have a further 2 percent impact onUS search results, Google said.“This update is designed to reduce rankingsfor low-quality sites -- sites which addlow-value for users, copy content from otherweb sites, or sites that are just not veryuseful,” Google said in a blog post announcingPanda. “At the same time, it will providebetter rankings for high-quality sites -- siteswith original content and information suchas research, in-depth reports, thoughtfulanalysis and so on.”In April, CNET analyzed the impact ofGoogle Panda on web sites and found thatsome of the new sites have gained advantagesfrom these changes, while reputed siteslike WikiHow and eHow that have a hugeuser-generated content have been hit hard.Demand Media, which operates sites likeeHow and Livestrong, revealed the changeduring an earnings call with investors inApril. “In February and April, we experiencedtwo major algorithm changes,” saidRichard Rosenblatt, Demand Media CEO.“For eHow, here is the impact: as comparedto the levels before the first Februarychange, we saw a net decline in search enginereferrals of 20 percent.”Other web sites that have slid in popularityinclude Nextag.com, a price comparisonweb site, and TravBuddy, which promoteslots of user-generated content. Followingtheir decline in page rank, these companiesare rigorously trying to improve the qualityof their web sites by removing low-qualitycontent.According to SearchMetrics, Panda hasnegatively impacted popular web sites likeAssociatedContent.com, FindArticles.comand EZineArticles.com. It has also pusheddown some legitimate sites including Cult ofMac and the British Medical Journal. However,web sites like Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon.com,and IMDB retained their earliertop positions. Social networking sites likeTwitter and Facebook made a significantupward move, while Yelp, Flickr, Apple.com, and WebMD slipped a bit. US governmentweb sites benefitted significantly. Forexample, WhiteHouse.gov climbed fromNo. 125 to No. 79, and web sites like NASA,the Centers for Disease Control, and theNational Institutes of Health also recordedsignificant rise in their page rank.What it all Means for Your WebSite…Simply put, Google Panda propounds theidea of originality in content. To be friendlyto Google, you need to ensure good quality,original content. The more original the contentis, the better the page rank will be. Itmeans it’s time to remove all the poor qualitycontent in your web page and replace itwith fresh original content that is appealingto your users. The Google search engine advocatesthat the content given on a web siteshould be authentic and relevant. This newalgorithm is a clear “no” to content spammersand copycats.Another aspect of Google’s search updateis so-called Social Validation. Today, websites adopt several social tools to rate theircontent and make it popular among readers.Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,LinkedIn and other social networking sitesimproves the social value and search enginerank of the content. Google has beena strong proponent of social content sharingmethods like RSS feeds, which allowfor content sharing among web sites in anethical manner. With Google Panda furtherstressing this point, it becomes imperativefor web sites, especially those in the publishingindustry, to incorporate social mediatools into their sites. Plus, they shouldencourage readers to bookmark their sitesand share the pages with other users.Will Google Panda be a sword to articlemarketing companies? Article marketingthrough directory submission web sites hasbeen a lucrative business opportunity forSEO companies. With the new Panda Update,article marketing gets a new face. It cannotbe the same old keyword-rich clichéd articles.Content writers will be restricted from“lifting” ideas from other web sites. GooglePanda strongly opposes the idea of fillingthe Internet space with repetitive content,most of which is irrelevant to informationseekers. The result: companies now have topublish fresh content that has the relevantinformation for their users. That said, bloggersmight get a better say in Google space.The search engine values the contribution ofauthentic bloggers who contribute to informationsharing. Inviting authentic bloggersto your site should enhance the visibility ofyour web site. Article marketing still is an option,but companies need to ensure that thearticles are unique in all respects.Google’s Suggestions to Improvethe Page Ranking of yourWeb siteHere are some important suggestions that couldbring quality to your web site:• Make a site with a clear hierarchyand text links. Every page shouldbe reachable from at least one statictext link.• Create a site map with links to importantpages of your site.• Share links with sites, which youthink should know about your pages.• Restrict the number of links on aweb page to a maximum of 100.• Make the web site informative withoriginal, high-quality content withoutgrammar and spelling errors.• Make the content keyword-rich sothat it gets caught by search enginesquickly. The ideal keyword densityis 3-7 percent.• Label the images using text values.Google crawler doesn’t recognizetext contained within an image.• Make sure that your elementsand ALT attributes are descriptiveand accurate.• Test your web site’s compatibility indifferent browsers.• Test your browser in a text-onlybrowser such as Lynx. If the web siteis heavy with rich media content,provide the text-only alternative tosearch engines to crawl and indexyour web site.• If you buy a content managementsystem, make sure that the systemcreates pages and links that searchengines can crawl.• Improve the load time of your website. Fast sites increase user satisfactionand improve the overall qualityof the Web, so they get rankedhigher in search engines.• Use web site performance monitoringtools like Page Speed, YSlow,WebPagetest, or other similar tools.Meanwhile, Google also warns web siteowners against the use of any deceptive ormisleading practices intended to improvethe page rank of the site. Some of them include,but are not restricted to, using misspellingsof popular web sites, camouflagedtext, keyword spam and content spam.Google collects spam reports on a regularbasis and penalizes web sites that abuseGoogle’s quality headlines. These spam reportsalso play a major role in the buildingof new search algorithms.Follow these quality guidelinesto prevent being penalized byGoogle• Do not use cloaking, i.e., presentingone content for search engines anddifferent content for users.• Present the content from a user perspectiveinstead of search engineperspective.• Don’t participate in link schemesthat claim to increase your site’sranking or PageRank. Avoid links toweb spammers or poor quality websites as they would have a negativeimpact on your web site.• Don’t use unauthorized computerprograms to submit pages, checkrankings, etc. These programs consumecomputing resources and violateGoogle’s policies. For example,Google does not recommend theuse of products such as WebPositionGold that send automatic or pro-Mobile HandsetMarket in Indiaby Meenakshi ShankarThe rapid growth of thetelecoms sector in Indiais having a greaterimpact in India’s mobilehandset market.The country is now the 2nd largest mobilehandset market in the world. Withfacts and figures pointing to approximately811.59 million mobile phone subscribers inIndia as of March 2011, growth is expectedto continue rising steeply through to 2012.Spurred by a variety of products and services,the industry has become well-defined.The market offers phones ranging from theVodafone VF150 to the super cool iPhone4G, all due to improving awareness amongconsumers coupled with the vast amount ofinformation available and advertising thatcomes with a clean focus.The introduction of 3G in the Indianmarket, along with the availability of smartphonesthat use the technology, is playinga crucial role in the growth of the mobileindustry in India. These smartphones improveuser experience by allowing access tothe Internet, video calling, streaming music,and much more. Even rural circles seemto be expanding fast in mobile handset use.All of this has been presenting smartphonemarketers with a gamut of opportunitiesto market mobile phones with cuttingedge technologies, high-end cameras, andgrammatic queries to Google.Say “No” to• Hidden text or hidden links• Cloaking or sneaky redirects• Sending automated queries toGoogle• Loading pages with irrelevantkeywords• Filling pages with duplicatecontent• Don’t create pages containingmalware• Avoid “doorway” pages createdjust for search engines• Avoid “cookie cutter” approachessuch as affiliate programswith little or no originalcontent.Antonella865 | Dreamstime.comQWERTY keypads to a huge market. Localplayers are also trying to catch up with globalmanufacturers in terms of better satisfyingIndian consumers.Key players in Indian MobilePhone MarketNokia – the Finnish telecommunicationspioneering giant, has been seeing successin the Indian market due to its varied userfriendlyproducts. This brand has been therefor more than a decade and the companyfirst saw a breakthrough with its model1100. Marketed with a tag saying Made forIndia, the product was a huge success andconsumers started believing in the brandphenomenally. Nokia still commands anextensive market share due to its brand positioning.It is also trying to reinvent its imageto cater to the vast new age populationwho wish to stay connected all the time.Other entrants such as the Canadianpower player Blackberry are also leavingno stones unturned by appealing to everyvertical segment of society who desire asmartphone. This brand has come out witha more attractive price, making it moreaccessible, and it is also appealing to thecrowd by leveraging applications such as itsmessenger.Google Panda: The Result ofExtensive ResearchGoogle adopts several methods to improveits search process. The search enginehas an extensive resource wing that compilesdata from search results and analyzestheir relevance based on factors like contentquality, the web site’s performance (howlong it takes to load), anchor text links,user behavior (whether they blocked thesite or not), and more. Recently the companylaunched a “block link” option in itsChrome extension, which appears when auser clicks a site, opens it, and returns thesame search result.Google says that while they designedthe Panda algorithm entirely through logicaland scientific methods, it has also beenfound that Panda was validating what thesearch engine has been observing for yearsthrough various methods. For example,Google says over 84 percent of sites thatwere negatively impacted by Google Pandafell within the sites that were blocked usingthe Chrome extension.Why Google Designed PandaIn its earlier form, the Google search algorithmhad several flaws. In fact, they werenot flaws, but rather, certain limitations thathelped search engine gamers “outperform”the Google algorithm. They succeeded inmaking low-quality content more “technicallyappealing to Google crawlers” thanthe high-quality content generated fromauthentic web sites. The result: the web isnow loaded with “search engine-friendly”content, but not user-friendly content. Thishas questioned the soul of Google’s searchethics.With Panda at the forefront, Google is allset for a war with content spammers. Arethey listening? A-PApple – the Next Wave…Bharti Airtel, yet another of India’s mobileservice providers, launched Apple’s latestdevice, the iPhone 4G, in India for theprice of US$780 for the 16GB version andUS$920 for the 32GB version, incidentally atthe time when private operators rolled outtheir 3G services in India.Consumers today are demanding phonesthat do much more than just calling or messagingand helping them stay connected.Effective prices, affordable voice and dataplans, sign-up charges, and air-time chargesalso appeal to customers who are now experiencingthe facility of disposable incomes.Brands such as Micromax, Karbonn, Beetel,Alcatel, Spice Mobile, and Fly Mobile are thenext leaders who are now experimentingwith their part and feeling the pulse of Indianconsumers.Reports indicate that tele-density inIndia reached 67.67 percent during January2011. Urban tele-density is indicatedas 150.67 percent and rural tele-densityis 32.11 percent. Wireless tele-density is64.74 percent. Private operators hold 87.88percent of the wireless market share,whereas BSNL and MTNL, two PSU operators,hold only 12.22 percent market shareeach. The broadband subscriber base hasincreased from 10.92 million in Decemberof 2010 to 11.21 million in January of 2011.This is leading to a highly-optimistic futureforecast, and Indian telecoms growth is expectedto grow further with 208.4 millionphones being shipped by 2016. The Indianmobile phone market is definitely witnessingan era of revolution, and customers arealso rapidly shifting from a standard featuredmobile phone to one which can offerthem all the greatest features at an affordableprice. A-P42 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 43

technologywww.biztechreport.comFastest Wireless TransmissionCircuit Technology Developingin JapanBy Anuradha ShuklaImagine wireless datastreaming to your laptopat speeds faster that whatyour current wired localarea networks are capableof.That would be a real treat, as you wouldbe able to enjoy hours of streaming highdefinitionvideo via your WiFi connectionat a quality you’d never experienced before.Again, imagine having that kind of speed,which people are now calling Wireless Gibabit(WiGig), directly on your mobile devices.This may soon become a reality with announcementsfrom Panasonic about creatinga WiGig-capable chip that is designedspecifically for the mobile phone. The WirelessGigabit Alliance, the main driver forWiGig technologies, has been collaboratingwith Panasonic on the development of thischip, which will be capable of deliveringhigh-speed communication at speeds thatare 20 times faster than what people arecurrently used to with existing WiFi connections.60GHz Multi-gigabit WirelessCommunication TechnologyAt present, high-speed wireless communicationfor mobile devices exists only inthe 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz band. Mobile devicescannot take part in higher frequencybandwidths such as at 60 GHz, the ultrahigh-speedwireless communications usedfor digital TVs, due to the high energy consumptionrequired to operate at such speedBy sun bangThe Korean technology industrywas perceived as an imitatora decade ago, but it hasrecently moved firmly into therealm of industry leadership asan Internet-enabled innovator.Samsung dominates the globalmarket in memory chips andflat-screen televisions, while LG isthe world’s top producer of airconditioners.Strauski | Dreamstime.comand bandwidth.But with the development of Panasonic’snew WiGig-capable chip, 60 GHz multigigabitwireless communications can nowbe optimized and used for mobile devices.Both the transceiver core and peripheralcircuits of mobile devices that will use suchtechnologies will be optimized to operateon 1W of power, making ultra-high-speedwireless communications at the 60 GHz frequencyband a reality.For mobile users, communication speedswill be higher than existing local area networksand will operate 20 times faster thannormal. With a bigger bandwidth, a 30-minutevideo recorded and compressed at highdefinition will be able to be downloaded directlyto your mobile phone in ten secondsflat. High-speed high-definition video contentstreaming will also soon be stress-free.The New Evolution in WiFiThe development of the new technologywas supported by Japan’s Ministry of InternalAffairs and Communications as part ofits research and development project forthe expansion of radio spectrum resources.The development was also a major endeavorof the Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) Alliance,where Panasonic sits as a board member.The Wireless Gigabit Alliance, composedof technology leaders in the personal computer,electronics, semiconductor, and mobilephone industries, is the main driver ofdeveloping faster wireless connectivity thatwill be the next evolution of WiFi used forcommunications, computing and entertainment.It will take a little more time before ahigh-end smart phone sporting the new 60GHz chip from Panasonic will be introducedinto the market. The company is still workingon the product design and architecturethat will draw in less than 1W of power. Butwhen it does emerge, expect people to gogaga over their mobile phones, downloadinghigh-definition video in 1080p directlyto their mobile devices in mere seconds. A-PFurther Reading:• JCN Networkwww.japancorp.net• Business Wirewww.businesswire.com• Wireless Federationwww.wirelessfederation.comCompanies Mentionedin this Article:• Panasonicwww.panasonic.net• Wireless Gigabit Alliancewww.wirelessgigabitalliance.orgSuccess Story of KakaoTalk, the Korean TwitterAlso, the two companies’ recent reputations for creative applicationsof emerging technologies have surged on the heels ofsuch technologies as their 3D display panels and smart phones.With the emerging smart phone industry and its growth opportunitiesin the highly advanced IT market in Korea, KakaoTalk,a social network service-based mobile application developedin Korea, is currently spreading fast among Koreansmart phone users. The application is gaining popularityover traditional mobile communicationmethods by allowing members to send messagesand photos to one another for free. It is nowcreaking under the weight of its phenomenalsuccess with new carrier strategies and businessmodels.KakaoTalk is rapidly replacing text messagingand email services for Koreans and currentlyhas about 10 million users, including 1 millionoutside of Korea. The company plans to open theservice in a few Asian territories and the US this year,gearing up to face tough competition from many other messagingservices in America like Facebook and Twitter. KakaoTalk hasbeen Korea’s biggest app success story and it has been inspiringother Korean app developers and start-ups. The compelling anddifferent systems that KakaoTalk is exclusively offering, includingphoto and video sharing and group chat, is anticipated tocapture more non-Korean users by the end of this year. A-PWill HumanoidsConquer AsiaFirst?by Olivier PlaetevoetEven though a robotshould not have all thesame traits as humanbeings, human-like robotsoffer many advantages.The most important is that robots fit intoour everyday surroundings. Despite the factthat there are tough challenges for roboticists,training a robot to walk up a staircase,maintain balance and grab objects safely areessential steps to welcome robots into ourhuman-centered environment. Another advantageof human-like robots is that theylook more familiar to us, and having somekind of reference is helpful when dealingwith the unknown. For instance, Sony’sfamous robotic-pet Aibo and other roboticdogs like Genibo or i-Cybie were designedas dogs with the firm intention of evokingplayful emotions in the owners’ minds, andtherefore enabling entertaining activities.Human-like robots call forth a broader rangeof emotions in the people they interact with.Therefore, people might put more trust ina humanoid to execute some tasks than onany other form of robot.Thus, humanoid robots are being developedbecause we want to release them intothe human environment and have easierinteractions with them. Also, a robot that iseasily distinguished from other people willbe much better accepted according to thetheory of the “Uncanny Valley. Because ofthe difficulties encountered while elaboratingnew techniques (e.g. biped walking), humanoidrobot science is very young. Therefore,to find out what has been realized inAsia during the last decade, we can describethe humanoid robots classified by country.The first country analyzed is, of course,Japan. The second one will be South Korea,because of this country’s future prospectsthanks to measures directed by the government.JapanJapan is famous as the worldwide leaderin robotics. Indeed, the country relies heavilyon robots for its industry. In 2009, Japan washome to half of the world’s 800,000 industrialrobots. But Japan has also been at the topin private service robots since the 1990’s.The reason for this leadership is the country’slow birthrate and aging population.Now that the ministry of health and welfareestimates that the country will need 50,000more health-care workers per year in thenear future, an even more radical change isoccurring, from the production of industrialrobots to the production of personal servicerobots.Another factor that pushed Japan aheadis the love Japanese people feel for robots. Incontrast with many Western cultures, whererobots are perceived as dangerous and conqueringmachines that will cause humanityto be enslaved, Japanese people grew upwith the friendly Astro Boy and have faith infriendly robots.HondaASIMO is certainly the most advanced humanoidrobot at this time. Created by Hondaon October 31st, 2000, it put the companya huge step ahead of its competitors. In1986, ASIMO’s ancestor called E0 was firstdeveloped. The robot consisted of only twolegs which walked at the slow speed of fiveseconds per step. After E0 and thanks toresearch on the human walk, the series ofE1, E2 and E3 were developed between 1987and 1991 to achieve the walking speed of3km/h, the same as average human beings.Two more years were required to deal withfaster speeds, steps and uneven ground. E6is thus the last ancestor of ASIMO that didnot have a human-like appearance but justtwo legs. The improvement in walking style,speed and balance between E0 and E6 isimpressive and was realized in less than adecade.The next stage in ASIMO’s evolution wasto create a real humanoid. This was donein the period 1993-1997 with models P1, P2and P3. In addition to the robot’s improvementin various tasks and its ability to executerealistic movements, the major changewas the reduction in scale. P1 and P2 werealmost 2 meters high and weighed almost200kg, whereas P3 was reduced to near humandimensions of 1.6 meters and a weightof 130 kg.Finally, at the end of the year 2000, ASI-MO was presented. Named using the initialletter of “Advance Step in Innovation Mobility,”ASIMO had advanced walking skillssuch as high stability, speed and smoothnessin movements. Other walking ameliorationshave been implemented such as slip prevention,high speed running (up to 6km/h) andcoordination of the whole body. Sensorshave been added on the little humanoid tomake it aware of its environment. Therefore,ASIMO is able to identify the shorterpath to its destination, find obstacles on itsway and avoid them - all of this autonomously– which is a valuable quality in Honda’smobility technology.ASIMO’s design was also greatly improvedin comparison to the P3 version. Itsfriendly appearance is in accordance withHonda’s goal of creating a robot that helpspeople. Its height matches that of a sittingperson (1.3m), allowing ASIMO to receiveorders without being threatening towardsits sitting interlocutor. Its shape is also morehuman-like than previous versions, but it isobvious that its developers did not attemptto create a fully human-like robot and henceresisted falling into the Uncanny Valley.Intelligence technology was later addedto ASIMO. Despite being still far away froma fully-autonomous robot, ASIMO can recognizepeople and gestures, allowing himto shake your hand when offered a handshake.Combining environment intelligencetechnology with its walking abilities, ASIMObecame more autonomous. Also, the intelligentrobot can answer your questions with aquick search on the Internet.Another of ASIMO’s skills is its ability tohandle objects. Although less stunning thanwatching him walk, it is critical to the robot’sfunction. Taking a tray when someonegives it, carrying it and putting it on a table,have all been accomplished easily by ASI-MO. For heavier objects (up to 10kg), ASIMOneeds to use its cart.All these elements position ASIMO as themost advanced humanoid in the world, accordingto Honda. The robot still requiresmuch development in artificial intelligenceto become fully autonomous. However, theimprovements made by the developmentteam in the field of walking behavior andbalance are remarkable.Also, some parts of the technology areused in other products such as the futuristic-lookingPersonal Mobility Device UX-3by Honda or the Walking Assist Device forelderly people or people with weakened legmuscles. This small notice concerning thebenefit engendered by the spillovers of roboticresearch closes this long descriptionrightfully due to this amazing robot andtakes us to consider other Japanese organizationsproducing robots.Continued on Page 4944 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORTA-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 45

sportswww.biztechreport.comBy Donald KirkThe crowds watchingthe news at twentyminutes after midnightin the heart of SouthKorea’s “snow country”exploded in cheers andtears like a fizzy blast ofchampagne bursting from afreshly uncorked bottle.fstockfoto | Dreamstime.comKorea’s Winter WonderlandOverjoyed at Prospectof Hosting 2018 Olympics“I had to cry when I heard,” said KohSeung-hee in the lobby of a luxury hotel inSouth Korea’s winter wonderland. “We havebeen waiting so long.”All the waiting reached a crescendo veryearly in the morning of July 7 when thepresident of the International Olympic Committee,Jacques Rogge, after the vote by theIOC in Durban, South Africa, held up a paperwith the single word, “Pyeongchang.”The partying extended from the base ofthe long-jump slope in Pyeongchang’s Alpensiaresort to the town square in the centerof the district of hills and valleys aboutthree hours east of Seoul. The sense of quickrelief from all the built-up tension mingledwith the wild anticipation of Korea finallyhosting the Winter Olympics nearly sevenyears from now after having lost out on twoprevious bids.“All people in Korea want to hold the winterOlympics in Korea,” said Chang Ju-ree,who runs a small hotel with her husband,Kim Yong-tae, a short drive from the Alpensiaresort, past verdant golf courses and skislopes. More than national pride infuses the46,000 or so people in the towns and villagesnestled in the hills here as they anticipate asteady rise in business during the run-up tothe Olympics. “Everyone is so very glad,” saidChang. “This can be a good opportunity. Weare going to open a restaurant on the firstfloor of our hotel. We want to offer rental ofskis and snow boards – and maybe karaoke.”Husband Kim Yong-tae sees the WinterOlympics as reversing setbacks in the pastfew years which have occurred amid economichard times and concerns that maybethe games would never come here. “Developmenthas been slowing down,” he said.“Now it should grow more and more. I expectbig business from this year.” The nameof the hotel, he and his wife point out, isGreen and Blue, green for the surroundingcountryside, blue for the sea, another twentymiles or so to the east where the plan is tobuild six ice rinks in the port city of Gangneungfor the Olympic ice sports -- figure skating,hockey and curling.Just maybe, Kim observed happily, theprospect of an Olympic bonanza will lureone of the big foreign hotel chains into ajoint venture with his establishment, fundingexpansion as a sure investment in a regionthat yearns for recognition as a majordestination for winter sports enthusiastsfrom Asia as well as the U.S. and Europe.That kind of incentive on a micro levelpermeates the dreams of Korea’s leaders,politicos and businesspeople for turningthe 2018 Winter Olympics into the basis forseveral billion dollars worth of investmentin a region where some of the Korean War’sbloodiest battles were fought some 60 yearsago. Among the costliest schemes will beconstruction of a high-speed railroad, piercingthe mountains with long tunnels, andlinking the capital to the east coast in an engineeringfeat that should reduce the timeit takes to get to Pyeongchang from Seoulto less than an hour. That’s all in the visionof South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak,the conservative who rose to power from hiscorporate origins as the spear-carrying chairmanof Hyundai Engineering and ConstructionCo., the original “mother company” ofthe Hyundai empire.President Lee, his popularity dwindlingamid upwards of 20 percent unemploymentamong Korea’s restive youth in the 20-to-30-year-old age bracket, personally ordered thefull-scale offensive. He clearly believed heneeded to wrest the winter games into Korea’spossession after failures in the last twoattempts, first when Vancouver got it for the2010 games and then in a near-miss to theRussian Black Sea city of Sochi, host of the2014 games. In that spirit Lee led a delegationof several hundred aides and businesspeopleto Durban, all of them delegated tobuttonholing specific contacts, talking theminto the need to bring the Winter Olympicsto “new horizons.” That phrase is now theslogan for the games, which will be the firstWinter Olympics ever held in any Asiancountry besides Japan, which hosted themin Sapporo in 1972 and in Nagano, in theJapanese Alps, in 1998.A stern taskmaster, Lee smiled publiclywhile driving his aides to distraction in thefinal days, hours and minutes before the votingby most of the 106 members of the InternationalOlympics Committee. He was hardeston himself, rehearsing again and againfor his final plea in Durban. “There shouldbe no mistake until the end,” he was quotedby Yonhap, the South Korean news agency,as telling aides. “Sincerity moves heaven.Let’s move heaven.”One sure vote was that of Samsung chairmanLee Kun-hee, South Korea’s wealthiestman. As a member of the IOC, ChairmanLee was frequently seen at President Lee’sside. His influence is assumed to have wonwidespread support among representativesof companies with which Samsung, by farKorea’s biggest conglomerate, or chaebol,does business. In the end, of course, the Koreanmachine did so remarkably well thatthe final tally was basically no contest. Pyeongchanggot 63 votes against 25 for Munich,seen until the final days as almost an evencontender, while Annecy in France, never reallyviewed as a threat, won only 7.The third time was a charm, it seemed,for a district that’s emerged over the pastgeneration as a serious destination for wintersports lovers. For the people of Pyeongchang,the joy of success in competitionwith bids from two of winter sports’ primarydestinations, Germany and France, was proofof their own importance in a society drivento prove it’s up there with the big powersof western Europe and Asia. Now people aretalking about all they will do to prepare forthe influx of visitors before the games beginnearly seven years hence. “We will welcomeforeigners like members of our family,” saidone woman. “We will make Pyeongchang acity of which we can be proud.Just what kind of welcome foreigners willreally get, of course, is not clear. An Americanschoolteacher from Kansas, whom I metin a coffee shop the morning after the greatvictory celebrations, said she rarely communicateswith anyone outside the two schoolswhere she’s been teaching for the past year.She does ski, she told me, but chooses tospend winter weekends among the brightlights of Seoul, a three-hour bus ride to thewest, rather than take to the nearby slopes,where she’s never ventured. Next year, sheadds, she’s looking forward to teaching inContinued from Page 41that revolves around the Internet is raisingstronger anxieties for many individuals today.Nearly 40 million people’s accounts areregistered for online access, compared tojust 6.4 million in 2000, according to latestfigures from the British Bankers’ Association.Internet users in Malaysia have beenwarned not to reveal their bank account ortelephone numbers on social networkingwebsites as they could end up being thevictims of hackers. Using the Internet hasmoved from a stage of risky to dangerouswith such data hacking incidences. Thisurges us to ponder whether the motivationis intelligence, cyberwar, extortion, businessdisruption, or simply for the sake offun. In any case, attackers are certainly havingan upper hand.For the people of Pyeongchang, the joyof success in competition with bids fromtwo of winter sports’ primary destinations,Germany and France, was proof oftheir own importance in a society drivento prove it’s up there with the big powersof western Europe and Asia.With data security crimes burgeoning,every country is planning to protect theirusers by adopting certain measures withthe aim of improving cyber security. Forinstance, the Economy, Trade and IndustryMinistry in Japan is said to be planning toestablish a network of domestic firms andorganizations to share information aboutattacks on their online computer systems.Under such circumstances, the onlinesecurity landscape has been witnessing acontinuous change. The Internet is filledwith viruses, spyware, hackers, rootkits,and identity thieves. A new security dangeremerges every day. Users are warned to staya step ahead of security threats with a reliableand safe Internet security suite. Traditionally,this involved getting an anti-virusprogram, an anti-spyware program, and aa much larger city where “at least there’ssomething to do.”For Pyeongchang, the most intimidatingvisitors are likely to be not so muchthe foreigners as the thousands of officials,businesspeople, and entrepreneurs. They’vebeen descending on the area for years, buildingvenues and accommodations to the pointat which Pyeongchang could successfullycompete against Germany’s Munich and Annecyin France. Now they’ll be coming in stilllarger numbers as construction of facilitiesfor athletes and visitors begins to surge in afrenzy of nationalist and cultural pride.For a country that’s constantly comparingitself with long established global powersin a game of rankings, whether it comesto gross domestic product or exports or academicachievement, the selection of Pyeongchangwas an ultimate accolade. The finaltest of success, however, will be whetherPyeongchang can emerge as a major wintersports destination not just for Koreans butfor foreigners, who rarely make it their firstchoice over just about anywhere else fromNorth America to Europe.Kim Yeon-ho, owner of a constructioncompany, asked foreigners, “Please give usyour support,” as Pyeongchang began to preparefor its place in Olympic history. In theend, the emotional drive, the national desireto prove Korea’s standing as a global power,made the difference. “We’re so happy. We’vebeen preparing for this for ten years,” saidCho Yang-ho, talking on Korean TV networksin Durban. “The biggest factor is eachand every citizen gave us support, so I didn’tfeel it was so difficult. I never felt pessimisticabout anything.” Soh Min-kyung, whoruns a restaurant, spoke of how sad it wouldhave been to lose the bid. “It would be badfor Korea, bad for Koreans,” she said. “Thisis a great thing. All Koreans are extremelyhappy.”If Koreans can unite in pride over thechoice of Pyeongchang, however, they’restill too deeply divided as to imagine thatthe 2018 Winter Olympics will have muchto do with covering the fissures in Koreansociety. President Lee faces rising discontentover policies that favor the chaebol while theopposition Democratic Party exploits suchissues as student protests against tuitionand the intractable problem of unemploymentamong young people in the run-up tothe next presidential election in December2012. Lee, under Korea’s “Democracy Constitution,”in force since massive protestsshook the regime in June 1987, cannot runfor a second five-year term but would loveanother conservative to pick up the baton.The leader of the Democratic Party may nothave real answers for unemployment, butis sure to demand resumption of talks withNorth Korea, which do not appear likely untilLee steps down in early 2013.For now, however, that kind of politickingappears distant if not irrelevant in theoutburst of unadulterated joy over gettingthe 2018 Winter Games. The responsesamong Koreans were universal: “A dreamcome true,” “I’m so happy,” were on everyone’slips -- other than, “I’m speechless,” thewords of those to whom “a dream” hardlyseemed strong enough to convey the emotionsof the moment. A-Pfirewall together, yet today’s Internet securitysuites encompass much more as technologyitself is helping hackers to penetrateand attack no matter what kind of securityis put in place.“There absolutely needs to be a movementto object-centered security,” said Prem Iyer,director of the information security practiceat Iron Bow Technologies, a proven leader inproviding intelligent, full-lifecycle technologysolutions for government and industry.“Even if I lose data from my own control,I still need to be in the position of implementingpolicies on that data and to ensurethat it’s not being viewed by anyone thatdoesn’t have a need to know,” he added.However, a proactive method to traceand track the source of the threats is yet tobe identified. A-P46 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORTA-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 47

QaCho Chung Yeonof City Evening DailyBY staff reporterFree newspaper in Korea may have a short history, but according to the recent report 2010Newspaper Advertisement Readership Score published by Korea Press Foundation, free newspaper in Korea has one ofthe highest editorial readership scores and advertisement attention rates compared to other papers, including nationaldailies and finance newspapers in Korea. Cho Chung Yeon, president of City Evening Daily, was one of the key actorswho established this free newspaper industry in Korea. With his experience working at the Korean Association of Newspapers,he established Metro, Korea’s first free newspaper, and worked as the first president of the company. Years laterhe became the executive director at Focus, which is also a free newspaper in Korea. Cho currently operates City EveningDaily, a free evening newspaper company and teaches at Jeju National University Law School as an adjunct professor.Here are some excerpts from the interview with Cho.Congratulation on taking overCity Evening Daily as president.How do you feel?Frankly speaking, the position as presidenthasn’t really sunk in yet. At this point,I hope I could manage the company andfollow the cases of STX and Fila. These twocompanies are perfect examples where professionalmanagers took over the companyfrom the owner effectively. As president, asuccessful takeover is my current aspiration.Can you tell us about the briefhistory of City Evening Daily,when it was founded and whatmay be the main objective of CityEvening Daily?City Evening Daily is Korea’s first freecomprehensive evening newspaper. Thecorporation was established in January2007 and its first issue was published onMay 2, 2007. In Korea, there are a total ofsix free newspapers and five of them publishmorning papers. So I thought by targetingthe empty evening newspaper market,our company could offer more news to the10 million commuting Seoul Cityzens fasterthan our competitors.Before you joined City EveningDaily, I heard you also playedan important role in setting upother free newspapers includingMetro and Focus. Can youtell me more about thesenewspapers and yourexperience?Korea’s free newspaperscan be traced back to Metro.Before Metro, there werefree papers that providedinformation filled withclassified advertisementand community news,but there were no freenewspapers that hada format of the currentdaily newspapers.Metro was the first tohave this kind of format.My first job was atthe Korean Associationof Newspapers.While working fouryears at Korea Associationof Newspapers,I witnessed theproblems of the Korean newspaper industryand its lack of insight in reading the changesof the readers and advertisers. This experiencewas the reason I established Metroin July 2001. After attracting investors, thefirst edition of Metro was published on May31, 2002, and on July 16, 2003 I founded Focus.Soon after, City Evening Daily was publishedon May 2, 2007.What are your future plans forCity Evening Daily as president?The global newspaper market is on thestage of decline, except in China and India,but mostly in advanced countries. If I onlythought about the intrinsic business domainof City Evening Daily, I would not have takenover the company in a time where newsconsumption and production is changing sorapidly due to advanced media technology.But I am not saying I will be expanding thebusiness sphere thoughtlessly to online andmobile media. I just don’t think the profitabilityof mobile and online media is testedenough at this point. So, for the time being,I am planning to focus on M&A opportunitiesand added value business City EveningDaily can provide.Free newspaper is a very recentphenomenon in Korea. How doyou see the future of this media?Unlike existing national dailies, the readersof free newspapers are in their 20s and30s, and these are the main targets the advertisersfavor. Also, many advertisers stillconsider free newspapers the most cost effectivemedia. For these reasons, I believethe free newspaper will continue to strive.However, the rapid advancement of onlinemedia and mobile media based on SNS implythat from now on media has to focusmore on the effective execution ofadvertisement, meaning the freenewspaper industry has tomake a lot of effort in order toprovide various products foradvertisers.In Korea, online mediais spreading veryquickly. In this situation,do you thinkoffline media such asyour newspaper hasany future?In Korea, to establish anonline media company islike finding a part-time job inAmerica. It is that easy. Onlinemedia companies that havecredibility are ones that havemassive amount of funds andaccumulated experience, mostlymedia companies that have longexisted. Without investment,making a online media companyhas no meaning. This is the reasonwhy free newspapers do not havemuch interest in making an onlinenewspaper. But I think this has to changenow. Even though it may not be a newspaperexclusively for online purposes, just asthe offline newspaper had its base on paper,if free newspaper companies want to makeprofit by entering the Internet business,they have to actively utilize the Internet inorder to create various advertisement products.How is City Evening Daily differentfrom other newspapers inKorea? What is your philosophy?The distinction between City EveningDaily and other free newspapers is clear. Itis the fast news delivery and differentiatedservices. This is also my philosophy.In Korea, usually media companiesare headed by old people.You have achieved this positionat a very young age. What is yoursecret to your success? What motivatedyou to work so hard?Operators of online media companies arevery young, but traditional offline newspapercompanies have many restrictions foryoung people to be on the executive level.When I founded Metro, I was only 29. Nowthinking of it, time really flies. I am notsure achieving the position as president at ayoung age means success, but behind theseContinued from Page 45achievements I always had the habit ofthinking continuously and making effortsnot to repeat my failures.Apart from running City EveningDaily, do you have anybusiness plans in the future?I am thinking about operating a consultingbusiness and C to C commercesector business. The consulting businessI have in mind is to provide help infunding, legal assistance, tax assistance,management and marketing for thosewho have the ideas and technology butno funding and operational experience.I was in that situation ten years ago.The C to C business was something Iwanted to do since I took over the newspaperfive years ago. Currently, I am planninga type of business that has a formatof a combination of eBay and Facebook.The product is expected to be out in themarket around next March.Lastly, do you have a messagefor our young readers whowould like to achieve successlike yourself?When you are facing a difficult problemor obstacles try to overcome it by yourself.It is natural to make mistakes and experiencefailures, but it is important to learnToyotaHonda’s biggest competitor in robotics isToyota, the other major Japanese car manufacturer.Car companies’ enthusiasm towardrobotics (General Motor also contributes to aproject with NASA for astronaut robots) canbe explained by the spillovers it generatesfor its main business (e.g. obstacle detectionsensors, orientations). The fact that thecar industry has used industrial robots fordecades to improve their production linesmakes them more conscious that robotshave a positive role in our society.Toyota’s humanoids take a variety of functions,ranging from music players to runningrobots to customer assistants. First upis the amazing trumpeter nicknamed Harry.Equipped with agile fingers and talented inmusic interpretation (arm gestures and footmovements according to the rhythm), the1.2 meter and 35 kg Harry is the perfect entertainerin your living room. If you preferviolin, another Toyota performer can impressyou, and although its performance isnot as staggering as Harry’s, we hope it to bemore realistic in the future.As with Honda’s focus on robot mobility,Toyota also concentrated on balance andsteps. Its bipedal robot is capable of controllingits balance by changing its foot locationswhen pushed (gently!). While running,he can reach a maximum speed of 7km/hwhich is 1km/h faster than ASIMO.Finally, customer service robot Robinatakes care of customers on her own. She isthe tour guide in some of Toyota’s buildings.Her sensors help her avoid people and shecan create maps when visiting new locations.During a conversation, her face turnsto the person who is talking to her and inaddition to her 20,000 word vocabulary, Robinacan also write. All of this, without beingcontrolled by any external operator, makesthis robot very operational.Toyota’s objective is to transform theseentertainment robots into household appliancesand deploy them in hospitals. Aswith Honda, spillovers can be mentioned.It includes a mountable chair that can beused in elderly care, allowing people to betransported wherever they want. Toyota alsoenvisions sending its robots to the moon bythe year 2020.SonyThe creators of the world-famous Aibo(a little dog-robot introduced in 1999 thatgained a phenomenal success and participatedin every RoboCups until 2008) also developeda humanoid named QRIO. QRIO (forQuest for cuRIOsity) is much smaller thanHonda’s and Toyota’s models, standing at a0.6 meter and weighting 7.3 kg. His groupdancing, roller-skating and ball throwingabilities are nevertheless remarkable. Unfortunately,Sony decided to cancel the QRIOproject in 2006 at the same time as stoppingproduction of the Aibo.FujitsuContinuing with relatively small humanoidrobots, Fujitsu also developed its own series.The HOAP-3 is 60cm for 8.8kg and hasbeen configured by the Learning Algorithmsand Systems Laboratory of Ecole PolytechniqueFederale de Lausanne to execute funtasks such as playing Pong or drawing portraits.Most HOAPs are now used only in labsthroughout the world because of their highprice.something out of them. Try not to repeat thesame mistakes over and over again by goingthrough numerous trials and errors. A-PUniversities’ labsRobots developed by universities arenaturally much more research-oriented. TheUniversity of Tokyo’s JSK Robotics Laboratorydesigned Kojiro. The goal was to builda light and flexible robot with a similararrangement of skeleton (with a flexiblespine), muscles and tendons as human beings.Because the robot’s shape is not easyto control, an ingenious system of learningby small iterative moves has also been developed.Osaka University created two infant robots,Pneuborn-7II and Pneuborn-13, withsimilar musculoskeletal structures. The aimis to study these kinds of structures withregard to crawling and walking behaviors.Pneumatic muscles made of soft materialare being used to prevent damage or overheatingwhile in friction with the environment.Adult-size robots have also beendeveloped. In cooperation with the OsakaInstitute of Technology, Osaka Universitydesigned JoiTech with the aim of playingsoccer. Although its capabilities are verylimited for now, its creators hope that therobot will compete against athletes in thefuture.Waseda University’s Twendy-One is lessexperimental and much more adapted tothe need of hospital patients. The caretakercan help the patient to get up out of bed andsit on a wheelchair. The robot is also capableof basic household tasks such as helpingwith the breakfast and carrying it on a tray.The astonishing dexterity of his hand allowshim to put a straw into a glass.Yaskawa Electric CorporationAlso dealing with household care is thetransformation of the Motoman industrialrobot into a home cooker. The robot cantake verbal orders and cook a variety ofJapanese meals. Other industrial robots ofthe company have been developed to helpelderly during shopping.Japan is definitely the country that isbest prepared to see humanoids walkingin its streets. The vast number of organizations(many more than the ones cited hereabove) and the know-how they already acquiredplace the country as number one inthe robotics field in Asia and in the world.The leaders at the tops of these organizationsclearly understand the importance ofrobots in our future societies and deploy theresources needed to innovate. Finally, thegood relations between companies and universitiesallow innovation to be integratedvery quickly from the experimental stageinto the final humanoid model. A-P48 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT | 49

new &notableGoogle+ Gives the Rare Gift ofInternet Privacy to Social NetworkingBy Matthew WeigandGoogle Plus, or Google+, is the new socialnetworking offering from Google.This is the third timethat Google has triedto get into the socialIf you add someone toyour Google+ contact list,and put them in a circle,and they are not a memberof Google+ themselves, youcan still communicate withthem without any problem.networking sphere,and this time they mayhave gotten things exactlyright. Google+ isnot quite Twitter, but itdoes have some Twitterlikefeatures. Google+ is notquite Facebook, but likewise hassome Facebook-like features. It isnot quite a newsletter program,but has some components of oneas well. And it has something thatneither of those social networkinggiants have – extensive and easilycustomizableprivacy settings. Forthe segment of the online populationthat has always been reluctantto get into social networking due toa vague sense of unease about privacy,Google+ is probably going tosatisfy them completely.This is because Google+ is allabout privacy. As a social networkingplatform, you add contacts toyour contact list by name and emailaddress. Then, Google+ promptsyou to add these contacts to Circles.Google+’s Circles are the key to privacy online, and they are thereto ease to everyone’s worries. Default circles include Friends, family,and Acquaintances, but you can quickly add your own. Onepopular circle is Coworkers, and another is Online Friends. Sometimesyou have a funny picture of a cat that you want to share, butyou know that while your online buddies would probably love tosee it, your boss might not appreciate the humor involved. Yousimply post the picture to your Google+ stream, and select theOnline Friends circle. Then, only people who are in that circle willsee the hilarious cat photo.But things get much more interesting than that. Google+ canand does function similarly to Twitter. If you feel like sharing ashort message with the whole world, just like on Twitter, you canpost it publicly. Then, anybody who cares to look at your profile,or who has you in one of their Circles, will get the message. Anadvantage that Google+ has over Twitter in this case is that themessages can be longer than the 140 characters allowed there,which means you don’t have to mangle the English language toget your point across.If you only want to share a message with a select group ofpeople, you can choose only your Coworkers circle or your BusinessContacts circle to share things with. So when you want totalk about your latest insights into better TPS reports, you canshare that with only the circles who care. And when you wantto share hilarious cat photos with your family, just post it tothe Family circle, and your boss at work will not be annoyedwith your attempt at humor, since he is in the Boss circle. Thisparticular functionality in Twitter would have saved AnthonyWeiner’s political career. He could have posted his public musingson Rex Ryan’s plans for Medicare to the Constituents circle,and he could have posted pictures of his ripped pecs to his Hottiescircle, and there would neverhave been any scandal. For him,it’s a pity Google+ didn’t comeout last month.Like Facebook, Google+also lets you upload and showphotos on your profile. However,unlike Facebook, any photo thatyou upload to Google+ can only beseen by you until you share it withcertain Circles. This default privacyfunctionality goes quite wellwith Google+’s mobile application,which has the option to let you automaticallyupload every photo thatyou take with your phone. So youhave automatic backups for all thephotos you take, and they are availableonline for anything you’d liketo do, but not everyone has to seethem. You can show wedding photosto your Family circle, photos ofyour coworkers slacking off to yourBoss circle, and never the twainshall meet.One important difference betweenGoogle+ and Facebook is theabsence of a Wall. This is likely partof the emphasis on privacy thatGoogle+ obsesses about, becausehaving other people post random messages to your wall that anyoneelse can then see could create some embarrassing situationsthat it would be better to avoid. Just another privacy-related tweakthat puts Google+ ahead of the other social networking optionsavailable today.But one unique feature that no other social network offers reallyshows off the power of Google+. If you add someone to yourGoogle+ contact list, and put them in a circle, and they are not amember of Google+ themselves, you can still communicate withthem without any problem. When you post a message or sharesome photos with the Circle they are in, Google+ asks you if youwould like to email the people who are not yet part of Google+.Therefore, you can still send those wedding photos to your grandparentseven though they are not hip to the latest computer-relatedshenanigans that you get up to. Most grandparents are emailliterate, if not social networking literate, so it should be a breezefor you to stay in touch with them, now more than ever. Also, youcan take that stack of ten thousand business cards lying in a box inthe corner, enter them into Google+, and use it as a sleek businesscontact mailing list. Email messages sent with Google+ have botha link to join Google+ and an unsubscribe link at the bottom, soyou would not even be bothering people unnecessarily.Google+ combines existing online communication products togetherin the cleanest, most easily-usable interface yet seen online.Communication using Google+ is safe, private, and far-reaching.Even though the system is in beta now, and signups are hard tocome by, it is already showing itself to be the next-generation socialnetwork backed up by the largest and most customer-orientedonline company today. This reporter is definitely going to be usingit for the foreseeable future, and I hope to see you in one of mycircles soon! A-P50 | A-P BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY REPORT