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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
Asia Pacific Experiences Sharpest Drop in Business Confidence Anywhere in the World
The sharpest drop in business confidence anywhere in the world in the second quarter of 2015 was experienced in the Asia Pacific region, the latest global survey of finance professionals has revealed.
New Oracle Research Reveals that Businesses in APAC Missing Out on the Competitive Advantages of Cloud Agility
Plus: News, Appointments, Profiles & more
DEEP & FAR Attorneys-at-Law 13th F1., No. 27, Sec. 3, Chung San N. Rd. Taipei 104, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel: +886-2-2585-6688 Fax: +886-2-25989900/25978989 email@deepnfar.com.tw Deep & Far was founded in 1992 and is one of the largest law firms in this country. The firm is presently focused on the practice in separate or in combination of all aspects of intellectual property rights (IPRs) including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition, and/or licensing, counseling, litigation and/ or transaction thereof. Since this firm edges itself into the IPRs field, the firm quickly comes to fame. As an illustration, this firm often is one of the largest sources from which foreign filing orders originate. The fascinating rise of this firm begins from the founder of Deep & Far attorneysat-law, C. F. Tsai, who is the one first patent practitioner in this country who both has technological and law backgrounds and is qualified as a local attorney-at-law. The patent attorneys and patent engineers in this firm normally hold outstanding and advanced degrees and are generally graduated from the top five universities in this country and/or the university in the US. Our prominent staffs are dedicated to provide the best quality service in IPRs. As a proof, about one half of top 100 incorporations in this country have experiences of seeking patented their techniques, but more than one fifth of the top 100 incorporations are/were clients of this firm. Furthermore, Hi-Tech companies in the science-based industrial park located at Hsin Chu play an important role in booming the economy of this country. About one half of which have experiences in seeking patented their techniques, and out of more than 60% of the patent-experienced companies in that park have ever entrusted their IPR works to this firm. We have experienced in seeking IPR-protections for our clients in more than 100 territories all over the world. We have thousands of IPR-cases respectively prosecuted before official Patent Offices of major industrialized countries. This firm not only is the most competent in IPR-related matters in this country but also is very familiar with IPR-practices in major industrialized countries. As a matter of fact, this firm oftentimes tries and makes precedents of new claim-drafting styles. While we might have become wonderfully famed locally with remarkable appreciation and respects, we would like to extend our services for internationalized or quality service-requiring foreign conglomerated giants, corporations or individuals. We strongly believe that we will win more
www.deepnfar.com.tw
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Contents 4. News
Profiles 12. Verity Consulting 14. Parke Lawyers 16. Augentius 18. Mindpearl 20. Pact Group Holdings (Pact)
Features 22. Asia Pacific Experiences Sharpest Drop in Business Confidence Anywhere in the World 26. Talent Attraction and Retention Still a Key Challenge in the Future of Shared Service Centres 28. New Oracle Research Reveals that Businesses in APAC Missing Out on the Competitive Advantages of Cloud Agility 30. ABAC Endorses Cebu Action Plan to Modernize APEC’s Financial Markets 34. Cloud Computing Driving Outsourced Data Centre Market Up in Australia
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
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Emerging Health Threats Targeted in Asia-Pacific Roadmap
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Issued by the APEC High Level Meeting on Health and the Economy.
whole-of-government, society and region approaches as appropriate.”
Health Ministers and officials from the 21 APEC members have agreed to step up their collaborative efforts to mitigate emerging, potentially catastrophic health threats to people, trade and economic security across the Asia-Pacific, the world’s most populous region and leading driver of growth.
“The capacity of governments in the Asia-Pacific to promote shared health objectives ultimately rests on commitment,” added Dr Ryan MacFarlane, Chair of the APEC Life Sciences Innovation Planning Forum, which also oversees the initiative, and Principal APEC Coordinator at the United States State Department. “Advancing the types of innovations and partnerships required to achieve a healthy Asia-Pacific for the future is an APEC priority.”
Drawing on the lessons of Ebola and MERs and with concern over aging societies, spiking non-communicable disease rates and natural disasters due to climate change rising, Ministers and officials endorsed a Healthy Asia-Pacific 2020 Initiative roadmap. It outlines measures to be taken forward by APEC members to boost their health systems over the next five years and was finalized during a two-day meeting with health practitioners and industry groups in Cebu. “Threats to our health systems recognize no boundaries,” explained Dr Janette Loreto-Garin, Philippine Secretary of Health and Chair of APEC High Level Meeting on Health and the Economy. “Global initiatives to enhance human development have been successful but we all know that for these initiatives to be sustained, we need to protect gains achieved from risks.” Measures contained in the roadmap and detailed in a joint statement also issued here focus on building preparedness, prevention and response to public health emergencies, including disasters and infectious diseases; and preventing and controlling chronic disease. Additional points of emphasis include increasing awareness of mental health; improving women’s health in the workplace; and ensuring safe medicines across the different stages of international production and supply chains. “APEC launched the healthy Asia-Pacific 2020 Initiative a year ago in Beijing to provide strategic direction for developing sustainable, high performing health systems needed to address the social and economic burden of disease,” noted Li Mingzhu, Chair of the APEC Health Working Group, which oversees the initiative, and Deputy Director-General, Department of International Cooperation at China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission. “We are intent on ensuring that our economies adopt or adapt “health in all policies” as well as
Building public-private partnerships to provide sustainable access to health innovations as well as promote voluntary prevention and wellness programs for employees and communities are among the planning priorities articulated in the roadmap and joint statement. Notably, they also advocate the application of a new policy toolkit to guide policymakers, businesses and non-profits towards improving women labor force participation through better health. “Companies that create a workforce environment that acknowledges family life as important as the work environment have happier and more productive employees,” concluded Doris Ho, 2015 Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council and President and CEO of A. Magsaysay, Inc., who addressed delegates. “Key to this is helping fathers and mothers feel secure with relevant maternal and child healthcare policies.” Click to see the Healthy Asia-Pacific 2020 Initiative Roadmap Click to see the APEC High Level Meeting on Health and the Economy Joint Statement
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Ascletis Secures US$35m Financing Ascletis announced today the completion of a US$35 million (RMB 220 million) financing. The investment was led by C-Bridge Capital, joined by Tasly Pharmaceutical and Singapore-based Pavilion Capital. The valuation of the Company before financing was US$300 million. The proceeds from this financing will be used to expand Ascletis’ pipeline, strengthen global development capabilities and enhance GMP commercial manufacturing. “With the support of the investors, Ascletis is now entering an exciting new era. We’re very happy that our accomplishments and potential are recognised by the investors. This financing provides the necessary capital to help us expand our pipeline,” said Jinzi J. Wu, Ph.D., Ascletis’ founder, President and CEO, “Through internal R&D and global in-licensing efforts, Ascletis continues to develop innovative drugs to meet clinical needs in China as well as in the rest of the world.” “The proven track record of Ascletis’ team, together with its excellent portfolio and clear strategy, creates a very compelling future,” said Mr. Wei Fu, CEO of C-Bridge, commenting on the financing, “We are pleased to participate in the exciting model Ascletis is developing, and look forward to assisting the company in pursuit of its vision, to bring breakthrough treatments to the Chinese market and to be a leading innovator in China.” Mr. Wei Fu will join the board of the Company as a director. Ascletis’ triple therapy for hepatitis C, combining protease inhibitor ASC08 with interferon and ribavirin, successfully completed phase II study in Taiwan in the beginning of 2015. Ascletis is planning to start similar trial in China soon. On August 31, Ascletis announced its plans to initiate phase II study of its interferon (IFN)-free regimen in Taiwan (combining ASC08 with the NS5A inhibitor ASC16). Ascletis also filed earlier this year the clinical trial application for the same regimen with China Food and Drug Administration. With two advanced direct-acting antiviral agents in the pipeline, Ascletis aims to bring both IFN-containing triple therapy as well as IFN-free therapy to the marketplace to meet different clinical needs of Chinese HCV patients.
UK-Singapore Collaboration Prepares for Record 300km Hydrogen Fuel Cell UAV Flight A new civilian fuel cell UAV designed for search and rescue is gearing up for the world’s first ever 300km UAV flight to cross the North Sea, linking Scotland to Norway. Set to take off within days, this historic flight is the result of a joint effort between UAV fuel cell power systems supplier Horizon Energy Systems (HES) of Singapore, and Scottish UAV developer RaptorUAS. The team is working with Northern Colorado Search and Rescue in the US, as a first end-user of the long endurance UAV system. The Singapore-built fuel cell is able to keep the Raptor E1 UAV flying for over 12 hours, which makes it an ideal support tool in difficult search and rescue operations over large areas of sea or land. Recognized as the world’s longest endurance energy storage systems for electrical UAVs, fuel cells from HES have helped set new world records in the past including the NASA-backed 5kg Pterosoar UAV system which flew 128km in 2007. This first HES fuel cell powered UAV flight in the UK is only the start as several more are lined up in the coming weeks and months. “We look forward to breaking new ground in the search and rescue arena, said Taras Wankewycz, CEO of HES. “Long flight endurance enabled by fuel cells can make a significant difference in challenging field operations, and the difficult conditions in the North Sea make it an ideal proving ground.” Raptor UAS has recently launched a KickStarter campaign to help fund the record event. A portion of the funds raised will be used to provide the volunteers at Northern Colorado Search & Rescue with a turnkey Raptor E1 UAV system. The non-profit group partners with law enforcement agencies and fire departments in the US to provide the latest technologies to assist in various events, disasters, and accidents.
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
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GE Announces Over $1bn in Orders from Asia Pacific Customers
GE announces more than $1bn in orders from customers across the region, demonstrating the growing demand for GE’s power generation systems and software. Rapid economic growth across Asia Pacific has led to the demand for power to soar, fuel prices to rise and environmental and financial regulations to tighten. As a result, generators are looking for ways to improve efficiency and flexibility while reducing costs and environmental impact, and they are increasingly turning to companies such as GE for solutions.
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“Customers in this region are challenged to generate high-efficiency power and reduce emissions,” said Ramesh Singaram, president of Power Generation, Asia Pacific, GE Power & Water. “With GE technology, they have the opportunity to add power to the grid as quickly as possible, safeguard the environment and still realize critical life cycle cost savings.” GE’s current Asia Pacific gas turbine fleet consists of more than 1,000 units across 15 countries, comprising the largest gas turbine portfolio in the region. GE units can deliver from 16 megawatts (MW) of power up to 510 MW, the equivalent power that would be needed to supply more than 1 million homes in countries such as Japan and Korea. Singaram said that GE is well-positioned to help Asia Pacific customers, with more than 18,500 GE professionals working in the region and accessibility, resources, service and sales support in more than 10 countries. GE has repair centers in Japan, Indonesia and a repair center of excellence in Singapore. GE’s comprehensive solutions, he said, help customers throughout Asia Pacific manage such issues as fuel prices, environmental regulations and the need for fuel flexibility. Customers across Asia Select GE Power Solutions In Thailand, GE is announcing six new LM6000PF+ aeroderivative gas turbines for Gulf Energy Development (GED). The units will be used for three combined-cycle plants to help increase efficiency and generate additional power. The LM6000-PF+ has reached its highest efficiency yet, 56 percent, and can go from zero to full power in less than 10 minutes. “We have faith in GE and believe that by choosing the LM6000-PF+, which is recognized for its increased performance and flexibility, it should serve our requirements fittingly for the specific project con-
ditions. Moreover, it is a bonus for us to be the first country in the world to get this product,” said Ravi Kurmahorita, GED’s EVP Business Development. Additionally, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) will be utilizing GE’s suite of upgrade solutions on four 9F gas turbines at two of its power stations in Bangkok to increase output, enhance efficiency and reduce fuel consumption costs while lowering emissions. Collectively these measures both increase the reliability of the power supply and reduce electricity costs for Thailand’s residents. “By working with GE to increase the flexibility and efficiency of our power plants at EGAT North and South Bangkok, we are strengthening power security for our country in the event of different gas compositions while also improving air quality around Bangkok and reducing fuel consumption,” said Mr. Charin Kanjanarat: EGAT Assistant Governor—Generation 1. “Energy efficiency and environmental protection are priorities that support Thailand’s growth policies, and we implemented strong measures to reduce and control our environmental impact.” In Vietnam, GE will be providing two high-efficiency, supercritical steam turbines and generators for Petrovietnam’s Long Phu 1 coal-fired power plant. This technology is more environmentally friendly as compared to conventional subcritical boiler technology. “Long Phu 1 power plant will serve the growing demand in the south of Vietnam and help improve transmission efficiencies for the whole of Vietnam by locating much needed power closer to the demand,” said Dr. Nguyen Tien Vinh, general manager of power division, Petrovietnam. “Working with GE, we look forward to implementation of this project and ongoing success.” In Japan, GE is announcing its largest-scale replacement project at Tepco Yokohama Thermal Power Station where it will replace and upgrade the components of eight gas turbines ranging from 9FA.01 to 9FA.03 models. Additionally, Chubu Electric will be utilizing GE’s Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solution to upgrade eight 7F gas turbines at Joetsu Thermal Power Station. Combined, the two power plants generate a total of 5,180 MW, the equivalent power that would be needed to supply 1.4 million homes in Japan. The plants account for 2.5 percent of the country’s energy supply and underscore the important role that natural gas is expected to play in Japan in the coming years.
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“GE’s proven AGP solution gives us the ability to improve thermal efficiency by 0.7 percent and reduce the fuel costs and CO2 emissions of our Joetsu Thermal Power Station,” said Chubu Electric Power’s Akira Kuriyama, Executive Officer, General Manager of Thermal Power Department Power Generation Division. “In addition, the AGP solution contributes to improved durability of the equipment itself and extends maintenance intervals from three years to four years, which helps to improve our competitiveness by reducing operational costs and shortening downtime for maintenance.” The products and services that GE will spotlight at POWER-GEN Asia include: • GE’s high-efficiency HA gas turbines. The world’s largest and most efficient turbines, the largest model can generate 510 MW. They lead the industry in total life cycle value. Eight HA turbines are on order for companies in Japan and Korea, and GE has seen heavy bidding from countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and the Philippines. GE has received a total of 17 HA orders and 64 HA technical selections1 globally in 12 countries.
• GE’s latest LM6000 PF+ aeroderivative gas turbine. Ideally suited for customers needing flexible power as quickly as possible, it offers the highest output (52 MW) and combined-cycle efficiency (56 percent) in the LM6000’s 25year history and can be installed in half the time as earlier models. • GE’s D850 high-efficiency supercritical steam turbines. These help demonstrate how efficiently coal can be used as part of an environmentally sound energy mix. • GE’s high-performance AGP. GE is expanding its AGP program in the Asian region to more effectively control the overall fuel and life cycle maintenance costs of gas turbines. GE also provides crucial technologies and services to upgrade the output and efficiency of existing combined-cycle power plants while lowering emissions.
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
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AmCham HK China Conference Assesses China’s “New Normal”
The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham) assembled 19 global/APAC CEOs to share their insights on China’s “New Normal” at its Annual China Conference, held at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong on September 1. “Conventional wisdom around what was normal in China has been significantly altered over the past couple of months, and the timing of this China Conference couldn’t have been better,” said AmCham Chairman Peter Levesque.
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Defining the “New Normal” Opening keynote speaker Christopher Johnson, Senior Adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), gave an economic-political perspective on various aspects of the “New Normal.” Johnson discussed changes in leadership style and priorities, such as the ongoing anti-corruption campaign and the creation of the National Security Commission. He stated that the strengthening of the role of the party and its involvement in the day-to-day management has created a “real shift at the expense of traditional institutions of governance.” Johnson observed that in the midst of market turmoil, there has been a rise of mixed messaging in economic policy and management by the Chinese leadership. “With reform, they have talked a lot about crossing the river by feeling the stones, but I think there is a sense emerging now with the market difficulties and currency devaluation difficulties that you either dive into the river, or you either drown in the coming tide,” said Johnson. On competition in the US-China relationship, Johnson stated that the “laundry list of complications in the relationship grows longer every day,” yet there is optimism about the relationship as China has the real opportunity to alter current tensions by deepening the engagement and maintaining healthy dialogue between two nations. “What we can do is to go to the traditional strength of economic relationships, something where China can make a valuable contribution, and they should recognize the continuing importance of their historical ally in the relationship -- the US business community,” Johnson said. Key trends for Chinese Companies Luncheon keynote speaker Gordon Orr, Past Chairman of McKinsey Asia, shared some of the key
trends and implications for Chinese companies as well as risks that could lead to discontinuities in the economy. On services industries, Orr noted that there is an issue on pricing and the quality of services and products. Oftentimes, Chinese companies and consumers don’t see the link between high-quality and price. Going cheap isn’t the best option. Orr also stated that technology would be the key game changer in the nearer term to maximize efficiency and he saw a growing demand for functional excellence in companies if they are to excel. Other challenges that will stress the credibility of provincial and central governments are labor issues, urban development, and in some cases shrinking economies with the departure of manufacturing. Nevertheless, Orr saw many opportunities for China: “The strength of talents in China, their adaptability, is well developed,” he pointed out. “The opportunities that we have to grow global leaders in business creates a level of optimism about the resilience of the economy, the resilience of society, and the resilience of the government to identify problems…and to come out the far side with a stronger economy and a stronger society,” he said. Four panel discussions at the Conference focused on: • New Strategies for the New Normal • Expanding Roles for Foreign Service Industries in China • Business Strategies for the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative • Innovative Business Models in the Fast-Changing Chinese Markets More than 250 corporate executives, analysts, and government officials attended the Conference, along with more than 25 media representatives. This year’s event was generously sponsored by General Electric, KPMG, Thomson Reuters, Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, TMF Group, CUHK Business School, JLL, Scholastic, United Technologies, together with United Airlines as Airline Partner and CNBC as the Broadcast Partner. In the intervening months before next year’s China Conference, AmCham HK plans to host a series of speaker events that will further address topics raised in the China Conference.
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Citibank Launches Citi Priority for the Emerging Affluent in Hong Kong Citibank has announced the launch of Citi Priority, a new client segment targeting the emerging affluent, with a digitalized, convenient, simple and efficient banking experience to equip aspirational and financially progressive clients with better control over their wealth and time in order to achieve their future goals. According to a recent study conducted by Citibank, the emerging affluent mostly use remote channels to manage their finances, with 39% stating that they mostly managed their banking account online, while 64% of them use online banking at least once a month. The emerging affluent are investment savvy, with 78% of them holding or trading one or more investment products in the past 12 months. On average, they traded stock eight times in the past three months. Citi Priority comes with a wealth of key features that answer the needs of the emerging affluent, including: • A range of online services and financial tools: Citi Alerts, FX order watching, protection calculator, online market insight which provides Citibank’s timely views on the investment markets • Products with preferential pricing through digital channels: as low as 0.2% brokerage fee for online stock trading2, 20 bps discount for online FX trading, 40% discount for travel insurance, fee waiver for remittance through digital channels • Priority in channel access: dedicated teller counter at selected branches and priority queue at 24-hour CitiPhone Banking • Global banking service and support: up to US$5,000 emergency cash, handling fee waiver for overseas ATM withdrawal, cross border account opening and global view of accounts. Ms. Priscilla Ng, Head of Customer Franchise, Citibank Global Consumer Banking, Hong Kong said, “With the growing pool of educated, energetic and globalized individuals in the emerging affluent segment, the need for more effective and efficient banking services that answer their way of banking anywhere is getting bigger. We are pleased to introduce Citi Priority, an unmatched banking service with products that answer the financial and lifestyle needs of this group of aspirational and up-and-coming individuals. Citi Priority does not only help these emerging affluent clients save on transactions through our digital banking channels, but also offers seamless banking services that give clients freedom and flexibility to decide how and when they want to interact with us.”
Carbon Neutral Project Is First in Australia to Receive Prestigious Gold Standard Certification Carbon Neutral Project Is First in Australia to Receive Prestigious Gold Standard Certification Carbon Neutral has achieved global recognition with the first Australian carbon emissions reduction project to receive Gold Standard certification. Over the past eight years, Carbon Neutral has established innovative largescale reforestation projects which extend across 10,000 hectares of the Western Australian Wheatbelt – in the process creating Australia’s largest revegetation project based on carbon capture and biodiversity. Following a lengthy and rigorous process which involved significant investment, Carbon Neutral’s native reforestation project has been awarded prestigious Gold Standard certification by the Geneva-based Gold Standard Foundation. The recognition comes as Carbon Neutral is experiencing growing demand for reducing carbon emissions from Australian businesses, including some of the nation’s leading corporates. Carbon Neutral CEO Ray Wilson said: “Australian companies now view environmental responsibility as a critical component of their business, and they are increasingly being measured on their performance by consumers, investors and auditors. “However, many companies are currently investing in emissions reduction projects overseas, as a result of a shortage of suitable home-grown projects. Carbon Neutral gives Australian businesses the opportunity to do something positive for the environment, as well as assist our regional communities through the creation of jobs and related economic benefits.” Achieving Gold Standard certification – the premium international standard – recognises the Carbon Neutral project’s environmental, social and economic credentials. David Shelmerdine, President of The Gold Standard Foundation, said: “Our rigorous process ensures integrity and transparency for any company that purchases credits from Gold Standard projects. For Carbon Neutral’s reforestation project, achieving Gold Standard certification verifies its multi-faceted benefits — from global climate security to restoring habitats for native biodiversity, and even supporting local communities socio-economically. “We are delighted that these benefits are now being realised in Australia, and that Australian companies can support a Gold Standard-calibre project in our own backyard by purchasing carbon credits.” Carbon Neutral develops biodiverse reforestation projects on degraded, semi-arid agricultural land that no longer supports viable farming practices. “In the region where we operate, over 90% of land has already been cleared,” Mr Wilson said. “Carbon Neutral is helping to return the environment to its origins, planting up to 40 native tree and shrub species which are matched to the environment.
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“Very importantly, this reforestation program creates a large-scale habitat for over 450 native species, including endangered and declining flora and fauna, in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor which is one of only 35 biodiversity ‘hotspots’ worldwide, as recognised by Conservation International.”
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
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CSR Asia Summit 2015: The Future of Brand is Creating Shared Value
CSR Asia Summit 2015, the annual leading conference on corporate social responsibility in Asia, will be gathering industry experts and business leaders to deliberate on a new paradigm for business around “creating shared value”. Shared value can be defined as the policies and practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously advancing the economic, environmental and social conditions in the communities in which it operates in a planned way. It stresses the need for innovation and a reorientation of traditional business models.
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“Shared value is an important part of a company’s strategy to be more responsible and can contribute to the communities where a company operates,” said Dr. Richard Welford, Chairman and founder of CSR Asia. “Shared value is about finding new and innovative ways to create value. It is unlike philanthropy, which is essentially about giving away a share of profits. Shared value is about creating new profits in a way that addresses social needs,” added Dr. Welford. Creating Shared Value VS. Philanthropy The private sector has long made an effort to improve the quality of life of those most in need. Aid projects sponsored by companies have made a tremendous difference. However, the philanthropic approach adopted by many companies has its limitations. “Philanthropy has often created a culture of dependency and has repeatedly failed to tackle the root causes of social problems which are related to marginalised groups that have no access to the benefits of the market economy and possess poor skills sets,” said Dr. Welford. Shared value is certainly one approach to dealing with social issues. Nonetheless, it is not the only approach and the 2015 CSR Asia Summit will also discuss a range of other approaches including strategic approaches to community investment, skillsbased volunteering, environmental and conservation projects, supply chain management and other social responsibility initiatives. The approach chosen will depend on the social need that needs to be addressed and the financial and other resources, skills and assets that a company can bring to addressing a social need.
The Importance of Creating Shared Value - in Asian Context Over the last decade in Asia, companies have tried to engage with and invest in communities in a much more strategic way that emphasises tangible benefits for the community and also benefits for the company in terms of brand, reputation and the local social license to operate. “We have seen many successful projects that have tackled poverty and inequality in innovative and meaningful ways. Social returns on initial investments have been impressive, but they have rarely resulted in a financial return for businesses. However, many companies are now extending this approach and examining ways in which they can leverage their own assets and expertise to create shared value,” said Dr. Welford. Such shared value creates positive change for communities and is commercially viable for companies. This approach that includes commercial activities in communities and along value chains that creates wealth, incomes and opportunities for poor and marginalised communities is now gaining momentum in Asia and elsewhere. Top businesses with successful shared value initiatives in Asia • Dairy company FrieslandCampina trains and educates its milk suppliers in Vietnam, who are relatively poor smallholder farmers (12 to 15 cows), aims to improve the quality and quantity of the milk they source. The farmers see their income rise because of the better quality of milk and they are better educated which improves their lives and that of their families. The company also educates rural women and community health workers about nutrition and the importance of dairy products in the health and development of children. • Sarangani CocoTech in the Philippines is a rapidly expanding business that produces geo-textiles from waste coconut husks in the Philippines. The growing and profitable business has created an additional income stream for poor coconut farmers, empowered rural women who weave the mats, and reduces waste. The mats can be used in areas where there is soil erosion and where there is a risk of landslides as a result of typhoon activity. The shared value approach focuses on poverty alleviation, women’s empowerment and disaster preparedness.
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CSR Asia Summit 2015 - Where Industry Experts and Business Leaders Gather The CSR Asia Summit 2015 will take place from 7 to 8 October 2015, at Royale Chulan Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The title for this year’s summit is Strategic Value Creation, and it will look into ways business strategies can bring shared value to business, community and society. At the CSR Asia Summit, you can join Dr. Richard Welford for a half day workshop which will give you in-depth tools and guidance to design shared value initiatives for your organisation. The Summit will also feature aPartners for Shared Value session looking at best practices of shared value in Asia and how this can drive innovation and creativity. For more information on CSR Asia Summit 2015, please visit http://www.csr-asia.com/summit2015/index.php
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
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Verity Consulting
Verity Consulting Limited is an independent corporate investigation consultancy based in Hong Kong. Founded in 2009 by Managing Director, Kelvin Ko, it is uniquely positioned to offer investigative solutions with a holistic approach to global and domestic clients, focusing on Hong Kong and Greater China. When Verity was first established, the focus was on key investigation services serving mainly legal and insurance sectors.
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Verity has since aggressively diversified its solutions to more closely match today’s business needs and evolving regulatory framework, with a client base that now spans various industries and business functions around the globe. Increased international anti-corruption enforcement has been put in place in recent years, forcing global corporations to implement strict measures. The ensuing wave of high profile cases and arrests brought a number of issues to the attention regional firms, forcing them to take action and creating a heavy demand for business investigation services. Following this significant increase in demand, we quickly seized the opportunity to grow and diversify our service and expand our capabilities to accommodate this demand internally and externally through a network of highly experienced associates. Verity’s growth does not stop here. We continue to invest heavily in our staff development program to help them reach their full potential, both as individuals and together as a team. This includes continuous improvement in skills, knowledge and ethics to ensure credibility high-calibre delivery of our services. At Verity, we take pride in our proven track record of helping corporations within a wide variety of sectors to successfully prevent and mitigate risk. Looking forward, we will continue to deliver excellence, strive for continuous improvement, create value for our clients and uphold integrity in the business world.
Company: Verity Consulting Limited Name: Kelvin Ko, Managing Director Email: info@verity.com.hk Web Address: www.verity.com.hk Address: 4109 Hopewell Centre 183 Queen’s Road East Wanchai, Hong Kong Telephone: (852) 2581-9696
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
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Parke Lawyers
Parke Lawyers has an astute commercial understanding and industry knowledge that underpins the quality, cost-effective legal services we provide. We value a professional and confidential approach that offers common sense and practical solutions. We show our commitment to our clients through global accreditation for benchmark quality legal best practice.
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Parke Lawyers is an innovative legal practice with Victorian offices in Collins Street, Melbourne, St Kilda Road, Melbourne and in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs of Glen Iris, Hawthorn and Ringwood. Our Sydney offices are in Castlereagh Street, opposite the Downing Centre Local Court and in King William Street, Adelaide. There are visited offices in Brisbane and in Auckland, New Zealand. The practice has developed a reputation for client focus, attention to detail and delivering results. We are large enough to provide expert advice in a number of practice areas, yet small enough to maintain a personalrelationship with all of our clients. The Parke Lawyers client base ranges from local governments, banks and large companies, through to family-owned businesses and private individuals, many of whom have been loyal clients of the practice for decades. Parke Lawyers brings together a highly-experienced, well qualified, award-winning team of legal practitioners, with expertise in a number of legal fields. Our lawyers provide personal service, attention to detail and timely advice. When you come to Parke Lawyers we will: • Be readily accessible • Take the time to understand your special circumstances • Honestly appraise your matter • Provide clear, concise advice tailored to your needs, in plain English • Discuss costs with you up-front • Strengthen your case with the assistance of barristers, forensic accountants and other professionals where appropriate Parke Lawyers operates within a business management system designed to ensure delivery of high quality legal services in compliance with ISO 9001 and LAW 9000. The practice has been independently audited by SAI Global and achieved certification in May 2009. This provides a benchmark by which procedures, communications and our responsiveness are measured and annual audits ensure we maintain our standards at the highest level.
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LAW 9000-Legal Best Practice incorporates all of the requirements of ISO 9001 and thereby provides an excellent framework of internationally accepted quality business management principles and practices. In addition, the standard addresses issues and activities unique to a legal practice such as: • Matter files • Business planning • Risk management planning • Engagement contracts We have also developed an information security management system (ISMS) to assist in determining how information is processed, stored, transferred, archived and destroyed, thereby ensuring our information technology and data protection policies comply with international standard ISO/IEC 27001:2005.
Company: Parke Lawyers Email: law@pl.com.au Address: 66 MELBOURNE VIC 3001 DX: 134 MELBOURNE Phone: 134 134 Fax: 1300 131 555
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
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Augentius
The Augentius Group expanded into Asia in recent years and has quickly become one of the largest and most respected private equity fund administrators in the region.
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Augentius’ operations span both the onshore and the offshore world covering the US, Europe and Asia. We are one of the very few specialist administrators that really do have operations right across the globe – from New York to Singapore, Mauritius to the Channel Islands, London to Luxembourg – and our clients use our different offices for administering both offshore and onshore funds as well as SPVs, holding companies, GP entities, co-invest vehicles and the like. Every structure that we administer is different, these days often using more than one geographic location and more often than not a combination of both onshore and offshore locations. We have led the way in the development and advancement of the fund administration service. With offices around the world, working on a centralised technology platform, facilitating data and information sharing across multiple locations (as regulations allow), Augentius is an efficient and highly professional global business. Working throughout Asia we meet the specific local requirements of each of individual clients. But we are also able to help our clients in their global aspirations, providing Depositary and AIFMD Reporting services for those that are marketing their funds into Europe, assisting with Form PF and other regulatory reporting to the US authorities and FATCA reporting on a global basis. Gone are the days when an administrator can service a single domicile alone. Funds are marketed to investors across the globe, they are structured using a multitude of domiciles and locations – and as a consequence an administrator needs to have the capability to service the full structure, across all the domiciles involved, to ensure maximum operational and economic efficiencies for the fund, the investors and the fund manager. For fund economics to work, fund operations have to be efficient to meet the increasingly demanding needs of institutional investors; whilst complying at the same time with global regulation. Augentius has proved this can be achieved and is proud of the service it delivers – and even more proud of the acknowledgement it receives from the industry and the awards that it wins.
www.apacinsider.com
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
profile
Mindpearl
Mindpearl is an international award winning contact centre outsourcer that offers quality, flexible outsourcing services to business across numerous verticals. Specialising in inbound multichannel customer support from their strategically located centres in Australia, Spain, South Africa and Fiji, they offer clients customer service solutions in English and over 30 other languages.
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As a company, our focus is on offering a quality service, which transcends traditional outsourcing. We completely adopt our clients’ brands, ensuring a customer experience second to none. Historically, contact centre outsourcing was considered a cost saving mechanism only; however this perception has changed significantly. Outsourcing is now seen as a strategic means for companies to position themselves for growth and enhance their customer experience. Companies are now looking more to a balance between quality and cost. This shift positions Fiji and Mindpearl favourably. Fiji offers a high quality and cost efficient English language alternative to offshore locations such as India and the Philippines and the perfect location to complement Mindpearl’s existing award winning outsourcing contact centre facilities. Thanks to an inherited British education system, Fiji boasts a native English speaking workforce with an exceptionally high literacy rate offering a high quality English language alternative for Mindpearl’s clients. In addition, Fiji offered us an alternative BPO location, with a unique selling proposition – the people. The people are innately friendly and their natural attitude towards customer service translate exceptionally well to the contact centre environment. Our service offering is based on providing our clients with quality and we owe our success to our talented people who drive for recognition and our ‘followthe-sun’ business model which allows borderless 24/7 coverage and cost efficiencies. Whether we deal with seasoned users of outsourcing services or companies who have never outsourced before, we ensure a customised solution that fits their exact needs. Our aim is to make outsourcing a human experience whether we deal with a large business looking to partner for performance or a small business looking to grow with people.
Company: Mindpearl Email: askus@mindpearl.com Web Address: www.mindpearl.com
www.apacinsider.com Brisbane
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
profile
Pact Group Holdings (Pact)
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Pact Group Holdings (Pact) is a leading manufacturer of rigid plastics and steel packaging solutions and other related products. Pact is a best-in-class manufacturer and innovator, with a large, diverse and established base of approximately 5,000 customers across more than 100 market sectors. Pact’s vision is ‘to enrich lives every day through sustainable packaging solutions’. Our company produces more than 22,000 product variants, and provides services across a range of categories, including: Food & Beverage Pact has long history in delivering trusted, sustainable and innovative packaging for the food and beverage sector. Our businesses are renowned for their relationships with the region’s most successful food and beverage companies to deliver unique designs that: • Ensure freshness and security (in production, in transit, on shelf and in the home) • Protect and enhance the product’s quality • Provide produce differentiation on shelf. Packaging solutions cater for fresh food, chilled meat, frozen food, ready-meals, baked goods, dairy products, juice and bottled water, among others. Our packaging utilises innovative and award winning designs that can provide superior barrier protection properties including multilayer and oxygen barrier materials. Many of these designs have enabled consumers to enjoy the diversity of food and beverage options that they have available in the supermarket today. Personal Care For personal care and health products the aesthetics, functionality, convenience and safety are all critically important. We provides packaging for oral hygiene products, skin creams, hair products and pharmaceutical products. Pact products distinguish themselves with the latest decoration, patented designs and world leading medical dispensing systems.
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Household Consumer Pact provides packaging for many popular household consumer products spanning from the personal care and health categories to the cleaning and washing categories. You’ll find Pact’s household consumer products packaging sold in supermarkets, pharmacies, health shops hardware stores. Our home and cleaning packaging solutions are designed to help the consumer in and around the home, with ergonomic designs that facilitate easy dispensing, comfortable use and safe storage. Industrial & Chemical The industrial and chemical sector is expansive – with highly varied packaging requirements that demand durability, reliability, safety and easy transit and storage. Pact provides packaging solutions for agricultural chemicals, surface coatings, lubricants and other petroleum products ranging from large bulk sizes to very small handheld packaging. Pact’s well-invested packaging technology, sector know-how and global licenses, enables Pact to continually deliver advanced design and functionality for industrial and chemical customers. Materials Handling & Infrastructure Pact’s materials and handling solutions are focused on the transport and storage of products using pallets, crates and other containers. Through this service Pact assists customers to reduce their supply chain costs through improved storage efficiency, handling savings and freight cost reduction. Infrastructure solutions are focused on the telecommunications, gas and electrical industries as well as major road and rail infrastructure projects providing products including telecommunication pits, hazard prevention products, noise walls, industrial tanks and more. Pact also focuses on the product life cycle, with the objective being to provide a complete and returnable packaging solution – reducing environmental impact and generating efficiencies for customers.
Company: Pact Group Holdings Ltd Name: Siobhan McCrory Email: Siobhan.mccrory@inpact.com.au Web Address: www.pactgroup.com.au Telephone: +61 3 8825 4100
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
feature
Asia Pacific Experiences Sharpest Drop in Business Confidence Anywhere in the World
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The sharpest drop in business confidence anywhere in the world in the second quarter of 2015 was experienced in the Asia Pacific region, the latest global survey of finance professionals has revealed. Businesses in the region were negatively impacted by a drop in demand as Chinese growth continued to slow, according to finance professionals responding to the Global Economic Conditions Survey organised by ACCA(the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants). <ACCA spokesperson> said; “Slowing demand from China for construction materials has not only hit commodity producers in the region, such as Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia, but also the services-heavy economies of Singapore and some Australian cities, which have grown up around the wealth generated by the commodities trade.” Following weak economic data from China in the first quarter, nearly two thirds of firms in the region reported that there were now fewer profitable opportunities to exploit. The outlook in the medium term is less gloomy than the survey suggests. China’s central and provincial governments are willing to take drastic measures to ensure that the economy does not experience a hard landing, and stimulus measures from earlier in the year have already resulted in strong fixed asset investment growth during the second quarter. China’s regional trading partners, for their part, have taken measures to blunt the effect of a Chinese slowdown. Australia’s central bank cut rates in February and again in May, sinking the value of the dollar and thereby helping exports of items still in high demand from China, such as meat and wine.
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
ASEAN’s emerging economies, such as Malaysia and the Philippines, have become more balanced in recent years with the rise of domestic middle classes helping to drive growth. Although reduced oil revenues will dent Malaysia’s prospects, the manufacturing sector—which contributes around a quarter of GDP—will benefit from cheaper oil, while the tourism industry stands to benefit from the recovery in advanced Western economies and ongoing growth in Chinese visitors to South-east Asia. Meanwhile, the global economy faces a period of volatility and major readjustments, according to the survey. The second quarter of 2015 saw an abortive rise in oil prices, several expected and unexpected rate cuts by central banks, a rebound in Western consumer sentiment and a stock market crash in China. These events led to business confidence levelling off in the second quarter of 2015 following six months of improvement. The slowing in confidence can be traced to the world’s largest economies: many businesses in the US were affected by severe winter storms, port disruptions and a strong dollar, while those in China faced a cooling economy in the first quarter and over-heating stock markets in the second. Of these factors, China’s economic slowdown and accompanying shift from investment- to consumption-driven growth will have the greatest longterm impact on global trade patterns, hitting the world’s major commodity exporters particularly hard.
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Nearly half of those surveyed expected to see government spending increase over the next five years, while 35% expected a decrease. The survey also shows that firms remain quick to cut staff when faced with uncertainty . In the past quarter, 41% of businesses have cut staff or ceased recruitment - nearly twice the number which have increased staff levels over the same period. The major global concern was a rise in costs, with 46% of respondent worried about the impact, while foreign exchange movements were cited as a problem by more than a third of larger businesses which have cross-border supply chains. But there was significant regional variation in the relationship between confidence in the economic outlook and willingness to take on new staff. In North America, the number of firms creating new jobs was actually greater than those expressing greater confidence in the economy. But in South Asia and Africa, by contrast, relatively high confidence had yet to translate into new investments in people. This may reflect a degree of uncertainty about the sustainability of business growth in regions that still face numerous internal challenges and external vulnerabilities. Faye Chua, Head –Business Insights with ACCA, said: “ Since the global financial crisis of 2008, China has been viewed as the engine of the world’s economy. Yet with more sturdy fundamentals re-emerging in the US and Western Europe, the role of Western consumers in driving demand is coming back to the fore “Looking ahead to the next quarter, overall confidence is set to rise in the wake of stronger economic reports coming out of the US and China. There are a critical number of factors affecting this. It is likely that the Federal Reserve will raise US interest rates before the quarter is out, which could intensify current currency trends though much of the impact would already have been priced in. “The outcome of OPEC’s next meeting on whether to curb oil supply; the extent to which Indian Prime Minister Modi manages to implement his reform programme for India; and the ongoing negotiations between Greece and the rest of the euro zone, will be issues which could have a huge impact on business confidence in the second half of 2015,” said Faye Chua.
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
feature
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Talent Attraction and Retention Still a Key Challenge in the Future of Shared Service Centres
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The growing number of Shared Service Centres (SSCs) in China and the greater Asia Pacific region face a battle to attract and keep talent while remaining competitive in a tough global market, finds a new report from Deloitte and ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). The report, Future challenges facing the shared services centre in China and greater Asia Pacific, found that to control labour costs, SSCs differentiate themselves as employers of choice by building a strong brand both within and outside the organization, as well as creating a pleasurable place to work to attract the highest quality talent. Ada Leung, head of ACCA China, said: “In an ever increasingly competitive market, shared service centres have to essentially battle it out with each other to prove why people should choose to work for them specifically. Here in China, to entice people looking for work, some SSCs offer benefits such as gym membership, to help create a work-life balance, which is ultimately what everyone wants. “Aside from that, it also boosts morale and therefore productivity in the workplace, by keeping employees content.” The report, based on in depth interviews with senior finance and SSC leaders, also found that rising staff and operational costs drive companies to use technology, such as artificial intelligent automation, to handle rule-based or high volume transactional process, trigger responses, and interface with existing applications for processing routine tasks. Paul Zanker, Partner of Finance Transformation China and APAC Finance Transformation Leader, said: “With the evolution of SSC, the nature of talent demand is rapidly changing in Asia and China and the traditional manpower focus has shifted from transactional operations to middle and senior management operational enhancements and optimization. This demand brings new challenges around talent acquisition and retention in local markets. Furthermore, there is an increasing need to elevate the strategic importance of SCCs within these local markets and to develop new approaches to maintain their service standards. Deloitte continues to work closely with our partners in studying and exploring practical and efficient methods for sharing with our clients in every market. We believe that the answer could be different for the China market, but innovation will be the key to succeed.” The report concludes that future development of SSCs is an increasing focus for taking a global approach to process delivery and standardisation, in an effort to achieve efficiency and cost savings through scale and volume.
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
feature
New Oracle Research Reveals that Businesses in APAC Missing Out on the Competitive Advantages of Cloud Agility
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Study indicates high levels of business agility across the region, but low understanding of Platform as a Service could compromise global advantage.
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Oracle has announced the results of its “Oracle Cloud Agility” study and revealed that businesses across Asia Pacific (APAC) are showing strong signs of agility in some areas and clearly recognise the business benefits of agility (i.e., able to adjust quickly to new business opportunities or to iterate new products and services quickly). However, Oracle’s research also highlights a clear lack of awareness among businesses around how technology, like Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), can be used to help address challenges such as flexibly managing workloads or rapidly development of new applications. This may leave them at a disadvantage in dealing with competitive threats. The Oracle Cloud Agility study surveyed 759 employees working for large enterprises in APAC to understand business agility in the age of cloud. Respondents are clear about the benefits of agility, with 85% stating that the ability to rapidly develop, test, and launch new business applications is either important or critically important to the success of their business. In particular, nearly one third of respondents (29%) believe the effective mobilisation of applications and services is the most important factor for business success today when it comes to IT infrastructure. The study also reveals that the impact of agility on competitiveness is critically important to businesses. In fact, the ability of competitors to launch innovative customer services more rapidly was identified as the top threat (29%). When it comes to demonstrating signs of being agile, over half (52%) of businesses questioned did feel they have an IT infrastructure capable of responding to these competitive threats. In addition, 60% of businesses stated that they can develop, test, and deploy new business applications for use on mobile devices within six months - and nearly half (46%) felt that they could achieve this within a one month timeframe. “The speed with which many Asian countries are adapting to digital technologies like mobile is clearly acknowledged. However, in today’s global economy, there is no time for these organisations to be complacent and rest on their laurels. What this research shows is that many companies are not yet harnessing the power of PaaS solutions to further boost agility levels, and so stay ahead of the digital curve,” said Chris Chelliah, Group Vice President & Chief Architect, Core Technology & Cloud, APAC. In fact, the survey results bear out the assessment that businesses are not fully aware of how PaaS can increase operational agility. Only 26% of respondents state that they fully understand what PaaS is. For those that say they do understand PaaS, the top two benefits were stated as: savings on the cost of internal IT infrastructure (50%), and savings on the cost of application development (40%). “Businesses clearly know agility holds the key to their success, but there is an awareness gap around exactly how this agility can be realised through the right technology investments,” said Robert Shimp, Group Vice President, Oracle. “Today, PaaS can enable businesses to build new applications quickly - in as little as two weeks - allowing them to launch new internal and customer-facing applications rapidly. This capability allows organizations to react almost immediately to market conditions and get their products and services to customers ahead of the competition.” “PaaS offerings, such as the Oracle Cloud Platform, have the ability to deliver unprecedented levels of business agility. The key now is to demonstrate to businesses just how easy it is to integrate this critical cloud platform into their IT architectures. Yes, the cost savings delivered by PaaS are important, but of greater importance is its ability to help businesses reduce application development timeframes and more easily tailor and integrate third-party Software as a Service apps into their business, allowing them to react better to customer demand,” said Shimp.
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
feature
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ABAC Endorses Cebu Action Plan to Modernize APECâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Financial Markets
Issued by the APEC Business Advisory Council.
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
“Finance ministers and private sector leaders should collaborate more closely to expand funding for micro- and small enterprises and infrastructure, increase resilience of enterprises and communities, and accelerate capital market development.” This is the main message in this year’s report of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) to Finance Ministers, according to Hiroyuki Suzuki, chair of ABAC’s Finance and Economics Working Group. “These are the critical steps that APEC must take to catalyse the inclusive and broadbased growth that will transform our region into a strong and resilient engine of the global economy.” ABAC’s report endorsed the Cebu Action Plan (CAP), a multi-year roadmap for reforms that Finance Ministers will announce at their annual meeting this coming September 10-11 in Cebu, Philippines.
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Finance industry experts joined officials from finance ministries and multilateral agencies in several workshops held this year to identify initiatives under the CAP. They included representatives from leading banks, asset management firms, insurers, pension funds, credit bureaus and rating agencies, as well as financial industry associations involved in three ABAC-led initiatives - the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF), Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Partnership (APIP) and Financial Inclusion Forum. Following these discussions, officials have identified concrete programs to expand SMEs’ access to finance, promote financial inclusion and improve the depth and liquidity of capital markets. They also agreed to launch initiatives to develop the pension and insurance industries, increase private sector investment in infrastructure and facilitate disaster risk financing. ABAC signaled the private sector’s intention of actively collaborating with these initiatives under the CAP. The private sector is supporting the establishment of a network of experts from the financial industry, multilateral institutions and government to build credit information systems allowing more owners of small businesses to use their transaction records in obtaining loans. They will also help improve legal frameworks to enable SMEs’ wider use of movable assets as collateral. The APFF will convene workshops under the CAP to promote policies and regulations that can facilitate trade and supply chain finance,
as well as alternative financing mechanisms to spur investment in innovative start-ups. Experts from leading global banks, industry associations and multilateral institutions have committed to share their knowledge with policy makers, SMEs, lenders and investors. Another initiative envisioned under the CAP is the holding of public-private dialogues to help officials design infrastructure projects that can attract private lenders and investors. These dialogues will also help identify regulatory disincentives that hinder pension funds and insurance firms from investing more widely in infrastructure. The private sector will support governments’ efforts to develop capital markets, which are important for funding infrastructure and for increasing the diversity and stability of the financial system. APFF has developed self-assessment templates to assist governments in providing the information that investors need to increase their investments in the region’s capital markets. The private sector will collaborate to identify reforms allowing investors to more effectively use risk management instruments such as repurchase agreements and derivatives that will help create deeper and more liquid securities markets. ABAC also called on governments to utilize APFF as a platform to support the successful launch of the Asia Region Funds Passport (ARFP), an initiative aimed at facilitating the cross-border flow of funds and regional financial integration. Noting that the Asia-Pacific is the world’s most disaster-prone region, ABAC praised the CAP for including initiatives in microinsurance and disaster risk financing to help local communities and enterprises become more resilient. ABAC proposed that the CAP explicitly include concrete mechanisms for public-private collaboration in broadening access to microinsurance and developing effective financial instruments to support disaster risk financing. “Financial industry CEOs and experts from across the region will be joining Finance Ministers at their meeting in Cebu to discuss their collaboration in promoting these initiatives under the CAP. For this reason, this year’s APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting will be an important milestone in the evolution of Asia-Pacific financial markets,” Suzuki concluded. The full text of the 2015 ABAC Report to APEC Finance Ministers and its annexes can be downloaded from:https://www.abaconline. org/v4/download.php?ContentID=22612587.
www.apacinsider.com Hiroyuki Suzuki
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
feature
Cloud Computing Driving Outsourced Data Centre Market Up in Australia
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As a result of increased adoption of cloud computing, driven by the consumer segments increased consumption of videos, social networks, mobile data and gaming, and the corporate sectors use of data intensive applications, the Australian outsourced data centre market continues to grow strongly. In 2014, data centre services revenue in Australia totalled A$826 million; a growth of 18.3% over 2013. Co-location service accounted for approximately 69% of the total data centre services market. According to Frost & Sullivanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new report, Australian Data Centre Services Market 2015, Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high growth phase of outsourced data centre adoption will peak in 2015 and ease off in 2016 and 2017 as the rate of new data centre capacity entering the market slows down. Data centre services revenue for 2015 is predicted to grow by 18.2%, but whilst managed hosting continues to see strong revenue growth, co-location revenue growth is beginning to ease as an increasing proportion of data centre clients migrate their co-location and managed hosting services to cloud services. Phil Harpur, Senior Research Manager, Australia & New Zealand ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan said that wholesale data centre providers and those that focus on co-location services only, face significant pressure because of this trend. However, the growth of cloud services has been a key factor in developing new business opportunities for data centre specialist providers. Frost & Sullivan predicts the Australian data centre services market to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% from 2015 to 2020. Managed hosting will experience stronger growth than co-location over this period, as demand decreases due to companies migrating from co-location to cloud services. Cloud providers, especially larger global providers such as AWS, Microsoft and IBM SoftLayer are driving strong growth in the market and rapidly expanding their cloud capacity, whilst the government sector continues to increase its use of third-party hosted data centres. Demand is also
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APAC Insider Magazine / Issue 2
growing for disaster recovery and business continuity services. Connected, multi-tenanted data centres are best placed to provide these services. Most third-party data centre providers in Australia have multiple data centres in multiple locations. The average power density requirement of data centres is now up to 40KW to 50KW per rack and continues to increase in line with the increasing demand for high-performance computing applications. As rack densities decrease, physical data centre space needed declines. This trend impacts data centre providers offering co-location services on both a retail and wholesale level. Harpur said, “As the Australian data centre services market expands, diversifies and matures, there are growing opportunities for niche providers specialising in specific verticals to enter the market. For example, Canberra Data Centres and Australian Data Centres focus on the government sector in Canberra. The Australian Liquidity Centre (ALC), which is owned by the Australian Stock Exchange, services organisations in the financial services segment.”
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“To cater to the growing demand for data centre services, specialist providers, including local providers such as NEXTDC, Metronode and Canberra Data Centres, and global providers such as Equinix, Global Switch and Digital Realty, have added data centre capacity, either by expanding their existing data centre facilities or building new ones. A growing trend for large IT service providers and telcos that own their own data centres is to consolidate their data centre footprint by shutting down older, less efficient data centres and leasing data centre space within the larger and newer facilities of these data centre specialists, as it is more cost effective,” added Harpur. Specialist data centre service providers are carrier neutral, which encourages the development of business ecosystems within their data centres. This is attracting both local and global cloud providers to their data centres. Cloud providers are driving greater diversity as they attract a range of other companies, such as IT service providers. Thus a virtuous cycle has been created with these data centres. The adoption of modular data centres is still in an early growth phase, however, momentum is beginning to build in the market and stronger adoption will occur as prices fall further. Modular data centres cater to niche segments of the market where companies or government departments require their own built facilities. They have higher relative cost, and most are deployed in outdoor and often remote locations, in industries such as healthcare, education, construction, mining, defence, manufacturing, oil and gas and renewable energies. “Another growing trend over the last two years is for commercial property owners to acquire existing data centres or build new data centres and then lease them to data centre specialist providers, IT service providers or individual companies. Examples include Asia Pacific Data Centres (APDC) and Keppel DC Real Estate Investment Trust, both of which have purchased facilities from major local data centre providers,” said Harpur. Data centre providers have several challenges. Significant new data centre capacity has entered the market over the last few years causing lower than average occupancy rates, and placing downward pressure on data centre pricing. However, additional capacity is generally being absorbed quickly. Securing sites in CBD locations and gaining access to sufficient power is increasingly challenging and it is becoming increasingly difficult for data centre owners to plan for additional capacity.
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