Business Network Magazine Canada | Oct / Nov 2013 by Anatolian Heritage Federation

bnmagazine.ca | Issue #18 | Oct / Nov 2013

The China Plan E CO N O M ICS

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O F

S UPE R P OWER

Women’s Role In MENA New revolutions, old inequalities

The History of Democratisation: An Economic Perspective

The Rupee Rout: Is India Still Shining or Has It Lost its Lustre?

Private Jets for all: Victor

Contents 40

Editor’s Letter

The Chinese Blueprints

Infographic

Cover Story

The China Plan: Economics of a Superpower

Business

The Purchasing Power of Women Marketingzeus.com

Wings of the Kazakhs

Country Profile

Art Café: Toronto’s Best

Rwanda: Africa’s Singapore?

Yes We Art

Politics

GB Fashion: Autumn Picks

Veneno Reincarnated

Turkish President Gul Received Canadian Delegate

Obama’s Syria Debacle

The Canadian Green Light: A bilateral FTA with Turkey

The History of Democratisation: An Economic Perspective

Birth of a Nation

Exploring new frontiers: Tuskon

The Rupee Rout: Is India Still Shining or Has It Lost its Lustre?

Women’s Role In MENA: New revolutions, old inequalities

China’s investments: Who benefits?

Private Jets for all: Victor

Canada Network

Turkish Airlines

Difficult market-entry paid off for Turkish Airlines

Art & Culture

Android or Apple ?

Businesses recommended by the Network

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Events and News from the TCCC

BN Magazine bringing the most important perspectives on international Business and Politics to its readers in the Canada Awareness is Everything Editor in Chief Ozan R. Adan

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21ST CENTURY LEADERS FROM A TO Z Britain’s Austerity Fix: Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast – Nothing New, We’ve Been Here Before

JOURNEY TO THE ROOF OF THE WORLD Creating the Entrepreneurs of the Future

European Desk Ayfer Mustafaoğlu Managing Coordinator Mehmet N. Durmus

Advisory Board

China Plan

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Publisher Mehmet Gul

MANAGING YOURThe WEALTH MARK IDRISS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, HEAD OF GLOBAL EMERGING MARKETS AT UBS WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LONDON.

O F

S UPE R POW E R

Women’s Role In MENA New revolutions, old inequalities

The History of Democratisation: An Economic Perspective

The Rupee Rout: Is India Still Shining or Has It Lost its Lustre?

Private Jets for all: Victor

Ismail Nazli • Selçuk Koç Semih Inceoz • İsmail Başman

Contributors Isa Topbas • Furkan Tuzun • Evthokia Kyriazis Amir Sabanovic • Sehnaz Gul • Sebnem Gul Connor Stevens • Manish Sinha • Halil Ibrahim Surgun • Sema Tuncel • Selim Sadik Dogan Patrick Kennedy • Ceren Kaynak And a general big thank you to everyone who may have contributed and/or facilitated the publication of BN

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Oct-Nov 2013 TCCC Toronto Canada Published bimonthly by Turkish Canadian Chamber of Commerce (TCCC) 481 University Ave, Suite 711 TORONTO , ON M5G 2E9 Canada post Agreement # 42400540 www.tccommerce.org Tel: 416- 269 7670

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Very successful, happy to be in it Nick Clegg MP, Deputy Prime Minister

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Editor's Letter

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The Chinese Blueprints China is investing in factories in Eastern Europe, not because their labor costs are lower, but because they want to be closer to their markets. Michael Bloomberg

Hello and welcome to the first Canadian Edition issue of BN Magazine published by the Turkish-Canadian Chamber of Commerce (TCCC). The TCCC has been the main drive in bringing BN’s creative approach to international business to your door in Canada. In the coming issues we will be adding the best news from where you are locally as well as the most relevant from around the world. Canada is one of the top economies in the world with an incredibly diverse economy and history. BN’s accession to this economy is a acknowledgment of the vitality and importance Canada brings to the international arena. We wanted to introduce BN this issue with one of Canada’s most important trade partner, and another global player; China. China may be on the brink of establishing the largest economic empire in the world, and they may be constructing it in Africa. Yet it would be presumptuous to believe that the world is accepting this with open arms. The harsh reality is that there are doubts over Chinese investment in Africa by both the West and even perhaps some Africans. By 2020 the Chinese are expected to invest US$1-2 trillion in Africa, South America and Europe. But its difficult to comprehend the motive behind the vast funds spent for the benefit of other regions

while most parts of China remain significantly underdevel- oped. China has received tremendous attention over the last decade for its investments within Africa. Beijing has been both aiding and investing in Africa since the Bandung Conference, in 1955, where their mutual strife as two developing regions would strategically benefit both parties. The creative aid and investment China provided Africa secured it a seat at the United Nations, previously held by Taiwanese officials until 1971. This was probably the first African fruit for the Chinese, a seat at the UN meant other vital opportunities, including access to oil and natural resources.

always felt towards the West. The difference in interest in the grand plan of Africa has resulted in this Cold War type of rivalry and even land grabbing, and state grabbing. Although it is painfully clear that there is an immense lack of efficiency, which could be healed by bringing Chinese investment and Western know-how together for the benefit of all. We hope you enjoy the issue. To receive a complimentary subscription of BN please subscribe at bnmagazine.co.uk or download our free App now available on iTunes.

Between 2002 to 2007 China dished $33billion of aid and investment to African countries. Over half of this went to infrastructure building, including much-needed railways, highways, clinics and even stadiums. If the Chinese seem to be developing these regions, why are we in the West so cynical of a China-influenced Africa? One major complica- tion is Chinese transparency. This is not to suggest that Western aid to Africa has been as clear as day. However, the lack of transparency on both sides has in turn resulted in mutual skepticism, which perhaps the West now feels towards China, and China has

Ozan R. Adan Editor in chief Twitter @ozanadan

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Turkish President Gul Received Canadian Delegate

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AHF hosted MPs and senators along with their spouses in Turkey for an “Intercultural Parliamentary Trip”. During the visit, Dave Van Kasteren, chairman of the Canada-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group, and his accompanying delegation visited Turkish President Abdullah Gul at the Cankaya Presidential Palace, President Gul declared that Turkey and Canada are two ally states that share certain universal values including democracy, the rule of law, basic rights and freedoms and a free market economy. The great potential in the Turkish-Canadian economic relations and the issues around Syrian Refugee were discussed at the meeting.

The Canadian-Turkish trade volume is currently around $2 billion. While Canada can offer technology, education, and mining to Turkey, Turkey is confident that with its increasing economy and young population it can provide a stable atmosphere for Canadian companies to invest in in the country. Foreign Canadian direct investment in Turkey is about $1.8 billion. On the other hand, Turkish investments in Canada stand at nearly $3.5 million only. MP Dave Van Kasteren shared the information and expressed the impressions he had gained during his visit to Turkey, which helped him get to know Turkey better, adding that both countries can boost their existing bilateral and multilateral cooperation on the basis of their shared values and ideals.

In Addition, Members of Parliament, Mr. Philip McColeman, Mr. Dean Allison, and Mr. Larry Miller were hosted by the president of TUSKON Mr. Ali Riza Meral. President Gul also pointed out Turkish Airlines’ (THY) direct flights to Toronto and said there should be no such thing as geographical limitation in regard to trade and investment. In fact, seeing the potential travel volume in the route Air Canada also launched direct flights between Toronto and Istanbul last summer.

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The Canadian Green Light: A bilateral FTA with Turkey By Sebnem GUL, Toronto

Almost four years after Turkey first indicated its interest in pursuing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Canada, in October 2009, it is now up to the Canadian Cabinet to allow the Trade Ministry to start formal negotiation rounds with its Turkish counterpart. The last deliberate intention for an FTA between the two countries came from the Honorable Ad Fast, Canadian Minister of International Trade, after his meeting with Turkish Economy Minister, Zafer Çağlayan, last August in Turkey. “From transportation to mining, education to infrastructure, Canada can offer a lot to our Turkish partners. These are promising areas of increased partnership between our industries, and of increased jobs and growth for both our countries,” stressed Honorable Ad Fast in front of media in an announcement after the meeting. During their meeting, the Ministers discussed bilateral economic relations between the two counties and agreed to establish a joint economic and trade committee to seek concrete means of improving trade and investment. They also expressed support for the conclusion of exploratory talks toward an ambitious and comprehensive FTA. Committees from Turkey and Canada first met informally in Ottawa in February 2010. That was followed by a formal exploratory meeting that took place in Ankara in October of the same year to better understand the approach of both sides to a potential agreement. In accordance with the ongoing FTA efforts, a double taxation prevention agreement was signed and went into force in May 2011.

A 12-member Senate Committee from Canada also conducted an economic and political study of Turkey this year and gave the following recommendation to the Canadian parliament in its final report: "The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada identify Turkey as a strategic commercial priority and accelerate negotiations with the Government of the Republic of Turkey for a free trade agreement." According to Canadian bylaws, the Canadian Cabinet must issue a mandate in order for the Canadian International Trade Ministry to inaugurate formal trade negotiations with another country. BN Canada asked the International Trade Ministry of Canada and the Canadian Embassy in Ankara if the Canadian Cabinet will discuss a mandate to end exploratory talks and start formal negotiations, but has received no response as of yet. However, a high-ranking official from Turkey's Economy Ministry who wanted to remain anonymous told BN Canada, “We have almost wrapped up the exploratory talks and we are only waiting for the Canadian cabinet to give the green light to begin the formal negotiation rounds.” Aslı Akdeniz Özelli, the regional coordinator for the Americas of the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), also confirmed that the atmosphere is very positive and that other than needing the approval of the Canadian Cabinet, there are no anticipated obstacles to prevent Turkey and Canada from starting the formal rounds of negotiation. Being inpatient for a comprehensive FTA

between countries, Turkish and Canadian companies have already started cooperating in various fields of business. Turkish Termikel and Canadian company iBoard have recently signed a joint venture to foster the development of a Turkish-made interactive educational application using Canadian intellectual property owned by iBoard. The venture aims to meet the requirements of the Turkish Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communications' FATİH project, which plans to provide 580,000 interactive boards and 15 million tablets to outfit every K-12 classroom in Turkey. Turkish-Canadian bilateral trade volume was slightly more than $2 billion in 2012. Turkish exports to Canada were $1.1 billion, while imports from Canada totaled $954 million according to official data from Finance Ministry of Turkey. Foreign direct investment of Canada to Turkey amounts to $1.8 billion while Turkey's investments in Canada stand at $3.5 million only. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expects Turkey to be the fastest growing economy as holding at least an average growth rate of 5.2 among OECD member countries from 2012 through 2017. On top of that, Turkish government has set high national economics targets in its 2023 Master Plan. By 2023, the centennial anniversary of the country’s modern republic, Turkey wants to be in the top 10 economies in the world having a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2-trillion. The government also projects attracting $80-billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), up from $15.6-billion in 2011.

Birth of Nation Republic Day commemorates the day when M. Kemal Ataturk proclaimed Turkey a Republic, free of its former Ottoman domination. The celebration is essentially the birthday of the nation. Every year the anniversary of the Republic is celebrated with various activities, special events and functions in Canadian cities, namely Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. Moreover, Toronto Turkish Community organizations hold the flag raising ceremonies in front of City Hall and the Ontario Parliament at Queens Park. Nile Academy students present various shows that indicate the meaning and significance of the day. Parents and teachers participate in school performances. As an annual event, the Turkish Culture and Folklore Society organizes the traditional Turkish Republic Day Ball at the Macedonia Community Center in Toronto.

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The Rupee Rout: Is India Still Shining or Has It Lost its Lustre? By Dr. Manish Sinha Financial Analyst

When Raghuram Rajan, the newly appointed governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), arrives for his first day at the office in September 2013, he will be charged with solving an enormous problem.

Rajan, a former distinguished professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), must use all his experience and wisdom to successfully navigate India’s economy through a debilitating threepronged attack. The stakes are high; should he fail, not only will India stop shining (indeed, it might already have done so) but it may take a long time for international investors to regain the confidence to reinvest in the country. The task of attempting to guide the Indian economy through a record-high 6.7 percent current account deficit, 4.4 percent economic growth in contrast to 8 percent two years prior, 10 percent consumer price inflation (which, barring a brief spell in 2010, is the highest level since 1999) and a charged atmosphere of political paralysis ignited by the looming general election in May 2014 would be difficult enough with a stable currency. Unfortunately, the recent and spectacular collapse of several emerging market currencies, most notably the Indian rupee, fuelled partly by significant withdrawals of investment capital from the country’s financial markets has taken investors and governments by surprise. For the new central bank governor, his problematic situation just became worse.

Descending Currencies In conjunction with the Indonesian rupiah, Turkish lira and Brazilian real, the Indian rupee appears to have descended into free fall reaching previously unchartered territory. Having spent a thirteen year period from March 1998 essentially range bound between 40 and 50 rupees to the dollar, by 28 August 2013 the rupee had blazed a trail to a record weakness of 68.825. It is the worst performing Asian currency and second-worst performing emerging market currency in 2013 – only the South African rand has fared worse. The rupee’s depreciation by over 16 percent against the US dollar in 2013 has embraced both extreme volatility and its largest one-day decline in over twenty years. Does the newly appointed governor possess the ammunition to arrest the rupee’s irrepressible slide or will the rout continue unabated? Based upon an array of recent reports, common wisdom largely attributes the recent precipitous drop in the rupee to investor worries about how India will finance its record current account deficit. The current account deficit (CAD) measures the difference between the country’s imports and exports and a deficit implies that a country owes money to its trading partners. Such a deficit may be funded through selling its foreign exchange reserves (as India

was forced to do in entirety in 1991 before receiving emergency funds from the IMF), increasing government borrowing or attracting external investment. Neither course of action represents a compelling reason to hold that currency as larger deficits increase a country’s challenges in financing their obligations. Over a 3-month period from October-December 2012, India’s CAD measured as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) hit a record high as growth in exported goods fell sharply in conjunction with a sharp expansion of imports. Countries with large current account deficits are vulnerable to shocks in the global economy and India has one of the largest deficits for a major economy, exceeding the 6 percent threshold at which point the IMF deems the balance of payments situation to be critical.

on gold imports three times in 2013 yet gold imports have doubled in the first two months of the current fiscal year from the prior year. India imports eighty percent of its daily oil needs and, in response to the plummeting rupee that purchases progressively fewer dollars and less oil whilst simultaneously stoking higher inflation, the Reserve Bank of India announced a bespoke US dollar-rupee swap program with three public sector oil marketing companies (Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd) in order to help provide them with their daily estimated requirement of $600million. In an effort to trim the oil import bill Oil Minister, M. Veerappa Moily, has recommended that India purchase more crude oil from Iran, which would accept payment in rupees irrespective of U.S. sanctions on Tehran. Just how pivotal a driver to the value of the rupee is India’s current account deficit? Over a fifteen year period from 1998 to 2013 the emerging market countries that manifested the strongest interrelationship between their current account deficit and currency were Turkey, India and Indonesia, exhibiting a correlation between 30 and 50 percent, double that of South Korea and Taiwan. Indeed, the variation in India’s currency and current account deficit most closely tracked that of Turkey and Indonesia; a comparison between

the three countries is therefore natural.

Turkey, India and Indonesia Turkey’s deficit as a percentage of GDP has often exceeded twice of India's, whilst Indonesia ran a current account surplus until 2012. Since the start of 2013, these countries have also displayed contrasting fortunes to their current account deficit. India has fluctuated between 5 and 6 percent; Turkey has improved from 7 to 6 percent, whilst Indonesia has deteriorated from 2 to 3 percent. Despite the disparity in current account deficit variation in 2013, all three countries have experienced significant and highly correlated drops to their currency; 16.3%, 12.5% and 12.4% respectively. Clearly, forces in addition to the current account deficit are at play. Amidst legitimate worries regarding India’s ability to finance its current account deficit in an environment encumbered by low growth and high inflation, and in the absence of structural reforms, international investors are dumping their rupee investments. Since 2008, emerging market economies have witnessed inflows of $3.9trillion, and yet $47billion has been withdrawn from emerging-market stock and bond funds since May 2013, bringing this year’s net withdrawal to 7.5 billion. This action puts extreme downward pressure on emergingmarket currencies and foreign investors who

have doubled their holdings of government bonds from 15 to 30 percent since 2009 are distinctly worried as the weaker currency increases the difficulty for governments to repay that debt. Concurrently, traders are expecting exacerbated levels of currency volatility to continue. The cost of insuring against shortterm declines in emerging market currencies is the largest for the rupee where the market assumes approximately 21 percent volatility over a one-month period, i.e. a possible decline in the rupee/dollar exchange rate to 80.

The 2008 effect In unison, the large and persistent current account deficit, slow growth and high inflation offer sufficient incentive for investors to trim their rupee holdings. However, this situation did not materialize overnight. Whereas this trio of economic fundamentals constitutes the fuel, the catalyst that ignited the fire that has engulfed the rupee and its emerging market peers emerged approximately 8,000 miles away. In direct response to the 2008 global financial crisis, the worst of its kind since the Second World War, the US Federal Reserve deployed a series of unconventional measures aimed at preventing the US recession from metamorphosing into a depression. These measures inject additional liquidity into the economy and subsequently provide

The Oil Factor The largest contributor to India’s import bill is oil and petroleum products; indeed, this component has exhibited an 85 percent degree of co-dependence with the current account deficit over the past fifteen years. Gold, which India imports more than any other country, is the second largest component accounting for ten percent. In a failed attempt to curtail gold imports, India’s central bank has increased duty

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assistance by reducing short-term interest rates to virtually zero; indeed, this assisted emerging market corporates in raising US dollar-denominated investment capital at very cheap rates. After five such years, the US economy recently began producing encouraging economic data. Thus, when in May 2013 Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, signalled to the U.S. congressional Joint Economic Committee the mere possibility of a deceleration to the rate of its $85billion dollar monthly bond purchase program, thereby increasing the prospect of a more valuable US dollar, investors interpreted those words as a catalyst to ignite a sharp and sudden reversal to their investment capital allocation – notwithstanding a cautionary note from Mr Bernanke on the harmful consequences of a “premature tightening of monetary policy”. The rapid flow from rupee-denominated investments to US dollar-denominated investments as part of this expeditious withdrawal of “non-stable flows” (which includes purchases of stocks and bonds by foreign institutional investors) has put the Indian rupee under immense pressure. The central bank’s efforts to intervene

in the rupee’s decline have reduced its foreign currency reserves to approximately $280billion dollars, the lowest level in three years.

The Challenges Ahead This is the essential problem facing the new governor of India’s central bank. Attempting to resurrect value in the rupee by increasing interest rates is extremely hazardous owing to the country’s slowest growth in a decade. Higher rates increase the cost of borrowing and further reduce growth. However, failure to do so could lead the weak rupee to increase the presently high level of consumer price inflation, bringing forward the need for a larger and more drastic interest rate increase with its own damaging consequences. Failure to do either will further damage investor confidence and is therefore not an option. To make matters worse, the impact of the looming election is already creating budgetary havoc. A flagship program of the ruling Congress party, the Food Security Bill, aimed at providing annual subsidies of $19billion dollars to the poor will, if passed by the

President,would have a cataclysmic effect upon India’s finances. Although Palaniappan Chidambaram, the Finance Minister, claims his country can afford the program his shattered credibility means that nobody is listening. A stubbornly high deficit combined with passing of the Bill could realistically lead to a credit rating downgrade with a resulting increase in the government’s cost of borrowing. Standard & Poor’s, the U.S. rating agency, recently stated that India possessed a one-in-three chance of experiencing a rating downgrade within the next two years, a probability higher than that of Indonesia suffering the same fate. On September 4, 2013 Raghuram Rajan will find himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. The complex fabric interweaving Indian politics and economics means that no solution is optimal, many are highly suboptimal and if India is to continue shining then it is imperative that the country’s new central bank governor finds the right solution – and fast.

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Women’s Role In MENA

New revolutions, old inequalities By James Kearney* Peace and Security Programme UNA-UK

Mindful of the adage that women’s participation in the economy is believed to provide a tremendous impetus to their enhanced participation in public affairs, this is too a cause for concern, and may highlight underlying cultural and institutional constraints, amongst other factors. A major problem is, paradoxically, one of native resource abundance. Hydrocarbon-rich countries, including Algeria and Saudi Arabia, have tended to have lower rates of female participation in the labour force than do the workforce-rich, resource-poor economies such as Egypt and Tunisia (the theory being that the possession of such plentiful resources negates the need for economic diversity and labour revitalisation).

Workforce Imbalances The developing crisis in Egypt and on-going conflict in Syria has begun to colour perceptions of the region as a whole as politically intractable and potentially unstable. The now seldom-used notion of the ‘Arab Spring’ has given way to the view of the Middle East and North Africa – ‘MENA’ – as being split into three categories: those countries that are engrossed in partial or immersive conflict; those countries with on-going underlying political tensions; and those countries that ‘the outside world can still do business with’. Many observers would go as far as to iterate that it was the varying degrees of political autocracy or anocracy that was the constant that bound all states in the region – that it was the strangulation of political life that fuelled resentment and sparked the aforementioned Arab uprisings. This argument is not without merit, but it offers a two-dimensional answer to a set of three-dimensional problems. To be sure, there are some consistencies across the region, but they are not necessarily those that are muchbandied about in cafes, university campuses and news studios in the West. Some commentators have stated that the paradox of the MENA is that many of the region’s countries are ruled by leaders who are more liberal than their citizenry. Even if this were true, this is not something specific to the region. Others have stated that democracy has never truly taken root in the MENA because it has never been part of the political culture.

Again, there is some truth in this. However, to hold to this would be to fail to scrutinise a complete comprehension of democracy.

Open Political Culture Democracy - specifically, democratic elections - is one of the final pieces in the evolution of a politically open nation-state. Democratic elections are not necessarily an accurate indicator of progress, nor do they automatically provide political life to a nation. For proof of this, one has only to look at Afghanistan and Iraq. The expeditious discharge of elections may not necessarily carry the citizenry along with the political elite and vice-versa. The farther the two are apart, the less likelihood there is for open political culture to be evolved, sustained and perpetuated; and democracy does not cure all ills. In short, the journey and process towards democratic elections, whether that be years or decades, is as fundamental as the end result. Between the starting point and that end, there are multiple political and economic challenges to be surmounted before citizenry and state may be brought together. There are subtle but insidious challenges that effect all countries in the MENA and which may also act as a health indicator for the states in question. Economically, the region has also suffered at the hands of the world financial crisis and widespread recession, with The World Bank admitting that “Macroeco-

nomic fundamentals weakened in most MENA countries in 2011 and 2012”. Economic growth remains weak at 0.2% of GDP for the region as a whole and continuing instability has caused traditional tourism hotspots, such as Egypt and Tunisia, to be hit hard with 31% and 32% drops in 2011 tourism revenues alone, representing $1bn and $8.1bn drops respectively. These figures are likely to worsen.

Women’s Role But there is an insidious, long-standing challenge that does affect all countries in the region, a challenge that preceded the uprisings, and one which points to a political and economic imbalance throughout the Middle East and North Africa: that of the dislocation of women from aspects of political and economic life. In 2011, across the region 70% of girls aged fifteen and under attended secondary school, and yet only 20% of women aged fifteen and over participated in the labour force. This is demonstrated most drastically in the case of Algeria where 95% of girls attended secondary school, and only 15% of women were involved in the labour force. These figures are put into perspective when one considers that the figures for the developing world as a whole in 2011 were 65% and 50% respectively for the same categories. World Bank Enterprise Surveys have revealed that women’s entrepreneurship too remains low compared to other regions.

To add to this, the low participation rate of women in the workforce is often coupled with vulnerable employment for those women who are employed. Even in the face of some governmental initiatives to tackle such workforce imbalances (such as those in Jordan in the last few years), from 1990 to 2010, the ratio of female to male labour force participation in MENA fluctuated between 22.5% and 27.5% (according to World Bank statistics). In sharp contrast, in the developing economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, the same ratio rose steadily from 49.5% in 1990, to 67.1% on 2010. Female participation in trade and business unions is also low with, for example, only 20% female membership of trade unions and 23.3% of professional associations. Again, in this respect the Middle East and North Africa lags desperately behind other regions. Economists and political commentators alike would agree that solid political and social development will be hindered until this issue is addressed. There are several UN conventions and resolutions that call for women in public participation including, for example, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, and which defines discrimination against women as: "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the

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recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."

Female Political Role Although it is difficult to draw a direct correlation between women’s economic and political representation, it does not negate the fact that women’s political participation in MENA is the lowest on average of any region. Based upon information it had received by 1 July 2013, the Inter Parliamentary Union has stated that the percentage of women in the combined national parliaments of what it terms ‘Arab States’, was 13.8%, while, even more strikingly, only 6.8% are members of any upper house. With the widely publicised female involvement early on in demonstrations relating to the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ in various countries in the region, hopes of this hinting at greater female involvement

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in political affairs seemed to be dashed as new political administrations coalesced. As a 2013 report from the Women’s Global Leadership Initiative has stated in relation to Egypt: “Despite the fact that women marched shoulder to shoulder with their brothers on Tahrir Square, women were soon after excluded and marginalized from key decision-making positions during the political transition. The absence of women on the Egyptian constitutional committee, with only one woman in the interim cabinet in Egypt, has led to the fear that women are being sidestepped.” The promotion of gender equality and the inclusion of economic and political life is not a panacea for the ills of the region: long-term issues of economic diversity, resource management, balanced taxation, proportionate military spending and unsustainable resource rents will remain and hinder recovery in the short-term. The prognosis for stability in the

region remains unpredictable, particularly given the evolving conflict in Syria and the ramifications this may have for bordering nations and beyond. However, the exclusion of women, intentional or not, will continue to represent an impediment to long-term stability in the region. It acts both as a barometer of the region’s health, and a marker to target in the months and years to come. States ignore half of their populations at their own peril.

*James Kearney is Peace and Security Programmes Manager at the United Nations Association-UK (UNA-UK)

Country Profile

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Rwanda Africa’s Singapore? By Connor Stevens

July 4th, 2013 commemorated the 19th year of liberation for Rwanda, marking the end of not just the civil war but a disastrous period in Rwandan history. Rwanda gained independence from Belgium in 1962, however the next 3 decades were characterised by brutality and injustice, culminating in the 1994 genocide; this led to the deaths of over 1 million people within just 100 days. Within the past 19 years Rwanda has transformed from a failed state (witnessing one of the most brutal genocides in history) to a flourishing country; conflict, discrimination and failure have been replaced by social cohesion, national unity and governance.

One of the Fastest Growing Economies in the World Gone are the days of destruction and genocide. Instead Rwanda is moving towards a prosperous and stable future, priding itself on being a global promoter of peace and security, ranked as the world’s top reformer by the World Bank’s Doing Business Report in 2010. Rwanda’s government has worked to create a strong, stable country which will no longer stand as impoverished and corrupt, leading a series of reforms to help accomplish this ambitious feat. These range from universal healthcare to the one laptop per child programme, all contributing towards its main aim, Vision2020: for Rwanda to reach middle income status by 2020.

A visionary and committed government promises to lead the way to a more prosperous future Between 2004 and 2010 GDP growth averaged at 8.2%, indicating that Rwanda is one of the fastest growing economies on the planet and suggesting that they shall reach the 2020 target, while also on track to achieve most of the millennium development goals. This rapid expansion and the opportunities it holds have not gone unnoticed, with foreign direct investment increasing by 70% between 2005 and 2009 and Rwanda leading regional economic leader boards; an example of this includes ranking 3rd overall out of the 46 nations in the Sub-Saharan region. ‘A visionary and committed government promises to lead the way to a more prosperous future’ Rwanda’s economy is unique, with few natural resources and being completely landlocked;

there have been limited pathways for development. At present, despite its high growth rates, Rwanda is a rural country with 80% of the population working within agriculture, where tea and coffee production dominates. Although agricultural products currently account for 45% of Rwanda’s exports, the government is keen to shift away from this primary resourcebased economy due to the many problems it possesses, for example a reliance on cash crops can leave the economy dangerously susceptible to price fluctuations. Despite Rwanda’s limited options, a visionary and committed government promises to lead the way to a more prosperous future through creative methods. Information and communication technology is at the forefront of the government’s push to develop a knowledge-based economy as part of Vision 2020. Rwanda’s budget allocation to ICT is on par with OECD countries with the 3rd largest implementation of 1:1 computing in public schools in the world. ICT helps Rwanda to overcome the problems of poorly trained teachers and limited classroom resources by using the unlimited resource given by technology, whilst also training a technology-competent workforce which provides several avenues for growth. Propelling the ICT sector in such a way opens the road for growth in e-commerce, mobile technologies, call centres, whilst complimentary services

also benefit. Meanwhile, Rwanda is on track to become a regional leader in terms of ICT professionals and research. Rwanda’s largest investment this year was made by Kasche, a Korean ICT company, whose $353million investment constitutes 25% of investment income this year alone, displaying the growing importance of this sector of the economy.

Surge in Renewable Energy With just a 10% connectivity rate to the national grid which accommodates 85MW, Rwanda’s energy market is currently dominated by local biomass and diesel fuel, however Rwanda intends to increase connectivity to 50% with annual production of 100MW. This ambitious energy target is based upon the objective to develop a world class energy sector, compromising of a range of renewable energy sources such as geothermal, hydro-electric and peat which will make up 90% of energy production. This major expansion will act as a further catalyst for growth, catering to the energy needs of an ever growing private sector whilst providing many investment opportunities and ensuring sustainable development. Indian infrastructure firm Puji Lloyd is the latest foreign firm to take advantage of this energy production boom, signing a $371million contract to develop a 100MW peat power plant in Eastern Rwanda. Mining is a considerably unexploited opportu-

nity within Rwanda, with significant deposits of tin, coltan and tungsten with a potential output of $200million, however only 25% of this is currently being exploited, leaving much room for further investment and development. The government is currently working towards developing this sector with a national mining survey being conducted to identify mineral deposits and a strong, investor friendly legal and policy framework put in place. Despite these efforts, investment in the mining sector remains low with just $0.5million of investment in the past 6 months, compared to $40million of investment in agriculture, however with further work the mining sector ensures to become a large part of the Rwandan economy with significant diversification opportunities for both quarries and precious stones.

FDI has Already Reached 96% of its Annual Target for 2013 It is apparent Rwanda is a rapidly growing and diversifying economy, and this process is something the Rwandan government is deeply committed to with various targets including services to account for 20% of GDP, and for just 20% of the population to be below the poverty line by 2020, alongside job growth of an additional 200,000 jobs per year. To achieve its visions, Rwanda must continue to build a businessfriendly environment, consisting of a transpar-

ent tax framework, fiscal incentives and robust infrastructure whilst balancing fiscal stability. Courtiers Wealth Management Ltd recently ranked Rwanda among the top 5 countries with the greatest potential. In conjunction with this, the latest investment data from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) indicates that Rwanda is more than on track to reach its targets, with investment levels totalling $1.2billion, 96% of its annual target of $1.3billion within the first 6 months. To take advantage of the growing opportunities in Rwanda, investment must be encouraged; this would increase exports and jobs for domestic companies in the UK whilst also increasing sustainable development within Rwanda and Africa as a whole; however China is already advancing within Africa with trade between Africa and China doubling to $160billion in 2010 within 3 years. The European Union is hoping to introduce free-trade agreements with much of sub-Saharan Africa next year, which should encourage further trade and relations. However, African fears over European dominance must be allayed before further progress can be made. What is certain is that Rwanda continues to grow at a rapid pace, racing towards becoming the regional hub of the East African Community, a common market of 126 million people and $73billion annual output, however only time will tell if President Paul Kagame’s vision of Rwanda growing to become ‘Africa’s Singapore’ will come true.

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The China Plan EC O N O M I C S

O F

S U PER POWER

By Connor Stevens

China’s standing in the global economy has increased greatly in the past years; it is now responsible for 13% of global economic activity compared to just 5% in 2006, highlighting the rapid levels of growth witnessed recently, and how important the Chinese economy has become for the health of the global economy.

In the past 30 years, China’s economic growth has been unrivalled, each year growing at an average rate of 10% and elevating China from the 9th largest economy in the world in 1980 to currently the 2nd largest. Over this period, China has led a classic export-growth model, using external demand and bankrolling gross amounts of investment, increasing growth to a level that could not be sustained if purely relying on the unaltered, domestic market. China’s rapid growth has been unique, and has been bolstered by developing the world’s largest export market. In 2010, the World Trade Organisation confirmed China to have taken over Germany’s reign as world’s largest exporter, accounting for 10% of global exports alone. In 2012, China exported over $2.05trillion worth of goods and services; these vast levels have lifted aggregate demand way above the natural level, and although they have greatly assisted high growth levels, they have led to the Chinese economy becoming reliant on the increasingly volatile export market. In conjunction with this, China’s economy has developed an environment by which to encourage investment above consumption, with policy-makers and business owners constantly aiming to increase capacity to assist growth. This has moulded the economy into one of great capacity, but also one, which lacks in powerful domestic consumption. The composition of China’s GDP with regards

to investment and consumption is unique. It is usual for economies to devote part of their income to investment to ensure innovation and growth in the future, however, compared to other major economies, China has an incredibly high investment rate which towers over its consumer market, in comparison to Western economies which are dominated by consumerism. Domestic consumer demand accounts for just 30% of GDP in China, compared to a staggering 70% of GDP in the USA, whilst investment contributes to 50% of GDP in China in comparison to just 15% in the USA.

Diminishing Marginal Returns

amounts of ‘surplus’ labour. This model explains how China turned poverty into a competitive advantage, using cheap labour to grow. The huge agricultural population of peasants living in rural China made up the large, inefficient traditional sector, contributing little towards economic output compared to their less numerous city neighbours. This ‘surplus labour’ as described by Lewis has 2 effects: 1. It allowed China to invest heavily in capital goods such as factories, machinery, transport and other infrastructure without experiencing diminishing returns, as new labour would always accompany the new capital. This led to a booming investment climate, with ever increasing capacity and growth.

By standard economic thinking, investing such large amounts will lead to fruitless rewards, as the inevitable process of diminishing marginal returns will begin and erode away any potential growth. (Diminishing marginal returns means to have a rise in a factor of production, in this case capital, yields little additional output due to other complimentary factors not simultaneously increasing). So how has China been able to successfully invest such a high amount, and gain such rapid increases in GDP?

The Lewis Point

As Economist William A. Lewis explained, most countries in the early stages of development have a small, modern sector alongside a large, traditional sector which contains large

This system worked very well for the past 3 decades, contributing to China’s 30 years of near 10% annual growth, however it seems China has now hit the ‘Lewis Point’, i.e. China’s

2. Such a large supply of excess labour ensured wages were kept low, even as the economy boomed; workers didn’t gain a fair share of China’s new wealth, with most of it remaining within businesses, and hence this contributed to reasons why despite high economic growth, consumption has remained low.

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rural poor are diminishing. Although this presents a positive moment in China’s history as the economic growth, which has characterised China’s past few decades is beginning to spread wealth among the population, it also presents a very real and dangerous threat. The effects of the Lewis Model have developed an economy dependent upon investment, whilst lacking a considerable consumer market to create demand; China’s economy is therefore suddenly faced with the painful task of rebalancing its economy away from the investment fuelled boom currently facing the credible threat of diminishing returns, and towards a self-sustaining consumer economy. However, the question is whether the transition will progress smoothly enough and quick enough to avoid a dangerous slump in economic activity. As investment has grown to constitute such a major composition of China’s GDP, China has become dependent on it for economic growth, with the need to increase lending each year to finance expanding investment and continue real GDP growth. This dangerous practice has resulted in the credit level rising from $9trillion in 2008 to over $23 trillion in 2013, with debt growing at double the rate of GDP.

Excessive Lending Excessive lending has led to serious over capacity across the economy as policy makers seek to expand GDP via infrastructure projects that have no end user. For example, there is over capacity in various industries, with multiple failures across the shipping, solar, aluminium and steel industries. Small towns have multiple Olympic sized swimming pools despite having no swimming teams, whilst high speed rail and airports operate nearby at less than 10% capacity. The city of Ordos is perhaps the trademark of this period of fruitless investment, a city plagued with white elephants and with a population of a few thousand despite housing capacity for 1 million people. The language and topic here is more what we want. As a result of this excessive lending, China’s banking system has become over-invested and over-leveraged in addition to lending increasingly, originating from unconventional sources.

China is now at risk from non-traditional sources of credit, funding the excessive borrowing and ever growing bubble with over $5.6trillion representing non-loan credit, whilst a further $2trillion worth of debt has been extended by opaque non-bank financial institutions. Fitch states that up to $2trillion is connected to informal securitisation of bank assets in wealth management products, similar to the investment vehicles which created the US housing bubble and the ensuing crisis. These assets which are plagued by distorted risk and moral hazard pose a huge threat to the Chinese economy, as the financial institutions which have presided over such risky tactics may lack the level of absorption needed to manage (why not say manage instead of absorb twice?) the necessary losses if these vehicles begin to default, and hence may start a liquidity crisis, similar to the one which ensued the Lehman Brothers collapse. China’s excessive credit and investment boom is a very credible threat, before reaching the

‘Lewis Point’ constant investment would always produce returns, increasing economic growth and capacity. However, as the ‘Lewis Point’ has neared, these returns tend to quickly decline; the stock of outstanding credit is currently increasing much faster than GDP, suggesting that much of the lending today is not contributing towards the real economy but instead financing the purchasing of existing assets, and therefore fuelling the bubble residing over the Chinese economy.

Excessive Credit China is now displaying similar symptoms to that of Japan, Europe and the USA before the 2008 crisis, with a rapid build-up of leverage, elevated property prices and declining potential growth. The Central Bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan has recently emphasised his concern with regards to excessive credit, whilst the government have stated their intentions to rein in this overemphasis on investment and

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the ever expanding credit bubble it is creating, however a shift from investment leaves China with little room for manoeuvre. China has suppressed domestic consumption to channel resources into investment, following investment friendly policies such as taxing households to provide cheap credit to businesses, and hence a strong, stable consumer market has not developed. Once support for investment is withdrawn, consumption may not have the strength to prevent a drastic slowdown in China, which could lead to serious consequences. Whether or not this process of readjustment will run smoothly rests on China’s ability to absorb the shocks caused, and whether the government has the political strength to handle the transition period. The new government headed by Premier Li Keqiang is committed to the readjustment process, declaring their aim to rein in credit and adjust towards balanced growth; Premier Li recently stated “Economic reform has to take precedence over growth” highlighting his commitment to the process and willingness to tolerate low growth to achieve the necessary goals. Although Mr Li has accepted the fact that this process may take the form of creative destruction, he seems to believe that despite the fact that the economy will undergo intense stress in the short run, the outcome will be worth it, producing a healthier, more sustainable economy. Some are unsure of the government’s commitment to see through what could be very painful economic reforms and whether they have the political clout to tackle those opposed to change. Recent events such as the liquidity crash on the 20th June highlighted the government’s determination to see through their economic reforms.

Shadow Banking To combat shadow banking and to highlight their aim to reduce ever increasing credit expansion, the central bank, the People’s Bank of China, refused to lend short term loans and hence allowed rates to spike, hitting a record overnight rate of 25%, whilst the Shanghai Composite fell 5.8%. This engineered stress

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was to prove the authorities would not buckle under the markets pressure and will stick to their reformist strategy. However, authorities have affirmed that they are prepared to take action and fine-tune policy if growth slows sharply; Mr Li announced “Nor should we lack vigilance and preparations when the economy might slide below the reasonable range”. It is now clear that the government shall safeguard lower-limits for growth, and keep the lid on employment and inflation in an effort to prevent a dangerous downturn, which could encourage instability, recently announcing a ‘mini-stimulus’ in light of news that the manufacturing sector has contracted at its fastest pace in over a year. The mini-stimulus included tax cuts for small companies, reductions in red tape and costs for exporters and also opening up investment in railroad construction to private companies. This is clearly in an effort to boost growth, but a far sight away from the controlled growth of the past, and instead making use of market mechanisms to support the transition. Although the new government seems committed to tackling the economy, some economists including Nobel Prize winning Paul Krugman suspect it may be too little too late, as the need for rebalancing has been obvious for years. Instead of tackling the readjustment process in the past, China continued to allow rapid growth by pegging the currency artificially low and flooding the market with cheap credit. These measures contributed to China’s boom whilst also postponing the need to readjust. However, now the need to readjust has become paramount: China’s past actions shall only prolong and amplify the damage caused during readjustment, threatening China with a Japanese style period of decline and stagnation.

preparing models for potential growth of 3% in the future. A slowdown of this magnitude represents a potential disaster for China as the economy could enter a period of prolonged stagnation, threatening the country with political instability and preventing GDP per capita from reaching middle-income standards. Most importantly, what does the slowdown mean for the rest of the global economy? At the moment, China’s economy is still of no comparison to that of the USA or the European Union, approximately half the size of each. Therefore, during normal times, the developed world could absorb the economic shocks China is bound to produce. However, we do not live in normal times. The United States is only just entering a modest recovery 5 years since Lehman Brothers fell, whilst the European Union is still mired in recession and the seemingly untouchable BRICs are beginning to slow. The recent modest slowdown has already caused commodity prices to decline; iron ore has already slumped 17% from its 16 month peak with companies such as Rio Tinto and countries such as Australia already preparing for an inevitable slowdown, however things could get much worse with some experts predicting a dramatic slowdown could cause copper to collapse 60%, zinc by 50% and oil to fall to $70 a barrel. Such a collapse in the commodity price market would drastically affect exporting nations such as Australia, Russia, South Africa, Brazil and Chile, sending global shockwaves which would reach every corner of the global economy, and begin a global crisis. Unfortunately the global economy’s ability to absorb further problems are strained to the limit and China’s latest problems are the last thing we need.

Economic Slowdown Current data suggests that the slowdown is relatively broad, affecting the whole economy with retail sales, wage growth, industrial production, fixed asset investment and real estate all slowing. Some analysts are currently predicting that there is a 30% chance growth may drop below 7% by the end of the year, whilst some investment banks including Barclays are

Business

China’s investments: who benefits? By Anna Kurmanbaeva

Thanks to Chinese investment, Africa’s economy could grow by 5.3 per cent in 2014 reports the African Development Bank. There has been much speculation about the nature and motives of Chinese investments to the continent, however Africa is still far from being the most funded by region.

A report from KPMG has revealed that by the end of 2012, Australia and the United States were the top invested countries by China, with $51billion and $50.7billion respectively. Canada is surprisingly the third in the list with a total of $36.7billion endowed in the same year. Similar non-African major beneficiaries include China’s BRICS partners Brazil and Russia. Nigeria and the United Kingdom join the list soon after as the largest investment destinations in Africa and Europe.

China: enrich the poor? The economic community of West African States continues to be the fastest growing economy on the continent, said Mthuli Ncube, the African Development Bank’s (AfDP) Chief Economist. New projects across Africa are assessed to bring a further $10billion of Chinese investments into the region. China became Africa’s largest trade partner in 2009, and by 2012 the total volume was valued at $198.5billion. This is expected to surpass $380billion by 2015. This strengthening relationship is based largely on China’s need for energy resources to support its long-term growth. Thus, significant investment flows aim to provide future energy security for China’s growing demand. The International Finance Corporation’s funding to the Generation Company will add 1,500MW of power to the Nigerian national grid, maximising production and further investment. In

It's up to the African States to make the most of what they have. addition, the Nigerian federal government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese energy firm HTG-Pacific Energy for a $3.7billion coal-to-power project. Another energy production development project has recently been signed in Rwanda where Chinese maker Su-Kam Power Systems - specialising in power equipment - won a contract for installing solar projects at 35 local schools. As oil is a major commodity that China imports, it has been one of the key investors to the top refinery projects across the African States. Algeria, Sudan, Chad, Niger and Nigeria all have proposed refinery projects funded by Chinese firms, with the Nigerian project alone raising $23billion. Of course, natural resources are not the sole reason for the collaboration between China and Africa. Africa has huge potential as a consumer market, and China takes an active part to de-

velop this by injecting investments across different sectors and stimulating national economies. So far, the China-Africa Development Fund (CAD) has already financed mineral resources, machinery manufacturing, power generation, agriculture, and infrastructure projects in more than 30 African countries. At least US $2.4billion has been invested in African infrastructure and other commercial projects funded by the China Development Bank (CDB). This includes mega projects, includes a shoe manufacturing cluster in Ethiopia, which will be led by the Huajian Group and is set to employ more than 100,000 Ethiopians over the next 10 years.

Chinese motives in Africa China’s development financing has been discussed widely over the last decade. The West constantly scrutinises China’s ‘good intentions’ in the African region and stresses that China’s interests mainly distil to its energy security, sourcing minerals to keep their economy booming, subsidising Chinese firms and exports, expanding political alliances, and pursuing global economic dominance. Westerns politicians and economists have expressed that China has taken the World Bank’s place in lending money to Africa and China’s financial injection could eventually leave Africa heavily dependent on Chinese assets to maintain their economies. China is supplying its cheap low quality products

on African markets, which has forced some Africans out of business, as they cannot afford to sell goods at competitive prices. As a result, economic dependency could also impact the political independence of African countries.

back home. The latter varies from case to case. In Kenya, for example, Kenyans are building the new carriageways in Nairobi. African governments must increase their help to local NGOs in regulating and managing this relationship.

Political strategy

The US Factor

China's 'non-interference' and structural development model as it stated in the Beijing Consensus, could threaten the promotion of democracy, transparency, liberalism and free trade in Africa.

The United States has also realised that without a more decisive and engaging approach to a relationship with Africa, they risk falling behind China in this fast-growing and strategically important region. This is evident from the latest figures released by the International Monetary Fund stating that the trade between the United States and Tanzania totalled $360.2 million last year, compared to $2.47billion invested by China. To boost US trade with Africa, Obama had a weeklong tour in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania where he declared a US intention for “a new model based not just on aid and assistance but trade and partnership” alluding to strategy different to the Chinese.

Western and Chinese companies have different risk appetites and business models for investing in Africa. CAD president, Chi Jianxin Chi in his interview to China Daily said, “in comparison with funds managed by Western companies or governments in Africa, CAD are more inclined to pay attention to medium-term and long-term investments, because African countries are at a different stage of development, industrialization and urbanization.” In support of this idea, Kenyan industrialist and business tycoon, Chris Kirubi, notes that, "by investing to build ports, railway lines and roads, China is helping African countries open up to trade with each other.” However, Chinese capital comes with its own terms. It must be spent on Chinese goods or Chinese-built infrastructure, and Chinese firms often source their supplies and workers from

Despite all the controversies about the nature of investments, the African economic outlook for the next two years is promising with the average GDP likely to reach 4.8% this year and 5.3% in 2014. The advanced positions achieved in the past years and projected growth is largely commodity driven and supported by urbanisation, public spending increase, postconflict economic recovery. In some African countries this will tighten trade and invest-

ment ties with emerging economies for Africa’s natural resource and extractive industries. With increased interest and demand in African resources, it is up to the African States to make the most of what they have. The challenge of moving beyond the point of just selling natural resources and agricultural products is evident. The first steps have been done by some African countries requesting that minerals extracted locally be processed locally, which will help to create and keep jobs and advance technology. Currently African businesses have limited connections to foreign markets and do not export as much as they would like. To improve this, African governments need to develop their institutional capacities and create policies that will benefit their people in the long term. The main objective for African States now must be assuring more equitable partnerships.

Western Chinese investments According to the latest data, China continues to actively invest in Europe. In 2012, the investment from China to European companies rose by 20% to $12.6billion. This accounts to about a third of all Chinese foreign investments. The European economy is mired by the recent debt crisis, and China, driven by political strategies and commercial opportunities, surged direct investments into Europe and the Sino-European strategic partnership. Chinese

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investors quickly reacted to bind European businesses and assets that could potentially bring stable long-term returns. The Rhodium Group states that ‘Europe has attracted twice as much investment as the US from Chinese investors in the past two years’. Since the recession started the flow of Chinese direct investment to the Europe rose from less than $1billion before 2008 to an average of $3billion in 2009 and 2010, getting above $10billion in the past two years. In contrast to Chinese investments to Africa, the majority of China’s assets flows in Europe is private and concerted in France, the United Kingdom and Germany. The state-owned firms account for two thirds of investment value as they dominate capital intensive sectors. Other European Union’s members such as Greece and Spain are also eager to boost their ailing economies with Chinese capital. China

is already interested in Greece’s privatisation program as well as other opportunities between businesses. To attract more investment Greek Prime Minster, Antonis Samaras visited China in May where he proposed an incentive that offers a five-year residence permit in Greece for any Chinese person investing more than €250,000 in real estate in Greece. They also intend to offer Greek citizenship to bigger investors. In turn, the Chinese recognise in Greece the ideal portal for exports to the whole of the Balkans. Greece’s current financial uncertainty played into the hands of China to build the bridge between two economies when the terms are most favourable. Previously, other EU members such as Spain, Cyprus and Portugal had also announced low-priced investment programs. China lent a helping hand to distressed Spain; and, in fact, holds 13% of Spain's debt by investing in key

areas such as banking, tourism and energy. China confidently moves towards being the world’s leading economic power. It aims to meet a 7.5% growth target this year, yet still considers itself a developing country. The West looks at China with concerns and fears, but still largely depends on its capital. The US borrows billions from China to fund its deficit and the European Union desperately wants China to buy its debt. All in all, the Chinese influence is apparent and is today beyond dispute. It is absolutely critical for the West to improve its positions, and to keep up with China in the race for economic growth and influence in the world.

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bnmagazine.ca 4. Who uses the services? For VICTOR our success lies in our ability to remain open, honest and completely transparent. When we provide a quote to one of our members, we always include all the details about the operator, the aircraft and best possible pricing. This simply breeds loyalty, as our members can see there are no hidden costs or agendas, only our five per cent booking fee. We have a steadily rising number of members and over 100 partnerships with Certified Air Operator Companies providing access to over 400 aircraft. And we continually see that we are being recommended by our members to their peer groups, so we are clearly doing something very right to maintain this loyalty. I would say that 75 per cent of our members have already flown with VICTOR and the remaining 25 per cent are considering us seriously.

VICTOR is the first luxury private jet charter business developed by the consumer, for the consumer. A smarter way to book private jet travel, VICTOR is a transparent online marketplace where consumers can compare quotes from leading private jet operators, book and pay online. With no membership fees or upfront commitments, VICTOR members can fly to and from almost any airport in the world. Members request quotes for when and where they want to go and VICTOR will do the rest. When booking with VICTOR, members can either charter aircraft or simply purchase individual seats on chosen routes, making the luxury of private jet travel more accessible and affordable.

1. What does VICTOR offer that others don’t? The big step-changes that VICTOR brings to the market are twofold. Firstly, consumers can book direct with Certified Air Operator Companies who are partnered with VICTOR and secondly, consumers now have the flexibility of purchasing individual seats on a private jet. These are both firsts for the industry.

2. Where did the idea come from? VICTOR began as a brainwave during BMI's last scheduled flight from Palma de Mallorca to London Heathrow in Novem-

ber 2009. I was frustrated that the airline was closing the route that we, as a family, used to travel to our second home. There were a number of friends and acquaintances, who also have homes and businesses in Mallorca on the flight. I thought if I quickly polled all my fellow business-class passengers I’d have an understanding of how they intended to get to Mallorca in future. By the time I’d walked off the plane, I had eight of my fellow travellers' business cards and the germ of an idea for a different kind of jet charter service.

3. How does it work? There seems to be many functions including members selling seats to other members. VICTOR’s innovative booking platform has revolutionised the way consumers can book private jets. Our platform is integrated into Certified Air Operator Companies’ flight management systems. This ensures that when scheduled and positioning flight inventory becomes available, we can price and distributed via email alerts, to our growing membership who have flagged the bespoke route or routes that they are interested in travelling on. We are the only B2C portal and consumer facing brand that can genuinely consolidate the private jet industry’s spare capacity to create a win-win for Certified Air Opera-

Consumers now have the flexibility of purchasing individual seats on a private jet.

tor Companies and Consumers. In previous years, private jet travel has been the domain of brokers and the luxury travel trade; however through the optimisation of positioning flights, the market has opened up substantially to consumers wishing to book direct. Through the leveraging of our smart technology, consumers can now reduce the initial outlay by offsetting some of their costs by selling spare seats on their chartered aircraft. The Private Jet Charter industry is largely unregulated and we, at VICTOR follow a code of self-regulation, which means we are the only company to provide consumer protection by underwriting consumer flight payments with an HSBC deposit client account until 24 hours prior to the departure. At which time, we make payment to the operator.

What is the future for private jet hiring? We’ve certainly shaken up the private jet charter market, even being seen as the agitators and rule definers in an unregulated market. We’re continuing to build on our online service offerings, which will bring further increases in market transparency and supply side optimisation. We’re looking at making private jet travel an affordable option in this market and to do that, we’re currently developing an app for smart phones, which will enable VICTOR to roll-out our online transactional platform worldwide. This mobile version will allow VICTOR to scale quickly in both established and emerging markets, which is fundamental to developing the brand on a worldwide basis, and to supporting the private jet charter business on a global scale.

Clive Jackson, CEO and Founder, Victor

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Politics

Obama’s Syria Debacle For more than 30 months the Obama administration watched with equanimity the systematic slaughter of the Syrian people, who rose up only because they wanted to be free, enjoy basic human rights and have hope for a better future.

I am not a war monger; I know the meaning of war, the death toll, the suffering, and the destruction of property along with the spirit of innocent men, women and children. That said, regardless of how appalling the use of force is to achieve any objective, there is a time when force must be used to prevent greater calamities. These are presumably the values that America stands for, and President Obama in his own words has reiterated time and again the right of every human being to live in dignity. America is committed to safeguarding these rights; as President Obama put it, “that’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.” Yes, this is who we are, but then nearly 120,000 Syrians have been massacred, among them more than 20,000 children under the age of 15. If these children were alive and joined hands, they would form a line 10 miles long. They died helplessly and needlessly, not knowing if they have ever existed.

Open Diplomacy Throughout this merciless and dehumanizing war, the president has delved into back channel and open diplomatic efforts to stem the violence and oust President Assad from power. Yet thirty months later President Assad is still presiding over his killing machine and no concrete measures have been taken by the United States to precipitate his departure. Other than humanitarian aid, the White House refused to provide the rebels with any weapons under the pretext that they may fall

into the wrong hands. Had such weapons, however, been provided at an earlier stage to vetted rebel groups, including the Free Syrian Army, they could have changed the dynamic of the war in favor of the rebels. Moreover, strengthening the hands of moderate rebel groups could have prevented Al Qaeda and other extremist Islamic elements from becoming a significant factor in the civil war and potentially exercising tremendous leverage in the country following the collapse of the Assad regime.

Red Lines The White House’s inaction and continued indecisiveness has further emboldened Assad to test American resolve by using chemical weapons at least eight times and blatantly crossing President Obama’s so-called “red line” with impunity. Reliable sources suggest that the president’s national security team knew with certainty about the earlier use of chemical weapons but chose to continue to “investigate” to play for time, which led to more, larger scale chemical attacks. The gruesome deaths of 1,423 people (including more than 400 children) resulting from the attack has finally forced the president to face the bitter reality. I agree that the use of chemical weapons is heinous, incomparable in its horror and inhumanity to any other weapons, and must never be tolerated. But then, isn’t it fair to argue that the US could have prevented As-

By Prof Alon Ben-Meir*

sad not only from gassing his citizens but also from indiscriminately killing tens of thousands with conventional weapons?

Military Action Following weeks of deliberations, the president finally decided to take military action against some of Assad’s military installations, only to vacillate and rescind his decision within hours and turn to Congress for authorization. Weary of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is understandable that the majority of Americans and their representatives do not want to entangle the country in another war, particularly in the Middle East. The administration failed to explain to the American public the glaring difference between taking limited military strikes against a tyrant to deter him from continuing to slaughter his people, and waging two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while occupying both countries with thousands of troops at a terrible cost in blood and treasure. Many congressmen who refused to support the bill authorizing the president to use force have taken this position, not as much because they do not wish to punish Assad, but to express a vote of no confidence in the president.

US Credibility Regardless of the president’s intentions he appeared vacillating and unsure, raising serious questions in the minds of

America’s friends and allies about his leadership and the US’ credibility. The Obama administration has failed time and again to draw attention to Russian President Putin’s hypocrisy as the latter continued to directly interfere in Syria’s civil war by openly supplying Assad with military equipment to crush the rebels and on three occasions preventing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from taking any punitive actions against Assad. At the same time, he vehemently opposed any outside interference while colluding with Iran and Hezbollah to aid Assad with munitions, arms and fighters on the ground to boost Assad’s military capability. Putin’s latest gambit suggesting that the international community “must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction” is just another cynical move designed to buy more time and allow Assad to consolidate his gains against the rebels.

Putin’s Proposal President Obama and his entourage insist that America’s credibility to use force prompted the Russians to persuade Assad give up his chemical weapons to avert an American attack. In truth, many keen observers who follow the grim political reality in connection with the Syrian crisis suggest that the president was only too eager to grab Putin’s proposal, knowing full well that that he does not have congressional support to strike Syria. Moreover, with the exception of France and Saudi Arabia, no other country has openly declared its willingness to join the US in military strikes against Assad. Putin’s proposal is roundly hollow and warrants no serious consideration. To begin with, it would require the passage of a UNSC resolution that would compel Assad to surrender his stockpile under UN Chapter Seven (which authorizes sanctions and even the use of military force to enforce compliance). If there is even a small chance for the Russian proposal to work, along with the passage of such a UNSC resolution it must include the following provisions: the departure of Assad along with his top military and internal security echelon, an immediate ceasefire to which all rebels and Assad’s military must fully adhere, and a recall of all military personnel and equipment to their barracks under UN supervision, a deal which Russia is not likely to accept.

Second, many experts in the field of chemical weapons attest that even with the full cooperation of the Syrian government and under peaceful conditions, it would take months before these weapons are located and sorted out, and after that it would take at least ten years to destroy them. Third, given the ongoing civil war and the inaccessibility of many locations, it might be impossible to complete such a task, which requires hundreds of inspectors who are not readily available.

Kerry’s Skepticism When asked if there is anything at this point that Assad’s government could do to stop an American attack, Secretary Kerry replied, “Sure. He could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week. Turn it over, all of it, without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that. But he isn’t about to do it, and it can’t be done, obviously.” But let us assume that contrary to Kerry’s skepticism, Assad will fully comply with his demands. Does that mean that Assad can continue to ravage the country and perhaps kill an additional 200,000 Syrians with conventional weapons on the altar of Russian treachery? While seeking a political solution that must exclude Assad, President Obama must also be prepared to strike. The US Congress has the responsibility to support the president in this case by rising up against tyranny and giving the Syrian people the chance to live free with dignity.

Yes, we must learn from the experiences of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but we cannot be paralyzed by these experiences.

An Arab Winter As witnessed in Libya, Egypt and now in Syria, the Arab Spring will be a long and cruel winter. Every Arab state will be affected by it. It has permanently changed the political landscape in the Middle East where the US has huge economic, military and national security interests. This calls on the US to develop a new and comprehensive strategy that corresponds to the everchanging conditions on the ground. Indeed, how the Syrian civil war ends and what role the US plays in ending it will have far-reaching security ramifications on the US and its allies. The US remains the only global power with the responsibility to act, preserve global stability and foster political and social values for the betterment of people everywhere. The President of the United States is the face of America. He is expected to lead with courage and vision and stand by the values that made America what it is, while using his best judgment to act in line with the moral responsibility to which America is held.

* For more articles by Prof Alon Ben-Meir please visit his site www.alonben-meir.com

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Politics

The History of Democratisation: An Economic Perspective By Taptuk Emre Erkoc*

Economic perspective on the history of democratisation is focused on exploring the bargaining process carried out by elite and citizens on the basis of their economic power and interests. The approach of this article takes this “economic-based” conceptualization referring to the fact that individual economic incentives are highly influential on determining political attitudes of people and accordingly the pace of democratisation is determined concerning the structure of negotiations as well as compromises exchanged by the citizens and elite. The relationship between the economic well-being and democracy is examined on the basis of the strength of political and economic institutions by the thinkers of Institutional Economics. The forefather of this branch of economics, Douglas North (2005:43) reveals this as follows:“Political fragmentation in western Europe played just such a role in creating diverse and competing institutional settings for diverse beliefs and hence economic institutions which were critical in the relative rise of Europe as well as critical to the growth of impersonal exchange which underlies modern economic growth.”

A liberal environment To this stream of economic thought, economic development of a particular nation and/or state is highly contingent upon a stable set of political institutions that provide reliable procedures for economic institutions to emerge and spread.

Liberal environment in politics is considered as the engine of economic growth Hence, more liberal environment in politics is considered as the engine of economic growth and development as a consequence of incentivised individuals in the economic market. In the Determinants of Democracy, Barro (1999) discusses and summarises previous statements on the factors that are influential over democratic system and checks those ideas with an empirical research on a crosscountry level. For instance, Lipset (1959) argues that prosperity stimulates democracy with an emphasis on educational attainment and expanded middle class. Following Tocqueville’s (1835)’s arguments on the role of private organizations to check the power of centralised government; Putnam (1993) puts forward that good government in the regions of Italy is motivated by people’s inclination towards civic activity. To Huber, Rueschemeyer, and Stephens (1993), thanks to the

capitalist development, the power of landlords is weakened, whilst the power of working and middle classes is heightened, which paves the way for comparatively more democratic environments. After considering all the arguments above, Barro (1999) concludes that “increases in various measures of the standard of living forecast a gradual rise in democracy.”

Free Market Procedures According to the public choice thinkers symbolised by Gordon Tullock and James Buchanan, actors in the political sphere comprised of voters, politicians, and bureaucrats perform their acts concerning conventional free market procedures, which is also known as catallaxy. Therefore, as far as public choice theory is concerned, politicians are expected to maximise their utility levels through gaining more public support and accordingly being elected (Tullock and Buchanan, 1965). Consequently, public choice approaches to the political market as if it is behaving in a similar manner with the economic market. Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson enriched the recent literature on the economic dynamics of democratic system focusing predominantly on the relationship between political and economic institutions (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2006; 2012). They articulate on the impact of economic institutions over to the political institutions and systems on the basis of elite-citizen struggle to reallocate the resources for sharing the political and

economic power. The first and foremost assumption put forward by the authors is that “non-democracy is rule by the elite, democracy rule by the more numerous groups who constitute the majority, here the citizens” (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2006:12). Although it might be disputable to call this group as “the citizens”, there is no doubt that “democracy is the rule by the more numerous groups”.

The Elite And Citizens As mentioned above, the democratisation process entails negotiations as well as compromises taken place between the elite and citizens. Whereas citizens would prefer more democratic environment to enjoy higher levels of political and economic status, the elite would be aligned to less-democratic system in which its economic and political power are preserved. It than becomes obvious and “natural to think that the citizens have a stronger preference for

democracy than the elite. So if there is going to be conflict about what types of political institutions a society should have, we will have the majority of citizens on the side of democracy and the elite on the side of nondemocracy” (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2006:22). The struggle between the elite and citizens is also a reflection of the conflict between the poorer and richer strata of society. The universal suffrage experiences in Latin America by the beginning of previous century including Argentina (1912), Uruguay (1919), Colombia (1936), and Venezuela (1945) as well as the democratisation attempts in South Africa and Zimbabwe are the consequences of the conflict between the rich whites and poor blacks (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2006:23). For the Turkish case, the democracy/nondemocracy dichotomy is processed based upon the confrontation between the rich elite (White

Turks) and the lower and middle classes (Black Turks) corresponding to the centre-periphery struggle in Turkish politics coined by Mardin (1973). Where the notations of ‘white’ and ‘black’ do not refer to a racial differentiation in Turkey unlike in South Africa and Zimbabwe. They correspond to the economic and social status of Turkish elites and lower classes. In sum, economic dimension of transition to democracy can be narrated as “the citizens want democracy and the elite want nondemocracy, and the balance of political power between the two groups determines whether the society transits from non-democracy to democracy” (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2006:23)

*Centre for Economics and Management, Keele University, t.erkoc@keele.ac.uk. Please email Taptuk or editor@bnmagazine.co.uk for the references list.

Business Turkish Airlines (THY) CEO Temel Kotil has said the secret behind being

Difficult marketentry paid off forTurkish Airlines After numerous successful years, Turkish Airlines increases presence in Canadian Market, starting direct flight routes from Montreal to Istanbul.

TORONTO- Upon its arrival into the Canadian market, the coveted Turkish airlines saw a steady growth in its ridership. Its difficult entry into the Canadian market really did pay-off, especially for passengers who now have increased opportunities for direct flights and especially after the joint-flight agreement with Air Canada. Similar to the difficulties Turkish Airlines experienced at its intial entry into the Canadian market, establishing a direct-flight route from Montreal was just as difficult. As Tarkan Ince, Turkish Airlines Canada Executive Director states, it came as a result of recent bilateral agreements, after the 38th International Civil Aviation meetings. The Turkish community had recently launched a petition campaign to support direct Montreal – Istanbul flights due to a growing demand from its members. This contributed greatly to the proposed establishment of direct flights from Montreal four times a week.

In a poll where over 18.8 million airline passengers from 100 countries had cast their votes, Turkish Airlines was awarded the “Best Airline Europe” prize by Skytrax, the world’s largest airline review site, which recognized the quality of Turkish Airlines’ in-cabin service and the range of locations Turkish Airlines flies to. Turkish Airlines also won the “World’s Best Premium Economy Class Airline Seat” and the “Best Airline Southern Europe” awards.

Europe’s best aviation company is carefully analyzing the shortcomings of their competitors and implementing strategies according to these deficiencies.

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Android or Apple? There are more smart phone choices than ever before. The ultimate question becomes, “Which one is better?” However, the question should really be;

“Which one is right one for me?” Hardware is the biggest differentiator between Android and Apple. Because different manufacturers design different smart phones, you may get an interesting variety.

Android advantages • • • • •

Removable batteries (some models) Different size and quality of display and camera quality Removable storage cards (some models) Custom Roms (more for technical people) Less expensive  Apple

Apple advantages • Better multimedia, especially if you are familiar with iTunes. • A central portal to manage all of your media on all of your Apple devices.  • Better security (fingerprint scanner on the new iPhone 5s is cool, but a team of German hackers have already figured out how to beat it). • The newly released iOS7 has immediately become one of the most popular mobile operating systems. •  Simpler to operate than Android’s feature-packed phones

Making the decision between so many varieties  of Android smartphones (hardware and iOS software) and an iPhone comes down to personal preference. If you are comfortable and accustomed to using an iPhone it may not be worth making the change. However, if you are open to trying some different flavors other than an Apple, Android may be the right phone for you. This is especially true if you are not happy with the screen size or price.

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Politics

Tuskon: Exploring Frontiers By Ozan Adan

The president of TUSKON, Riza Nur Meral, the largest business civil society in Turkey visited the BN offices to meet Ozan Adan and talk about the recent developments in the Turkish economy. Since its inauguration in 2006 TUSKON, which stands for the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey, has been a key player in enticing Turkish companies to explore outside of their national market. TUSKON vows itself as being dedicated to exchange of know-how, experience and communication networks with business professionals who strive to be global players. Today TUSKON, is an umbrella organisation for 7 regional federations, 192 business associations with more than 51,000 business people members in Turkey along with more than 120,000 firms. With offices in Moscow, Beijing, and Washington, TUSKON aims to provide a large network for its members and foreign companies interested in Turkey. Although some of the recent events surrounding the Gezi Park have been unfortunate to say the least, there has been an incredible interest in Turkey. The ratings from Fitch and Moody’s is proof of this, brining Turkey to investment grade and opening up both economic and political opportunities. TUSKON president Mr. Meral believes that current success is due to the decreasing rate of inflation and the desire for Turkish business to trade outside Turkey. “As inflation in Turkey retreats, access to finance has

become easier, this has enabled most companies to invest into their efficiency and quality of production. This has meant that Turkey has become a high quality, high yield economy. Yet this has also meant that the national markets have become extremely saturated. This has resulted in companies becoming part of the international trade and extending their interest and client base over the boarder. So as one of the leading business associations in Turkey, facilitating strategic dialogue between foreign markets and our members is our priority”.

“The Trade Bridges” Like other successful business networks or chambers of commerce, TUSKON generates trade deals for its members worth over $5 billion with functions such as “The Trade Bridges” by which they organize networking conferences with delegates from a variety of countries. “The Turkey-Eurasia Trade Bridge” for example. “We are always open to partnerships with foreign companies, we are aware of our weaknesses and we are prepared to maintain and develop any channels of collaboration with foreign enterprises for the benefit of our members” says Meral. “We encourage our members to begin

strategic partnerships and pursue international opportunities with foreign companies”.

Africa Opportunity Turkish businesses have also been extremely active in acquiring foreign project deals, especially when looking at the Middle East and Africa. TUSKON has been at the forefront of this, “for example, we recently saw the Exim Bank deal, where they financed a Turkish development company to produce a high-way in Africa using American machinery. Another example is a Chinese Bank financing a Energy company in Turkey for a project in Africa again, we call this a Win-Win-Win situation, as all three parties benefit from the deal”.

perfect for organic food production, Western states may become extremely dependent on these fields for food. Africa is still greatly unexplored when it comes to energy opportunities, large gas fields are still being discovered. Of course, green energy opportunities are also salient when talking about Africa. Lastly, commodities such as cotton and minerals are currently largely available and the continent still has opportunities to maximize on current production levels. More importantly, Africa is an economy which consumes a lot more than it produces, with a population of more than 1 billion, it is a problem it faces everyday”.

This is in correlation with the Turkish governments enthusiasm for Turkish business to spread across areas in Africa. Over the last 10 years, while most nations have closed embassies in Africa, Turkey has open over 12. “There is great interest in Africa. The main reason for this is that in the coming decade three main things are going to be extremely important; food security, energy, commodities” explains Meral. “Africa is a continent which still has untouched fields

Wings of the Kazakhs There’s an old Kazakh proverb that says: “All a man needs in life is a fast horse, a hound, and a golden eagle.” Berkutchy – hunting wolves with an eagle – is a significant element in Kazakh culture. Young golden eagles go through intense and lengthy training to become hunters. As the master puts endless efforts and sacrifices his sleep to train the bird, their relationship and trust grows into a lifelong and intimate bond. The bird is never a slave of its owner, only a partner in hunting. Hunting wolves with eagles was the “sport of kings.” Apart from hunting, berkutchy would give spiritual support to pregnant women experiencing difficulties in childbirth.

Horses play a large part in their traditions. It is said that many Kazakh children learn to ride before they learn to walk, and the Kazakhs are still known for their superb horsemanship. They were the first to use stirrups, and perfected the technique of shooting arrows with superb accuracy while riding at a gallop. No traveler should miss an opportunity to watch such displays of riding skill. “The Kazakhs are extremely hospitable people. If you visit to a Kazakh home un-

expected you will be received as if you had been invited,” says Laila Yermekbayeva. Horse and mutton are the most popular forms of meat in Kazakhstan. Besparmak, a dish consisting of boiled horse or mutton meat, is the most popular Kazakh dish. It is also called “five fingers” because of the way it is eaten.

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Art & Lifestyle

By Jerald Freise

Art Square CafĂŠ, located just across from the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), is a chic, upscale establishment drawing a sophisticated crowd. Leyla, the proprietor, started Art Square nine years ago and has built and transformed it from an organic chocolate business into a very successful downtown cafe. She continues to serve her delicious free trade organic chocolates, but also much more; exotic teas, sweet and savory crepes, as well as certain Turkish delicacies. What makes this cafe even more unique and interesting is its ever changing display of original artwork on its walls. The front section is reserved solely for the display of artwork. One finds a sense of peace and relaxation in this cafe and art space. Here, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find the opportunity to slow down and let your imagination flow and your thoughts steep along with the tea. Art Square also features a beautiful outdoor courtyard, which now houses a new creative exhibit by OneVoiceInk, featuring photographic prints a specially developed to be waterproof. They remain on show throughout the year. Some favorites are; the smoked salmon and goat cheese crepe, the iron pot of jasmine tea, and the banana walnut dessert crepe, which is the best!

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Art & Lifestyle

Feast your eyes on what is probably the most fashionable pieces of art in the world. Rinat Shingareev has been dubbed as “the best artists in the world” and he certainly seems to be living up to this title. Rinat studied first in Russia before finished his degree in Italy. His work has been exhibited in prestigious venues in most parts of Europe. ”The main purpose of my art is the desire to tell my time through the portraits of famous and successful people who reached the highest heights and by their own example inspire others to do great things” he tells BN. Rinat’s work entertains, surprises and amuses its viewer. Placing familiar faces to surreal and/ or comical backgrounds has given Rinat’s work immense popularity. “I wouldn't want to limit myself to just one direction. If today I feel completely comfortable in expressing my inner world through Pop Art, already tomorrow I can feel the need for new experiments and finding myself in something new. But if you give a precise definition for my art, it's Pop Art with elements of surrealism.” You will be hearing of Rinat and his work again, I promise you.

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Fashion

Autumn Picks

Gokhan Bozkurt gb@gbfashionuk.com

Hello and welcome to my must have picks for the Autumn season! It’s that time of year to keep warm and its all about the classic coat in luxurious fabrics. For menswear, is a return to slim tailoring and in ladies wear its a bit more oversized. with a masculine edge. Wool, fur & leather are always a good investment and don't be afraid of colour and print. There is plenty of dark moody florals, animal prints and don't be shy to layer and mix your patterns. Most importantly, keep it fun with bold and playful accessories to finish your look, a statement necklace and elegant handbag for ladies and a much more rustic look for mens with washed leather bags and hiking boots. Hope you have a stylish season!

Art & Lifestyle

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Veneno Reincarnated L A MBOR GHINI’S L AT E S T CRE AT ION

Automobili Lamborghini recently presented their latest creation as a tribute to their 50th anniversary – the Lamborghini Veneno, a racing prototype and road-going super sports car. Automobili Lamborghini presented its extremely exclusive model at the Geneva Motor Show 2013 and only three unique units of the Lamborghini Veneno will be built and sold. Fully in keeping with tradition, the name of the supercar originates from a legendary fighting bull Veneno; one of the strongest, most aggressive and fastest bulls in the history of bullfighting. And to match its name, Lamborghini have gifted the Veneno with a 6.5-litre V12, capable of producing 750 horsepower and topping speeds of 360 kilometres per hour. In addition the Veneno is capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds Its design is consistently focused on optimum aerodynamics and cornering stability, giving the Veneno the real dynamic experience of a racing prototype, yet it is fully homologated for the road. It’s state of the art systematic, carbon-fibre, lightweight design gifts it with a power-to-weight ratio of 1.93 kg/ hp (4.25lbs/hp) and with its forceful twelvecylinder, the Veneno guarantees a performance

that is nothing short of mind blowing. Just like the front end, the rear of the Veneno has also been optimised for under body aerodynamics and high speed cornering stability. The smooth under body transitions into a substantial diffuser framing the four sizable exhaust pipes divided by a splitter to increase the level of down force peak and thus the cornering performance. Carbon fibre dominates the interior of the Veneno too. The carbon fibre monocoque becomes visible inside the car in the area of the central tunnel and sills. The two lightweight bucket seats are made from Lamborghini’s patented Forged Composite. The lightweight woven carbon fibre CarbonSkin® is used to clad the entire cockpit, part of the seats and the headliner. These measures help reduce the weight and increase the driving fun. However, as mentioned production is limited to just three units, with each car going for €3million plus tax and all three units have already been sold to customers.

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TCCC

A Positive Message for Economic Success Turkey Plans to Increase Cooperation with Canada

The Turkish ambassador, Honorable Dr. Tuncay Babali, already having put forth tremendous effort in increasing the economic collaboration between the two countries, has predicted that there would be an even greater increase in economic partnership in the coming years. The Turkish Canadian Chamber of Commerce held their 4th annual reception at the Toronto Board of Trade Centre. Dr.Tuncay Babali, ambassador of Turkey to Canada and the honorable guest of the event, emphasized the importance of the role of TCCC in strengthening commercial relations between Canada and Turkey. The director of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Allen O’Dette, shared his remarks on the importance of bilateral economic relations and potential areas of the economic growth between the two nations. The Consul General of Turkey, Mr. Ali Riza Guney, trade commissioners, and Turkish businessmen from various economic sectors and companies, including guests representing key firms from Turkey participated at the reception.

The report presents the findings of the committee on the opportunities for renewing Canada’s relationship with the “new” Turkey, a country that is leveraging its economic successes, its large, young, and enterprising population, and its geostrategic advantages to expand its global and regional influence. The necessity of the report is explained through the following words, “The Committee would like to stress that fostering a positive and constructive dialogue at the highest political levels is critical to building the Canada-Turkey relationship,” stated Senator Raynell Andreychuk, chair of the committee. Senator Percy Downe, deputy chair of the committee, said, “It is important for Canada and Turkey to pursue deeper commercial partnerships, and for Canadian investors and businesses to focus on the Turkish sectors with the greatest opportunities, such as agriculture, mining, energy, infrastructure and transportation, as well as education.”

Building Bridges Canada-Turkey Relations Recently, the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade published its report entitled “Building Bridges: Canada-Turkey Relations and Beyond.”

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TCCC

Turkish-Korean Friendship Dinner Promises Future Collaboration Far from their homelands, people of Turkey and South Korea have affirmed their long-lasting friendship with a business dinner held in Toronto, Canada. TCCC, a business-oriented organization that connects Canada’s business world with their Turkish counterparts, sponsored the friendship dinner that brought people from Turkish and Korean communities of Toronto together. Highly respected and honorable community representatives from the Korean-Canadian Chamber of Commerce (KCCC) and TCCC attended the dinner that was the first of its kind between the two communities in Toronto. “With regards to cooperation in education, business, and cultural affairs, I hope this initiative will be a milestone toward a flourishing future in Canada between the blood brothers namely Turkish and Korean people.” said Mehmet Durmus, the executive coordinator of Turkish-Canadian Chamber of Commerce (TCCC) in his welcome speech. Andrew Kim, the vice head of the KoreanCanadian Chamber of Commerce, saluted the crowd with both Turkish and Korean words that were applauded by the guests. He also mentioned his good wishes for a new and a blossoming era regarding Turkish-Korean relations in Canada.

Regarding cooperation in business, a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed between Turkey and South Korea in August 2012 that has since provided Turkish and Korean companies with a freer access to both markets for import and export activities. In addition to business, Turkey and Korea also work closely in cultural affairs in the international stage. The Korean city of Gyeongju organizes cultural expos every two to three years to promote Korean culture around the world. This year’s expo was co-organized by the Gyeongju and İstanbul municipalities under the theme of “Road, Encounter, Companion,” and proved to be a global cultural festival with the attendance of more than 40 countries from Asia, Europe and the Americas.

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