All Countries and All Sectors

Following disagreements between the government and major international mining firms, Mongolia is taking steps to reassure investors. However, it has proven difficult to convince interested parties that these disputes are not indicative of a deeper conflict building between the present leadership and the foreign firms that are extracting minerals.

A government decision to access funding via the bond market could pave the way for banks to increase lending to the private sector.

Reports that international insurers are seeing healthy growth in Indonesia suggest high expectations over how the market’s potential will be met this year and beyond. However, concerns over new regulations and the country’s susceptibility to major natural disasters underline a sector that is not without risk.

Halfway through the current cocoa season, concerns are rising that Ghana’s growers will see lower-than-expected revenues for 2013, due to poor weather conditions and a tight global market. However, the government still plans to move ahead with a long-term programme to further boost production, with hopes that a series of late rains will also improve output for the current season.

The banking sector in Kuwait maintained solid fundamentals in the face of a number of difficulties in 2012, including continued regional unrest, a volatile euro and global economic uncertainty. In line with the conservative approach the sector has followed for years, many banks continued to practice prudent lending policies and to transfer funds to provisions. In light of recent solid growth, however, some in the sector are looking for a shift away from conservative policies to those that could spur lending and accelerate growth.

Rice is mounting a steady comeback in Myanmar. Exports in the 2012/13 fiscal year have already reached 1.2m tonnes thus far, surpassing its peak export period in 1956, and the Myanmar Rice Industry Association (MRIA) projects exports to reach 1.5m tonnes by the end of the fiscal year, double the 778,000 tonnes exported in 2012. This performance could be maintained – if not boosted further – in the coming years by increased foreign investment.