Screen Daily have released the epitome of studio performance in 2013 – which is topical given The Merkin Group’s newly expanded  footprint in the global tentpole film acquisition and distribution business. Sony’s China box office swells 22% Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) top brass reported significant year-on-year gains in...

The trade deal signed yesterday between Australia and South Korea is being promoted as a win by the government for the benefits if will bring to Australian industries including agriculture, automotive, services, resources and energy, and manufactured products. South Korea is Australia’s third largest export market and fourth largest...

On 16 October 2013, Treasurer Joe Hockey stated in a speech to the American Australian Association that “Australia is open for business, open for investment and is going for growth”1. Just over a month since making that bold statement, the Treasurer has created uncertainty over Australia’s foreign investment policy...

Australia and South Korea have signed a bilateral trade agreement – commonly called a Free Trade Agreement. Meat exporters and agricultural producers have the most to gain from the new free trade agreement between South Korea and Australia, but the federal government has foreshadowed pain for auto manufacturing. The...

Australian trade with Indonesia: what’s really at stake? Indonesia has a population ten times as big as that of Australia, but its per capita income is only one-tenth of Australia’s, so what’s really at risk if the trade relationship between the two countries breaks down? The recent spat over...

Australian espionage and the history of foreign intervention in Indonesia Indonesia’s response to the spying imbroglio last week – when president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recalled his ambassador and suspended security co-operation with Australia – reflects a political history of constant foreign intervention in Indonesian affairs that few Australians are...

Having  successfully placed AUD  1Mil  in 2013 our Australian client  has re mandated BoxRED/Merkin.  Our client is an Australian company bringing an integration of new and innovative online wagering and social gaming products to the Australian market. BoxRED are to identify and facilitate the introduction of  global investors and/or strategic investors...

China is willing to complete a free trade agreement with Australia as soon as possible, China’s Ministry of Commerce has said at a ministry press conference this week. “Both sides have relatively large differences in investment, agriculture and services, but have been trying to find ways to move the...

Courtesy of AustCham Hong Kong I am attending  ASIFMA’s Annual Conference with the theme for this first-of-a-kind, two-day event ‘Developing Asia’s Capital Markets’. The conference is an industry-wide occasion, providing a unique opportunity for global and regional policy makers, high-level regulators and industry representatives from both sell-side and buy-side...

Why not let agriculture benefit from foreign investment Why do we clamour to keep foreign-owned car makers here, paying them billions of dollars to stay, while being wary of foreign investment in farms? Around 0.1% of foreign investment last year was in agriculture, with mining receiving 30%, manufacturing close...