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...

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...

Kingho, one of China’s largest private mining companies, has announced an all-cash tilt at the cash-strapped mining junior Carabella Resources, which has coal assets throughout Queensland. Though the deal is only valued at $66 million, a pittance in the world of mega-mining transactions, the Chinese suitor is expected to...

In Beijing yesterday the leaders of Prime Minister David Cameron’s trade mission to China were given a sneak preview of one of the marketing world’s most fascinating and revealing studies. Millward Brown, the global research firm, has today published its definitive annual BrandZ list of China’s most valuable brands...

Hockey’s GrainCorp decision opens competition can of worms When Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey quashed the acquisition of GrainCorp by Archer Daniels Midland on national interest grounds, his stated reasons were based on competition. Despite it being five years since the single desk for wheat exports was abolished, according to...

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...

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...

Will the top growth industry over the next five to 10 be the delivery of parcels and food that have been ordered online. To date Australia has lagged the developed world in online shopping and for most retailers online is less than 5 per cent of turnover. It is...

As Chinese officials expanded support for agriculture, they began to rely on raising price supports to maintain net returns to farmers. China became the largest market for U.S. agricultural exports as its rising prices eroded the relative competitiveness of Chinese commodities. Chinese officials have signaled intentions to keep increasing...

A topic which warrants inclusion in Joe Hockey’s planned Financial System Inquiry — but probably won’t make it in — is the regulatory and institutional impediments to Islamic finance. The 2% of the Australian population who want these Sharia-compliant products face significant problems in accessing them. The following piece...