Newsweek International January 21, 2022

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NAFTALI BENNETT is seeking to build upon a series of peace deals with Arab countries by fortifying ties with the United Arab Emirates, even as he wages war on a particularly contagious strain of COVID-19 at home. Bennett’s historic December trip to Abu Dhabi marked the first by an Israeli leader to one of the five nations that signed the Abraham Accords, through which four countries—the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco—defied a decades-long Arab boycott to normalize relations with Israel. The four are the first to do so since Egypt and Jordan did decades ago. Bennett’s reception by an honor guard at Abu Dhabi International Airport emphasized the level of relations being built by the two countries. “It was a meeting that would have been unimaginable a…

Cirque du Soleil, the global entertainment company with annual pre-pandemic revenues of $1 billion, is known for trafficking in multi-million dollar extravaganzas with acrobatic feats that stretch the boundaries of the imagination. For 20 years, Daniel Lamarre was the chief executive officer responsible for bringing these fantastical productions to life. In his new book, BALANCING ACTS, Lamarre, now executive vice-chairman of the board, shares his insights into the nature of creativity as an essential part of management in all industries. In this excerpt from his book, Lamarre describes the genesis of the unique collaboration between Cirque and the Beatles, which resulted in the only live show in which Beatles recorded music and images have ever been used since the breakup of the legendary band more than 50 years ago—and one…

What’s the most important thing for success in business? DANIEL LAMARRE: Creativity. If you are not prioritizing creativity—the dictionary definition of “making or bringing into existence something new”—you are wasting your time. No company deserves to exist unless it is constantly discovering new ways to make its customers’ lives better. Without creativity, there is no business. How can creativity be incorporated in an organization? What about in non-artistic fields or more traditional ones? First, forget about the traditional pyramid corporate structure—that tends to stifle experimentation. Employees need smaller, more intimate “innovation cells” to express themselves and innovate in a supportive environment. At least one cell should be devoted exclusively to research and development to discover new ideas in areas appropriate for your business. During COVID-19, you jumped on the digital…

Thailand ranks in the top three countries in South East Asia, and the top 25 globally, in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 rankings, reflecting successive administrations’ work to strengthen the business environment and encourage investment from both domestic and international players. Thailand ranks particularly strongly for its protection of minority investors and access to electric power. The country’s strengths were recognised by ratings agency Fitch in November 2021, when it reaffirmed the country’s rating, with stable outlook – at a time of considerable global uncertainty. Fitch noted Thailand’s “robust external finances, well-managed public finances, and a strong macroeconomic policy framework”. The soundness of the country’s banking sector was also singled out for praise. The pandemic and the growing challenge of climate change have brought the issue of sustainability ever…

This dynamic business environment has powered the Thai manufacturing sector, which contributed 26% of GDP on a value-added basis on the eve of the covid-19 pandemic, according to World Bank figures. The sector has been rebounding strongly this year, with industrial production surging 26% year-on-year in May, according to official figures. Manufacturing output rose at a record rate in October, IHS Markit reported, noting positive business sentiment; business confidence hit a two-year high in September. At the forefront of this growth story is Thai industrial giant TPI Polene, which has activities ranging from Cement manufacturing, Construction materials, Paints, Fibre cement products, Concrete roof tiles, Bio-organic fertilizer for bio farming without using insecticides, Synbiotic for animal husbandry without using antibiotics to immune and to cure diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria and…

Thailand’s economic vitality is reflected in and underpinned by the strength of its banking system. In June 2021, the Thai office of ratings agency Fitch Ratings, said that that banks’ buffers, such as loan-loss reserves and common equity Tier 1 capital, remain a solid cushion against downside risks. The agency noted that banks’ “profitability should still be able to absorb additional provisioning” occasioned by the stop-start global recovery from covid. Thai banks have been able to bolster these cushions through issuing subordinated and hybrid capital instruments, with a particular focus on Additional Tier 1 capital, due to the need for enhanced loss absorption during the pandemic. Banks’ NPL coverage ratio reached 155% by the end of the third quarter of 2021, according to central bank figures. This solidity is the…