AUG
16 1996
Business practices from Shanghai to Myanmar
OUTSIDE New Delhi in India, you may have only a messenger boy on a bike to communicate with the outside world.
If you want to hedge your bets, Shanghai is more likely to become an international hub than Hongkong.
And the Yangtze River is slated to be the world's largest industrial belt, surpassing the Rhine River area and Tokyo Bay.
Businessmen looking for incisive views of regions to invest in can find these gems of information in the inaugural series of the Nanyang Business Report Series, published by Prentice Hall and produced by Nanyang Technological University.
The first six books cover Penang, Sichuan and the Yangtze River delta area in China, India, the Philippines and Myanmar. Written mainly by NTU's MBA students, they are edited by faculty staff and external referees.
As the series' title, Business Opportunities In ..., suggests, the books are especially useful for those looking to make money in the growth areas of the region.
Industry and investment analyses occupy half the book on India, for example.
The books are not as laden with heavy, academic lingo as expected. They address the interested lay reader.
Extensive quotes from country observers and experts also give the reports a sense of immediacy and being on-the-ground.
Listings of tips and useful contacts at the back of the book may, however, make the books more appealing to the pragmatic Singaporean reader.
Reports on political backgrounds are also superficial or non-existent in most of the books.
While they may not be consistent with the aim of the series, potential investors concerned about risks may gain from more of such coverage.
