Articles

Key View: The economic liberalisation of Myanmar has led to an uptick in foreign investment in the country's beverage industry, with Yoma Strategic Holdings announcing its joint venture with Pernod Ricard to produce and sell whiskies in Myanmar. Alcohol consumption in Myanmar is expected to pick up, albeit from a low base, due to rising disposable

Key View: Increasing incidence of labour strike action in the UK and Norwegian offshore infrastructure raises the risk to the timely completion of project timelines as well as the longer term investment attractiveness of the region.

• Unresolved labour disputes raise the risk of disruption to project timelines.
• Further striking and powerful

Key View: Kiribati released the KV20 in July, which outlines the government's long-term development plans for 2016-2036. Although the growth targets are overly ambitious, we see the blueprint as generally positive for the economy. We are revising our average real GDP growth forecast upwards to 2.7% per annum over the coming decade (from 2.0%

Key View:

• Mexico remains a key medicine market in Latin America.
• Ageing population and a rising chronic disease burden continues to fuel opportunities for drugmakers.
• Weak regulatory environment and cost-containment measures threaten innovative drugmakers.
   

Forecasts:

The value of Mexico's pharmaceutical market reached MXN189.68bn (USD10

Key View: Incumbent Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is likely to retain his office in the country's upcoming general election on July 30, presaging a period of political stability and economic reform. While many of the government's senior officials are carryovers from the ousted Mugabe regime, a democratically elected Mnangagwa

The latest: The chances of a second consecutive Czech rate hike have increased. This follows from a July 24 interview of Czech National Bank (CNB) board member Vojtech Benda, who told Bloomberg that he saw room for debate on a further rate hike at the next rate meeting on August 2. Benda's tightening calls were backed by the CNB's Chief Economist

Key View: Investment in Tajikistan's transport infrastructure sector over the next decade will primarily be driven by two factors: the critical need to rehabilitate and upgrade domestic road networks, and the expansion of regional transport links on the back of China's Belt & Road initiative. As a landlocked country, the road and rail segments will

Key View:

• Increased cost-containment across Europe will result in greater consumption of lower margin drugs.
• Consolidation and vertical integration of medicine wholesale and retail markets is increasing.
• Drugmakers may improve market access in Central Europe but revenues may be repressed.

Transformation of the pharmaceutical supply chain

Key View: The upcoming elections in Indonesia, scheduled to be held in June 2019, pose a downside risk to the construction sector's growth outlook. China-backed projects are particularly vulnerable if foreign investment and the high levels of debt associated with infrastructure projects become politically contentious issues over the coming months.

Key View: Heightened regulatory and competition challenges will still weigh on DStv, even as it launches a streaming-only version of its service. Its efforts to adapt to changing consumer needs and industry paradigms are welcomed, but the intensifying OTT threat means that this transformation is not risk-free.

On the back of a steady decline in