Q: What measures are you taking to improve the economic situation?
A: With the collapse of the Soviet Union 15 years ago all our economic relationships were destroyed and the DPRK was damaged a great deal.

On a visit to Pyongyang, Stephen Timewell examines the state of North Korea’s fledgling banking system, which is slowly developing in order to increase foreign trade.

Goldman Sachs is in no doubt about one of the reasons to buy Bank of East Asia (BEA) shares. In a report, its analysts wrote that the largest independent local bank in Hong Kong has a number of unique revenue drivers that many other Hong Kong banks would “kill” to have, including a leading position among foreign banks in China –18.3% of its loans are on the mainland.

Karina Robinson reports from Hong Kong on the incorporated banks’ mainland China strategies.
In July, Citigroup’s Hong Kong business incorporated itself as a Hong Kong bank so that it could do business in China.

ZHANG RUIMIN: CEO of Haier Group
Zhang Ruimin, 56, has been a famous figure in China for years for his role in building Haier into China’s largest electronics appliance maker.

Kazuhiko Shimizu reports from Shanghai on the 10 VIPs of business and government in China.

Bankers are already on the case of how China’s and the Gulf States’ huge reserves of foreign exchange can be put to best use.Stephen Timewell reports.

Research shows that foreign banks operating in Japan have found the going increasingly tough during the past 12 months while the US prepaid card market goes from strength to strength. Stephen Timewell explains.

Kazakhstan is one of the leading lights of the ex-Soviet Bloc, with such well-developed banking and pension sectors that they are searching for somewhere to invest their money.Ben Aris reports from Almaty.
The trees that cloak the buildings in central Almaty provide only limited protection from the hot midday sun, but Kazakhs window-shopping in the new Ramstore shopping mall at the top of the city’s slope beneath the Tien Shan mountains are keeping cool.

Prime Minister Dr Mari Alkatiri tells The Banker how the world’s newest nation will handle its burgeoning economy.