NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

China, India, Turkey, Vietnam, Russia, Romania and Bulgaria Offer Greatest Investment Opportunities

Winning Brands, Winning Formats are Keys to Success LONDON, 11 October 2005 ? Seven countries, China, India, Turkey, Vietnam, Russia, Romania and Bulgaria, offer the strongest investment opportunities for retail and consumer companies according to the fourth edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Retail & Consumer study titled, From Beijing to Budapest: Winning Brands, Winning Formats. Of the seven priorities, Russia, Romania and Bulgaria joined the list for the...

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PricewaterhouseCoopers Press Release (link opens in a new window)

The company is working towards enabling the online delivery model, where customers can place orders

After having launched its low-cost PC in the Indian market, HCL is looking forward to injecting new vigor to its existing distribution strategy to tap the huge market potential in the Indian region. With an aim to increase its distribution footprint in the country, the company is all set to work on a two-pronged strategy. As part of this, HCL would be working closely with popular Internet portals in order to market its affordable product and the company would also be strengthening its existing d...

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DQ Channels (link opens in a new window)

Cell phones reshaping Africa

Amina Harun, a 45-year-old farmer, used to traipse around for hours looking for a working pay phone on which to call the markets and find the best prices for her fruit. Then cell phones changed her life. We can easily link up with customers, brokers and the market, she says, sitting between two piles of watermelons at Wakulima Market in Kenya’s capital. Harun is one of a rapidly swelling army of wired-up Africans -- an estimated 100 million of t...

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CNN.com / AP (link opens in a new window)

Banco Uno Panama and Banco Uno El Salvador are granted a seven-year loan totaling USD 27.5 million by the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and its German partner DEG. The loan is to be used to extend Banco Uno’s credit card services to lower-income households. This will give many such households in Central America for the first time access to financial services. This will allow them to borrow and save money and thus gain access to the formal economy. Grupo Financiero...

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Finance for Development (link opens in a new window)

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Latin America

Calcutta, Oct. 16: Global micro-financiers Unitus and ACCION International have formed an alliance for India to reach out to 15 million households here within the next 10 years. ?While almost 10 per cent of the world population are benefited by micro-finance, it reaches only 1-2 per cent population in India. So, it is our endeavour to accelerate its growth in the country in association with local partners,? said Geoff Davis, president and chief executive officer, Unitus. U...

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The Telegraph (link opens in a new window)

MUMBAI, Oct 17 Asia Pulse - Citigroup CEO Charles Prince wants the US banking major to grab a larger slice of India’s micro finance sector in order to generate more business for its local banking operations. The group will continue to look at organic growth in India and appoint more people there, Prince said. We have long presence in India having more than 100 years of operations here. Our operations have been nice so far. However, we can do a lot more, he ...

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Asia Pulse News (link opens in a new window)

US-based semiconductor maker AMD said it would enter a joint venture with an Indian firm to sell personal computers for the same cost as cellphones. The company said it had joined with local technology firm HCL Infosystems to sell a personal computer for less than 10,000 rupees (220 dollars) to boost ownership in the nation of one-billion plus people with only 15 million users. That is in line with the cost of cellphones with a camera which retails for about 8,000 rupee...

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TodayOnline.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

PLANNING to purchase a low-cost personal computer? HCL Infosystems on Thursday has launched an AMD-powered, Linux-based PC priced at Rs 9,990. The new HCL Ezeebee Pride computer ? unveiled by the Communications and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran ? comes with a configuration of AMD x 86 1.6 GHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Disk Drive, 52X CD ROM, 15-inch colour monitor and Linux Operating System, and supports applications such as word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, Web b...

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The Hindu Business Line (link opens in a new window)