Jamaican health tourism is needs to place greater focus on attracting overseas based Jamaicans and their families. The Jamaican Diaspora Canada Foundation says 300,000 Jamaicans live in Canada, and there are four and a half million around the world.

Phillip Mascoll of the Jamaican Diaspora Canada Foundation argues, “Health tourism is a market we seriously need to tap into. I do not want to spend my twilight years in the cold. I would much prefer to spend it in Negril or Ocho Rios, but there are things you need to put in place. The fundamental right of every Jamaican is personal security, which is a problem in this country. Old people are afraid. When you reach 75 you want somewhere to come and retire that is sunny, where you can see a doctor and there is a clinic. We have the capacity to put those things in place. And there are also people in the diaspora who will come here and build those places, once the crime has been dealt with. Jamaicans will come any time, no matter what, but foreigners will not do that.”

The Jamaican Diaspora Canada Foundation argues that expatriates are willing to work closely with the Jamaican government to improve healthcare and develop health tourism. But they need the government to “ walk the walk, not just talk the talk”. It argues that there is no better place to recuperate from anything than Jamaica. But warns that local politics and bureaucracy can and often do get in the way.

A Jamaican doctor is behind the consortium of 50 doctors from North Carolina in the USA, which will be building Jamaica’s five-star medical 200-room hospital in Rose Hall, Montego Bay. American Global MD (AGMD) is developing the country’s first five-star medical tourism facility. AGMD is a consortium of American-trained physicians and investors, all of whom have strong Jamaican links as a result of having previously studied or practiced in the country. Under the MOU, AGMD will build a fully amenitized 200-bed hospital and medical facility that will target the North American and Caribbean markets. It will deliver services ranging from elective surgeries, rehabilitation and naturopathy.Under the first phase of the project, a 50 to 75 bed patient facility will be constructed to offer cosmetic surgery, bariatric services and dental care.

JAMPRO, the Jamaican government’s tourism and investment promotion agency reveals that members of the diaspora are now also organising to invest US$200 million to build a health facility in Negril.It is working hard to bring other investors on board to develop health tourism.

JAMPRO says that many people from abroad, including the Caribbean are currently utilizing health facilities in Jamaica. Innsurance companies in Caribbean countries encourage people to travel overseas for medical procedures, as local facilities are often not available.

Jamaica has often promoted health and medical tourism, but has failed to attract American and Canadian business.The idea of concentrating on Jamaicans living in those countries is being explored as opposed to general marketing to people who have never been to Jamaica and may find the culture off putting.

The closeness and ease of travel to Jamaica for North Americans, along with Jamaica’s traditional reputation as a strong tourism destination with relatively low labor costs mean that the medical tourism sector has significant potential for the island. By air, Jamaica is one to three hours away from the United States and is in the Eastern Standard Time zone, making it convenient to do business with the USA, Latin America and the Caribbean.

– See more at: http://www.imtj.com/news/?entryid82=423521#sthash.lzAdozPj.dpuf

At Treatment Abroad, we recently received correspondence regarding a UK family’s experience of stem cell tourism. The patient is a four year old boy with autism and speech problems. The parents, desperate to find a cure for their son, started exploring the claims for the use of stem cell therapy in the treatment of autism. They selected a stem cell clinic in China and spend £20,000 on a one month course of treatment in Beijing. Their story is a warning to anyone who is considering the option of unregulated and unproven stem cell therapy and to those in the industry who promote such miracle cures to desperate patients.

“I could not watch my son suffering such abuse”
The parents and the boy underwent a traumatic experience. Here are some of their comments:

“Everyday my son was given a glucose drip. Three nurses; one used to hold his arms the second nurse held his legs and the third nurse used to give him the injection into different parts of his body including both hands and both feet, if they could not find the right place in his hands to inject with the glucose drip, they would insert the injection once or twice again in his feet and repeatedly in his hands again. I could not watch my son suffering such abuse.”

“My son was given four stem cell treatments in total. One stem cell treatment every week….. he was taken to a private room for the treatment. He would return back in less than five minutes. Whilst I was checking for any reactions to the stem cells on the back of his spine, I could not see even a little amount of blood at the back of his spine or any mark of injection….. Often, I and my husband have doubts about whether our son may have even been given the stem cells.”

“They know that their stem cells no longer work on autism but are still consistently inviting patients to come their clinic and taking thousands of pounds from them. This is simply fraud.”

Needless to say the family have had no success in seeking compensation from the Chinese clinic. And there is little they can do.

Stem cells… the new miracle cure for…. everything?
Offering bogus treatments to desperate patients is not new. “Quackery” has always existed alongside mainstream medicine. But the rise of stem cell therapy has taken this to a new level. Nearly every day, the media trumpets the latest breakthrough. Stem cell therapy is mooted as the new miracle cure for many life threatening and life-degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. Clinics in India, China, Eastern Europe and Latin America promote stem cell therapy for an abundance of diseases.

The reality is that, at present, there are few areas were stem cell treatment has been proven in clinical trials or where scientifically supported clinical trials are taking place. The difficulty is that the patient may not be able to differentiate between clinically proven therapy, valid experimental trials and quackery. Stem cell therapy, at present, can be categorised as follows:

1. Clinically proven stem cell treatments
These are few therapies which have undergone rigorous clinical trials in accredited centres and institutions. The cost of such clinical trial programmes should not be underestimated; the budget for a trial into stem cell use can run to millions of dollars. Stem cell tourists may be eligible for inclusion in ongoing clinical trials.

2. Non-approved stem cell treatment in reputable centres
Qualified and competent healthcare professionals working in accredited clinics may also offer non-approved treatments. The important factor here is that the patient is fully informed of the lack of scientific support and the related risks.

3. Fraudulent stem cell treatment
In this instance, as with the stem cell clinic in China, the clinic is not licensed or regulated, the competency of the doctors and nursing staff is questionable, and the promotional claims for the safety and efficacy of the therapy are exaggerated and have little or no scientific backing.

The difficulty for the international patient is determining where the multitude of stem cell clinics now operating fit within the above three categories.

Those countries which have a long history of regulation and protection of patient interests are investing heavily in developing stem cell treatments. At academic institutions and research centres in countries such as the USA, the UK and Germany, domestic or international patients can receive stem cell treatment where use has been approved or there is a clinical trial in progress.

Stem cell therapy on the fringes of medicine
Other countries have less regulation of drugs, medical devices and medical innovation… Some are not inclined to regulate stem cell treatments due to local influence and the high returns that are being earned from unproven treatments. Widespread criticism of China’s “anything goes” attitude to stem cell therapy has resulted in controls being introduced and the closure of many unregulated centres. China wants to become part of the World’s scientific and academic community, and has realised that a reputation for “fringe medicine” will do it little credit. But in many countries, stem cell therapy remains uncontrolled. Unregulated treatment in these countries poses risks to patients; critics believe that the stem cell treatment may be harmful and also delay standard, more effective, therapies. Clinics in these countries are promoting unproven stem cell therapy as the “cure for all ills”… at a price of thousands of dollars to desperate patients and their families. It’s the dark side of medical tourism.

– See more at: http://www.imtj.com/blog/2013/stem-cell-therapy-40184/#sthash.LeoO0RK7.dpuf

By BOB DAVIS and LINGLING WEI

BEIJING—While Chinese leaders are putting final touches on a plan to allow capital to flow more freely into and out of China, the International Monetary Fund has warned that such changes could lead to a massive exodus of money from the country if not handled properly.
Officials say they are looking to what’s known as capital-account liberalization as a way to give the Chinese more choice in financial investments and to use the market to route investment from abroad to promising projects in China.
Foreign investors have long clamored for greater access to China’s financial markets, in part to benefit from future yuan appreciation. The IMF says financial-sector liberalization, especially for interest rates and currency, is necessary to keep China growing at a healthy clip over the coming decades. But it is wary about whether China is ready for significant capital-account liberalization.
According to IMF calculations, a speedy liberalization of cross-border capital movements could produce over several years net outflows from China equal to as much as 15% of the country’s GDP, roughly $1.35 trillion. Of that sum, the Chinese would send as much as $2.25 trillion overseas, while foreigners would invest $900 billion in China.
“The estimates assume a fairly large ‘Big Bang’ style adjustment,” says Markus Rodlauer, the IMF’s China mission chief. “We wouldn’t advise doing this in one step. We’d advise continuing with a gradual approach.” There is no indication Beijing plans a big-bang approach to liberalization. Though it isn’t yet clear how it will proceed.
Capital flows into and out China are now tightly controlled. The China Securities Regulatory Commission recently roughly doubled the total amount foreigners can invest in Chinese securities under a special program to $150 billion. Chinese individuals, meanwhile, are limited to each taking out $50,000 a year from China, mostly for travel or education. Officials say that among other changes, they are looking at greatly expanding the amount of money Chinese can invest overseas.
People’s Bank of China Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan told a financial forum in Shanghai last month that China will speed up the opening up its capital account, though he noted the process would be flexible enough to reimpose restraints in the event of big speculative capital flows. That statement followed another hint that China is planning big changes.
In May, a paper co-written by a senior researcher at the People’s Bank of China said the central bank aims to make the yuan fully convertible by the end of 2015. And at an April IMF seminar on capital-account liberalization, where the IMF brought in experts from central banks around the world to warn about the difficulties of dealing with capital flows, PBOC officials made clear they nonetheless were moving ahead with liberalizing the capital account, participants said.
Currently, individual Chinese have few options to invest their money, let alone abroad. Bank deposits frequently pay less than the rate of inflation and the boom-and-bust history of the local stock markets has scared away many ordinary Chinese. Instead, the Chinese pour money into real estate, producing property bubbles in many cities.
The IMF analysis said freeing capital flows could relieve pressure on the real estate market and give the Chinese wider investment choices. But it also warned the financial sector must be ready to handle huge surges of hot money. One way to do that is by letting exchange rates rise and fall according to market demand, rather than by trying to guide the movement of the currency as the Chinese central bank currently does. A flexible exchange rate acts as a “shock absorber,” says Mr. Rodlauer. Another way is by reimposing currency controls, as a number of nations have done when under pressure and which the IMF has endorsed as a last resort.
The central bank’s liberalization plans even have produced a backlash among some prominent Chinese economists, who warn that China’s financial system isn’t up to the challenge. “If there are large outflows, that could bring down the Chinese financial system,” argues former PBOC monetary adviser Yu Yongding. “The Chinese financial system isn’t resilient at all.”
He Fan, a senior economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says China isn’t prepared for changes in global capital flows, such as a ratcheting back of dollar investments outside the U.S., that could result from the U.S. Federal Reserve backing off its substantial monetary stimulus and eventually letting U.S. interest rates rise. “There are no precedents,” Mr. He said. “You need to close the door and clean your house.”
Recently, China’s State Council, the government’s ruling body, approved a free-trade zone in Shanghai as a testing ground for liberalizing cross-border financial transactions and currency flows. The move followed the establishment late last year of a pilot program in Qianhai, near the border with Hong Kong, which is aimed at offering freer currency movements across the border. Still, detailed rules on exactly how both programs work must be hammered out, and some Chinese officials think what the country needs is a broader plan for financial liberalization. “It’s hard to carry out financial reforms only through those pilot programs,” a senior financial official says. “It has to be planned on a national scale.”

-Grace Zhu contributed to this article
Write to Bob Davis at bob.davis@wsj.com and Lingling Wei at lingling.wei@wsj.com

By Sara Sjolin

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stock markets struggled for direction in early action on Thursday, ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s second day of testimony before Congress. The Chairman spoke Wednesday to the House Financial Services Committee and stressed that the central bank will be very responsive to economic data when considering a reduction in its asset purchases. The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP +0.56% was slightly lower at 296.99, after adding 0.6% on Wednesday. Shares of Akzo Nobel NV NL:AKZA -7.97% slumped 5.7% after the paints company reported a drop in second-quarter operating income. Shares of Ericsson LM SE:ERICB -3.08% dropped 4.5% after second-quarter profit missed expectations. Among country-specific indexes, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index UK:UKX +0.73% climbed 0.3% to 6,587.08 and France’s CAC 40 index FR:PX1 +0.69% rose 0.2% to 3,878.52. Germany’s DAX 30 index DX:DAX +0.35% slipped 0.1% to 8,242.88.

Challenges… We all experience some sort of challenge in our daily life regardless of who we are, what we do, our age, ethnicity, sexual preferences or religious beliefs. Sometimes what we perceive to be a challenge actually turns into a myriad of challenges.  Nonetheless, one challenge or one hundred challenges, the end result should be the same, to “Overcome”.

When you speak to people who are challenge ridden, they all say one thing; “any  particular challenge can be overwhelming until I give it a name and I accepted its existence, then I just knew how to overcome it”.

Confronting a challenge… Sometimes when a challenge arises we don’t want to look at it straight in the face, for many reasons.  One reason could be that we are in denial, another reason is that we might be seeing it as a direct threat to our health, economic or social wellbeing, so we tend to turn our backs on the situation in hopes that it will go away.  Guess what, It doesn’t! There are even religious based challenges, and those really mess with our minds.  Not that I believe that religion messes with our minds, but the challenges that sometimes arise from our religious beliefs can really do a number on us.

Whatever the challenge, whatever the cause, we need to confront it, and we have to name it.  Caution, in naming it you are not validating the challenge, you are merely identifying the challenge and letting it known that you are there, ready, willing and able to overcome it.

Embracing the challenge… The next step is to embrace it, make it yours, take ownership of the challenge.  By taking ownership you are taking responsibility for cause and effect, and by taking responsibility of cause and effect you are able to find ways, that you never know existed, to overcome anything that may come your way.

I consider myself to be one of those challenge ridden people. It seems that at every turn in my life some sort of a wall (challenge) is waiting to smack me in the face, whether I created it or not, I hit it head on.  In my younger years I would rationalize the challenge as being unbeatable, I would get upset at the challenge, I would most likely walk away from the challenge, in essence I would do everything but confront it. In all sincerity I didn’t  know how to deal with those monsters; well, in some cases I did.  There were some challenges, the easy ones, the meaningless ones, that I would immediately eliminate, and feel proud of my accomplishment after doing so.  Yet the serious ones, the ones that could affect my life for its entirety, that one, I didn’t have an inkling on how to handle; therefore, I would walk away in hopes that it would somehow resolve itself.  Is it beginning to sound like someone you know?  Maybe even you?

It wasn’t until late in my life that I realized that not only do un-confronted challenges not go away, they grow exponentially until reaching a point where desperation seems to be the only way out.  Yet, even at the point of desperation a challenge can be Confronted, Embraced and Overcome.  As I later found out.

So how is it that I have managed to come to this overtly wise conclusion?  Was it self-induced wisdom, religious belief, or the many times that I felt trapped, with no way out? What was it that brought me to this understanding that I now enjoy and can share with you?  I think that it was a little bit of everything, although I really believe that age helps a whole lot. Mind you, not that I am that old, but I do have a few years of experience under my belt.

Here is the big secret to finding a solution to all challenges, according to me… When a challenge arises, which in my case could be a daily event, some days it’s an hour by hour event, I analyze the challenge and I try to figure out its cause. I have now Confronted. Upon finding out its cause I name it;  Procrastination, lack of research, lack of preparation, illness, etc., or maybe, Life Just Happens.  By naming the challenge I have Embraced it, in layman’s terms, I have taken responsibility.  Once step one and two are complete I am now able to find solutions that will make the challenge dissipate, go away, or whatever you would like to call it.  I like to call it “Overcoming”. 

Finally… Wow, that certainly sounds easy!!! I am sure that’s what you’re thinking. I wish I could say that the solution to any challenge is as easy as my three step concept, I can’t even say that there is a level of difficulty, because it all depends on the challenge and how you work yourself through all of the three steps.  What I can say is, that once you have confronted and embraced the challenge, the road to overcoming the challenge begins to widen, possible solutions begin to pour in,  and all that you have to do is pick the right one for your particular case or situation. I know, it has worked for me!

Oh, and don’t be afraid to ask someone for help, or ask for advice, the person you reached out to may be the key to helping you Overcome your challenge.

I hope that this small piece of 5&10 wisdom will help you on your next challenge… hey, wait, here comes another one.

(For those too young to remember what a 5&10 was, here is the solution to that challenge.  A 5&10 was a store similar to a Walgreens or CVS, where it had most of everything you could think of, but included some very inexpensive clothing items, and a Soda Fountain. The name 5&10 meant that everything in the store cost either a nickel or a dime.  Please don’t make me explain the term Soda Fountain, Google it)

11 Jul 2013 14:51Submit
The African continent is experiencing significant growth and expanding trade. Figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and DHL Express’s shipment numbers show increased air freight demand in South Africa and the continent as a whole during the month of April.

According to Hennie Heymans, MD of DHL Express South Africa, the company’s TDI (time definite international) shipments in South Africa increased year-on-year by almost 20% in April and over 10% year to date. The IATA report reveals that African freight demand grew by 1.4% in April, which is in line with global freight growth. During previous months, however, African airlines’ air freight demand has performed more strongly than the global market.

Strong performance by emerging markets

Heymans says that South Africa remains a key entry point into the continent, particularly for its immediate neighbours, and these increasing figures therefore play an important part of economic growth. “However, other African countries, particularly Nigeria, are also becoming an option to foreign investors due to improved infrastructure.”

He says that at the moment, Africa is only lagging behind Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which highlights that other emerging markets are also performing well. “It is extremely positive that air freight demand in Africa and emerging markets is performing more strongly than other global markets.”

Heymans says that the freight growth in Africa reflects the robust expansion that the region is experiencing, due to the increased demand for oil, minerals, and other commodities, as well as a result of internal structural changes. “Other industries, such as wholesale and retail, transportation, telecommunications, and manufacturing are all playing a role in this economic development.”

A positive cycle of growth

Heymans says that the increasing number of middle income earners and improved infrastructure on the continent will further boost the need for shipping and logistics, therefore increasing the already growing numbers. “Although poor infrastructure and corruption on the continent remain a challenge, we predict that as these issues improve so will the continent’s economy.”

Heymans explains that Africa has so much to gain from improving trade efficiency. “By removing logistical barriers facing trade, the continent can improve its global competitive advantage and is likely to reap the economic rewards of the efforts.”

Heymans concludes by saying that these positive growth figures also highlight the fact that South Africa and Africa are proving to be less susceptible than other regions to the peaks and troughs in the global economy, as it increasingly looks to diversify its trading partners.

For more information, go to http://www.dhl.co.za or http://www.dhl.com.

July 15, 2013 5:15 PM

By MIKE ESTERL And ROSS KELLY

One of the world’s biggest vintners has a roaring hangover from poor U.S. sales, leading it to destroy thousands of gallons of wine past its prime.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd.—whose brands range from the mass-market, U.S.-made Beringer up to $1,000-a-bottle Penfolds Grange from Australia—said it would book a charge of 160 million Australian dollars (US$145 million) against its U.S. business for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The vintner relies heavily on sales of less-expensive labels in the U.S., the world’s biggest wine market. Treasury Wine said Monday it had overestimated U.S. demand in the past year, forcing it to discount or destroy older wines that had passed their drink-by date. The company warned it expects to ship less wine to the U.S. this fiscal year, reducing operating earnings by as much as A$30 million.
Inexpensive, low-alcohol wines such as White Zinfandel, a key Beringer varietal, don’t have nearly as long a shelf life as a high-end Chardonnay or many red wines, said Jon Fredrikson, head of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, an industry consultancy in California, noting that many people who used to reach for a white Zin now opt for Moscato, a similarly sweet wine. Even so, he said, it is “very rare” for large quantities of wine to be destroyed.
Bulk wine that hasn’t sold is redirected to distilleries, which can use it to make brandy or other spirits, although it is too expensive to do that once wine has already been bottled.
By recalling unsold wine bottles from distributors and retailers and then destroying them, wine companies can recoup taxes that were paid on the wine, softening losses, Mr. Fredrikson said.
“You take a steamroller and roll over the bottles and the government approves it and you get the tax back,” said Mr. Fredrikson.
Problems have followed the Sydney-based Treasury Wine Estates since it was spun off from global beverage maker Foster’s Group Ltd. two years ago. Back then, a glut of Australian grapes and weak sales in the U.S. and other overseas markets weighed on profit. The latest impairment charge followed a A$1 billion write-down of the business before the spinoff in 2011.
The company owns scores of labels produced globally, including Castello di Gabbiano, Chateau St. Jean, Greg Norman Estates, Pepperjack, Stags’ Leap Winery, and Wynns Coonawarra Estate.
Treasury Wine’s struggles set it apart from the broader wine industry in the U.S., which is posting record sales after 19 straight years of volume growth and an increased thirst for imported labels.
Australian wines rode a wave of popularity in the U.S. during the 1990s and first half of the last decade but have ceded momentum to other wine-exporting countries, such as Argentina, Chile and South Africa. The Aussie dollar’s strength in recent years also hurt the competitiveness of wine from Down Under.
In addition, much of Treasury’s U.S. sales are in low-priced wines at a time when American tastes are turning more expensive. U.S. store sales of wine bottles priced between $3 and $5.99 edged up just 1.5% and bottles priced $6 to $8.99 dropped 3.3% in the 52 weeks ended May 25 in volume terms, according to Nielsen. By contrast, volumes of bottles priced $9 to $11.99 and $12 to $14.99 rose 13% and 9%, respectively, and those above $15 increased more than 6%.
U.S. wine consumption rose 2.2% last year, reaching 345.1 million 9-liter cases, and rose 3.6% to $32.3 billion in retail sales, according to Technomic, an industry tracker. But for Treasury Wine, the No. 5 player in the U.S., American sales slipped 1.9% by volume, while those of market leader E & J Gallo Winery rose 3.5%, Technomic estimated.
Treasury Wine’s sales in the U.S. slipped below 13 million cases last year from 16.5 million in 2009, according to an estimate from Import Databank. It said that each of Treasury Wine’s top five brands in the U.S.—Beringer, Lindemans, Stone Cellars, The Little Penguin and Meridian—had lost ground over the past three years, although Beringer and Lindemans posted modest growth last year.
“Management need to rebuild credibility across the board,” said Brad King, a portfolio manager at fund manager Armytage Private, which owns Treasury Wine shares. “Apart from the Penfolds brand, everything needs improvement.” He said he was surprised by the size of the latest impairment charge.
Treasury Wine’s shares fell 12% Monday in Sydney.
Treasury Wine Chief Executive David Dearie defended the vintner’s strategy of chasing sales in the U.S., where he predicted total wine sales could rise to 450 million cases a year within a decade.
“It’s a fantastic growth opportunity, at the right price points,” he told investors on a conference call.
Treasury Wine has been seeking to increase sales in China, announcing plans in March to open wine bars or restaurant-and-entertainment outlets in a bid to get the country’s consumers to drink luxury wines, rather than simply give bottles as gifts. Treasury Wine currently sells in China only through distributors.
China’s appetite for wine has surged, spurring competition among winemakers who had flooded the market and now are looking to differentiate themselves. Wine consumption in China will increase to 2.1 liters a person over the next three years from about 1.4 liters in 2011, according to London-based International Wine & Spirit Research.
Analysts said a recent fall in the Australian dollar, which is down about 13% against its U.S. counterpart since the start of the year, could help Treasury Wine offset the lower U.S. sales and could even lure bidders for the vintner itself.
The Australian dollar’s relative strength against the U.S. currency—the Australian dollar was above parity from late last June until mid-May of this year—had made Australia’s products less competitive against wines from rival regions, such as California’s Napa Valley and South America.
“If the currency comes back a bit further, perhaps it could become a takeover target for the Europeans or the Chinese,” Armytage Private’s Mr. King said.
Treasury Wine said it expected that operating earnings, which strip out items such as the write-down, would be about A$216 million for the fiscal year that just ended, in line with analysts’ forecasts. The company reported net profit of A$89.9 million and operating earnings of A$210.2 million for fiscal 2012.
Treasury Wine competes against rivals such as Constellation Brands Inc. in the U.S. North America, which also includes Canada, is the Australian vintner’s biggest market.
Global wine inventories have been tightening recently, after years of oversupply, so Treasury Wine’s woes were largely company-specific, said Andrew McLennan, a Sydney-based retail analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Despite a record harvest in the U.S. last year, boosted by excellent growing weather, the U.S. grape supply has begun to tighten in recent years as some California farmers switched to nuts and vegetables after vineyard expansions in the 1990s flooded the market with wine.
Global wine consumption has outpaced production for more than half a decade, dropping global inventories by about 40% since 2006, according to Rabobank. Global production fell about 6% last year, led by declining output in Europe, while consumption was roughly flat.

Write to Mike Esterl at mike.esterl@wsj.com and Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@wsj.com

July 16, 2013 4:51 AM

Lenovo CEO: Confident About China Market Outlook Long-Term
Personal-computer giant Lenovo Group Ltd. said it is confident about the long-term outlook for its business in China despite the slowdown in the country’s economic growth.

Lenovo Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing smiled during a May news conference. He said the company is confident in its long-term outlook for China. Photo: Reuters
By JURO OSAWA
HONG KONG—Personal-computer giant Lenovo Group Ltd. said it is confident about the long-term outlook for its business in China despite the slowdown in the country’s economic growth.
China’s second-quarter gross domestic product released Monday showed the economy expanded 7.5% from the year earlier, slower than the 7.7% growth in the first quarter. Even though consumer demand in China has so far remained relatively solid, the slowing economic growth is spurring concerns. Market research firm IDC noted that PC shipments in China were weak in the second quarter. Expectations for the third quarter “are being lowered to reflect remaining inventory as well as economic pressures,” IDC said.
“In the short term, (the economy) is definitely affecting our PC growth in China,” said Lenovo Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing at a news conference after the Chinese company’s annual shareholder meeting. “From a long-term perspective, I think PCs will continue to increase.”
Mr. Yang said Lenovo’s strong focus on smartphones and tablets in China will also help the company sustain its overall growth in the market.
Lenovo overtook Hewlett-Packard Co. as the world’s largest PC vendor in the second quarter according to data from research firms. According to IDC, Lenovo’s PC market share in the quarter through June rose to 16.7% from 15% a year earlier, topping H-P’s 16.4% share.
Still, Lenovo’s business outlook isn’t free of uncertainties, in part because China’s economic growth is slowing. China is Lenovo’s biggest market, accounting for about 40% of its group revenue.
“The speed of China’s economic development has been affected by the global economy because exports are its major driving force,” said Lenovo Chief Financial Officer Wong Wai Ming. “I don’t think anyone can say that the world economy has already hit the bottom, but my view is that its decline is slowing down.”
Mr. Wong said that Lenovo’s business in China isn’t limited to major cities like Shanghai or Beijing—what it calls mature markets within China. In areas outside urban centers, “there’s huge demand that has not been touched,” he said.
Since last year, Lenovo has been aggressively expanding its mobile device business. The company is already the second-largest smartphone vendor in China after Samsung Electronics Co., and it also sells handsets in emerging markets, mainly in Asia. In May, the company said that its aim was to sell 50 million smartphones and 10 million tablets in its current fiscal year through next March. “We are confident that we can meet those sales targets,” said Mr. Yang.
Mr. Yang said that even traditional desktop and laptop PCs have room for growth in China, given that PC penetration is still much lower compared with developed countries. “I believe that urbanization that the Chinese government is driving will help expand the PC market,” he said.
While the global PC industry is bracing for one of its worst years in history amid weak demand, Lenovo, which acquired International Business Machines Corp.’s PC business in 2005, has continued to outperform the industry in terms of shipments for more than a year. Its net profit for the quarter through March rose 90% to $127 million, while revenue increased 4% to $7.83 billion.

Write to Juro Osawa at juro.osawa@wsj.com

A study of the experiences of cosmetic surgery tourists, led by the University of Leeds, challenges widely held perceptions about the safety and motives of people travelling overseas for treatment.

The two-year study, ‘Sun, Sea, Sand and Silicone’, is the first to use in-depth interviews, video and photo diaries and questionnaires to analyse cosmetic surgery tourism from the perspective of the patient’s experience. The study was funded by the Economic & Social Research Council.

Findings are based on the accounts of more than 100 patients from the UK, Australia and China, as well as 100 people involved in the industry.

While bad experiences have typically grabbed headlines, the researchers found that 98% of the patients would repeat the procedure in the same country and medical facility. Many patients also praised the clinics for diagnosing and treating underlying health problems during pre-surgery tests.

The profiles of the patients also challenge the stereotype of a cosmetic surgery tourist as being a wealthy, glamorous and globe trotting Westerner who is exploiting low-wage economies.

According to Professor Ruth Holliday from the University of Leeds, “The patients we interviewed were ordinary people on modest incomes – administrators, nurses, shop workers – who travelled abroad because they could not afford to have the surgery at home. Some patients from the UK commented that private surgeons at home viewed them as walking cheque books, whereas surgeons abroad saw them as a whole person.”

Investing in their physical appearance was only one of four motivating factors for opting for cosmetic surgery. Other reasons given by patients were correction, such as ear pinning and nose reshaping; repair, such as post-pregnancy breast uplift or tummy tuck; and anti-aging, such as a face-lift or hair transplant.

The findings also show that the quality of the surgeon, rather than the desirability of the destination, was the key deciding factor in choosing the location. Many patients reported that they enjoyed some sightseeing during their trip, but the emphasis was on travelling for affordable surgery and then returning home as quickly as possible.

When asked how they had selected a surgeon, the researchers found that people preferred reading reviews from other patients, while the advice provided by surgeons, clinics or cosmetic surgery tourism agents was often seen as being tainted by profit motives. –

See more at: http://www.imtj.com/news/?entryid82=423515#sthash.9Bz1nM5a.dpuf

As organizations have become more welcoming and, in many cases, keenly interested in actively recruiting diverse employees there is much discussion about what constitutes an inclusive workplace. This is a challenge for many organizations at the local and national levels.

When organizations go global, or have an international mix of diverse employees at a single location, inclusion takes on added complexity through additional layers of cultural considerations such as language, local cultural norms, and sometimes greater divides in socio-economic privileges among employees.