News

Hong Kong’s Advanced Pricing Program allows companies to get clarification from the tax authorities on whether a transaction is considered transfer pricing. These agreements become possible once Hong Kong has a DTA with the country or countries in question.

China and Vietnam are two of Asia’s most appealing destinations for outsourcing. Here, we discuss how ‘indirect’ and ‘direct’ sourcing platforms function in both and discuss some of the HR and compliance issues that foreign companies should be aware of.

The Philippines has overtaken India as the largest hub for call centers in the world with more than one million Filipinos working in call centers and the related Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry as of August 2014

Asia’s Individual Income Tax (IIT) rates have been experiencing a downward turn in recent years, but there still exists a gap between the region’s highest and lowest rates. In this article, we break down the income taxes of China, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore.

A typical assumption made by purchasing managers is that quality standards applying to products made in Asia for export are similar to those of the West. However, there are strong differences between the quality control standards in different countries and between purchasers, both on the demand and the supply sides.

Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming services are expanding in the Asia-Pacific. Netflix is already broadening its customer base, and the region now presents an attractive market opportunity for other foreign streaming services.

As the cost of manufacturing in China continues to rise, the search for ever-more competitive products becomes increasingly important. While higher incomes in China have an upside, the reality is that a combination of rising wages, welfare and operational costs is encouraging the Asian supply chain to move.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China experienced an increase of 1.7 percent in 2014 to reach US$119.56 billion. While the rise in itself is not noteworthy, the direction of investment is significant.

In 2014, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) celebrated forty years of diplomatic relations. In that time, bilateral trade between Australia and several ASEAN member-states have seen enormous progress, but relations with others remain surprisingly slow.

The newest issue of Asia Briefing magazine, titled “The Asia Sourcing Guide 2015”, is out now and available as a complimentary download in the Asia Briefing Bookstore.