Venture Capital

Venture Capital is the money or capital provided for new business ventures by investors other than the original proprietor. The term is sometimes also used for capital provided to rescue or turn around a company. Venture capitalists—that is, those who provide venture capital—include individuals, investment banks, and institutions that specialize in providing venture capital. 

Venture capitalists expect some of their investments to do well and some to do poorly. Their survival in business depends on picking more successful investments than unsuccessful ones. Venture capitalists face a higher risk of losing money than those providing capital to proven ventures, so they demand a higher potential return on their investment. When investing in new ventures, they often insist on owning a share of the business. As part owner, a venture capitalist can have more control over the investment and is in a better position to earn a higher return if the business succeeds than someone who lent money to the venture. The original proprietors may agree to this arrangement if it is the only way to get the money or if they want to raise funds without incurring debt. The owner may also welcome the business and financial expertise venture capitalists often provide.

source : http://www.englisharticles.info/2012/11/28/venture-capital/

Mobile Banking on the Increase in Developing Countries

Mobile banking is becoming more and more popular in countries of the Third World. While in developed countries almost all people have bank accounts, only a small part of the population in underdeveloped countries has access to banks.

In mobile banking a person who wants to send money does so by sending theamount via text to the receiver’s phone number. The person who receives the money goes to an authorized local shop that and withdraws the cash.

Mobile banking has become popular where there are few banks but where most of the people have a mobile phone. The potentialmarket is especially large in South America where only 35% of the people have bank accounts but 90% have mobile phones.

The number of mobile banking customers is expected to rise in Third World countries from currently 60 million to almost a billion in 2015. Over 80% of these costumers live in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

In the developed world mobile banking has not become a serious option because most customers have bank accounts andtransfer their money via Internet banking. As more and more Americans and Europeans buy smartphones mobile banking will probably increase.

source : http://www.english-online.at/news-articles/business-economy/mobile-banking-in-developing-countries.htm

How e-commerce is changing people’s shopping habits

Even though e-commerce has been around for a long time only 5% of all goodsproduced are bought online. But e-commerce is still growing. It is breaking intotraditional markets more than ever before. Not just books, CDs and holiday trips are bought online, but all sort of other products and services that wereunimaginable in the past. Today, more and more online shops get their customers from social networks like Facebook and mobile phones.

In the past going shopping was fun, something that you did with your friends or relatives. It was a social event. Today, Facebook and other social media networks are the driving force behind online shopping. Companies targetpotential customers and online communities. If they advertise their brandsand products in the right way people will talk about them, and news spreads throughout the online world much quicker than in the real world.

The new smartphone generation is likely to have an even greater impact on online shopping. While in a real store, customers often getreviews and price comparisons directly on their mobile. In many cases, when they see something they want to buy they leave the shop and buy online or go to a nearby place where they get it for a lower price. There are even apps which show you if there is a certainproduct on sale within a short distance of your location.

E-commerce is only at the beginning, with many more new shopping experiences to come.

source : http://www.english-online.at/news-articles/business-economy/ecommerce-is-changing-peoples-shopping-habits.htm

Bitcoin - Digital Money on the Internet

Bitcoin is an internet currency that was started in 2009 by a Japanese software developer. In contrast to normal money, which is distributed and controlled by government, there is no central organization behind Bitcoin. You can send and receive Bitcoin money without giving your name or address and without paying fees to a bank.

Bitcoins are not physical. However, they can be bought at exchanges all across the Internet, where you can trade them for normal money. 

Bitcoins are created by a process called mining. They can be produced by anyone around the world. People compete to solve puzzles using mathematical software. If they succeed they get a certain number of bitcoins as a reward. 

Customers can save their bitcoins in an internet wallet, a kind of software that manages your virtual money. From there you can buy products from merchants who accept bitcoins. You can also sell items and get bitcoins in return. Only your special ID is transferred across the Internet, never your real identity. Bitcoin is a way of sending and receiving money anonymously. Not all governments are happy about this new internet currency. Some see it as a way of transferring money, for example from drugs or other illegal activities, from one place to another.

The value of bitcoins is determined by their popularity in the world and how they are trusted. If many businesses accept the currency and more and more people use it to make transactions, its value goes up. Recent scandals around Bitcoin exchanges, however, has made the value of the digital currency go down. Towards the end of 2013 the value of the world's bitcoins was about $1.5 billion.

Many economic experts see Bitcoin as the currency of the future. However, it is not ready for mass use. The network may suffer from hacking attacks and the value of the money is not very stable. Bitcoin is also seen as a playground for money speculators.

source : http://www.english-online.at/news-articles/business-economy/bitcoin-digital-money-on-the-internet.htm

ASEAN FREE TRADE AREA (AFTA)

The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is a trade bloc agreement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations supporting local manufacturing in all ASEAN countries. The AFTA agreement was signed on 28 January 1992 in Singapore. When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six members, namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999. AFTA now comprises the ten countries of ASEAN. All the four latecomers were required to sign the AFTA agreement in order to join ASEAN, but were given longer time frames in which to meet AFTA's tariff reduction obligations. The primary goals of AFTA seek to: Increase ASEAN's competitive edge as a production base in the world market through the elimination, within ASEAN, of tariffs and non-tariff barriers; and Attract more foreign direct investment to ASEAN. The primary mechanism for achieving such goals is the Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme, which established a phased schedule in 1992 with the goal to increase the region’s competitive advantage as a production base geared for the world market. Unlike the EU, AFTA does not apply a common external tariff on imported goods. Each ASEAN member may impose tariffs on goods entering from outside ASEAN based on its national schedules. However, for goods originating within ASEAN, ASEAN members are to apply a tariff rate of 0-5 % (the more recent members of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, also known as CMLV countries, were given additional time to implement the reduced tariff rates). This is known as the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN_Free_Trade_Area