Bayan Airag Exploration
Mongolia’s Responsible MinerHaving invested in excess of $150 million into one the remotest areas of western Mongolia, Bayan Airag is imparting a positive legacy from its gold and silver mining operations Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Donovan SmithLandlocked between Russia and China and spanning some 1.6 million square kilometres, Mongolia is topographically one of the most fascinating places on earth. Vast swathes of grassy steppes, the enormous Gobi Desert and three major mountain ranges make for a natural phenomenon – one which is home to just three million people, meaning it is the most sparsely populated country in the world. And yet, despite what may appear as physical constraints to economic development, the nation’s GDP is growing solidly. Last year saw the Mongolian economy expand by 6.9 percent, with 6.7 percent growth forecast for 2019 and 6.3 percent in 2020. Central to this recent positive performance and equally bold outlook is mining. According to government figures, the industry accounted for 21 percent of GDP, 85 percent of exports, 30 percent of national budget revenue and over 70 percent of foreign direct investment in 2016, with China being a crucial customer of this thriving activity. It is also fair to suggest that Mongolia is only beginning to scratch the surface of its mining potential. The country is blessed with minerals, sat atop massive reserves of copper, uranium, rare earths, gold, zinc, oil, silver and more. According to some estimates, it is home to 10 percent of the world’s known coal reserves. For Enkhtuvshin Yura, the past…
Vivablast
Preserving Industry Empowering PeopleA business epitomising the meteoric rise of Vietnam and ASEAN during the past two decades, VIVABLAST successfully fuses Asian culture and values with western techniques to deliver excellence in industrial asset preservation Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Donovan Smith The 20th century was largely a period of hardship for Vietnam. Categorised by a combination of French colonial rule (1858-1945), the First Indochina War (1946-1954) and the Vietnam War (1955-1975), decades of conflict had left the nation in a state of disrepair. Yet, despite the odds, the country began to turn a corner during the 1990s. Political reforms brought about by Doi Moi beginning 1986 saw an agricultural overhaul and influx of foreign direct investment, allowing its previously untapped potential to blossom. By the turn of the millennium, more than 30,000 private businesses had been created, poverty had been nearly halved and GDP growth rates were peaking at seven percent. Fast forward to the present day and prosperity remains steady. The country’s economic output has risen from $31 billion to over $233 billion over the past 19 years – a growth record described as remarkable by the World Bank. And similarly, the future looks bright. The Vietnamese construction industry, for example, a central facet of the country’s fast-paced economic development, currently benefits from annual investments double that of global averages. Meanwhile, estimates suggest that $25 billion per year will be required in order to meet the country’s sustainable infrastructure needs moving forward. Resultantly, opportunities for local industry stalwarts are currently abundant. “For Vietnam, and for the ASEAN as a whole,…
Anytime Fitness Asia
Anytime Fitness Asia has established itself in hundreds of communities across eight countries, its gyms becoming a welcoming home away from home for its members, staff, and franchisees.
Super Value Stores
For PNG-based business Super Value Stores, wholesale and retail is all about creating customer benefit by providing better products at better prices.
Sunseap Group
Singapore’s Leading LightEmpowering Southeast Asia with a portfolio of 1.7 GW of solar projects, Sunseap Group continues to spearhead change with its innovative, agile solutions Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Ryan Gray There are few regions globally that can lay claim to more exciting economic prospects than Southeast Asia. While China, Japan and many of the continent’s other traditional powerhouses continue to make headway, the whirlwind taking many of its tiger cub economies by storm is equally helping to shape Asia’s next growth frontier. Take the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for example. An intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 countries, combined they stand as the fifth largest economy in the world with a GDP of $2.76 trillion and population of 630 million (according to 2017’s figures). Yet this is just the advent of prosperity for the region. Owed to vast swathes of industrial, entrepreneurial, financial and technological opportunities, the territory’s annual economic growth rates are forecast to exceed five percent for the next half decade. Against this backdrop, numerous enterprises are unsurprisingly thriving. “The renewables industry, particularly solar energy, is epitomising the high growth in Southeast Asia,” affirms Keith Lim, Chief Financial Officer of Sunseap Group – a Singaporean-based company that is making the most of the monumental opportunities available. “Many developing countries here require increasing amounts of energy to fuel their rapid economic expansion, and solar energy presents itself as an attractive alternative to conventional energy, especially with the declining cost of generation.” Identifying these inevitable demands, Sunseap can be best described as a forward-thinking first mover in the solar market, as well…
Solomon Islands Ports Authority
Maritime MarvelSIPA is charting the Solomon Islands’ progressive, transformative maritime course, its two key ports now standing as crucial pillars of the national economy Writer: Jonathan Dyble | Project Manager: Josh MannThe maritime industry has been instrumental to the development of civilisations through time.Providing humanity with the capacity for cross-continental exploration, mass fishing and greater mobility than land-based travel for trade, transport or warfare, it is understood that the first ships (if you can call them that) were developed many millennia prior to the BC era.Initially consisting of single logs that floated down rivers with small cargo attached to them, greater numbers of logs were eventually strapped together forming rafts to carry larger loads.Fast forward through the centuries and boats gradually became more sophisticated. The Austronesians invented the same oceangoing sailing technologies in 3000 BC that are still used today, allowing them to achieve seaborne migration and establish sophisticated trade routes throughout the Asia Pacific.By 200 AD, records suggest that some ships were capable of carrying 700 people and up to 1,000 tonnes of cargo. Yet these vessels were still a far cry from the sea freighters that we know today.The worlds biggest container ship – the OOCL Hong Kong – currently measures the length of about four football pitches, has a deadweight tonnage of 191,317 metric tonnes, and a capacity equivalent to that of 21,413 standard shipping containers.Albeit impressive, this monumental surge in size is just one facet of the sector that has changed drastically in modern times.Sophisticated marine technologies have been the subject of…
Rutledge Group
Rutledge Group, through its three specialised divisions, continues to innovate and uplift the profile of HSE practices across industries such as oil and gas.
RKH Specialty
By extending its in-house talent and integrating capabilities of partner organisations, RKH Specialty is able to provide an unrivalled insurance offering to businesses, institutions and governmental bodies across the APAC region.
Meinhardt Singapore
Singapore’s ShapeshifterThanks to its one-stop shop approach and can-do attitude, Meinhardt Singapore has been involved in nearly 4,000 projects across the city-state since it started out as a 10-person operation in 1974 Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Tom Cullum Singapore is, like many major cities around the world, changing at breakneck speed. Rightly perceived as a poster child for modernity and an almost faultless smart city template, the island nation too is having to adapt to changing dynamics that are somewhat out of its authorities’ control. Climate change and rapidly evolving technology are two examples, while shifting demographic patterns also present a conundrum, one that is accentuated by the fact that Singapore itself is a city-state. A critical driver of cities’ income expansion since the turn of the millennium, population growth is starting to slow thanks to falling birth rates and the reality that people are living longer. Indeed, by 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 years or older, what Dr Shahzad Nasim describes as a silver tsunami. Nasim is Executive Chairman of global engineering firm Meinhardt, and also the Managing Director of its well-established and sizable Singapore subsidiary. He has witnessed first-hand the changing dynamics of the city and, while recognising the various challenges that lie ahead, is excited about the opportunities that this brings to the construction sector and his company, not least as part of the response to climate change. “The effects of climate change loom large in the horizon,” Nasim comments. “Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently highlighted…
Matrix Composites & Engineering
The Lean Machinist Matrix Composites & Engineering is exporting Australian-made advanced materials all over the world, its lean production principles adding a competitive edge Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold Australia is a nation with a proud record of ingenuity. Whether it is the bionic ear, ultrasound scanner or black box flight recorder, Australians’ knack for innovation has helped propel the country onto the global advanced manufacturing stage. Indeed, of the nation’s A$100 billion total annual manufacturing output, the advanced subsector accounts for nearly half, driven by the adoption of cutting-edge technology and commitment to investing in research and development. This rings true for Aaron Begley and his company Matrix Composites & Engineering. Co-founding a business with his father in 1999, it was a case of sensing an opportunity to innovate and plug a gap in the market which saw it break away from the family’s more traditional engineering background. “We saw an opening in the marketplace to diversify away from what we were doing in the heavy engineering manufacturing space, and that was presented to us by a materials technology from North America,” CEO Begley recalls. “This prompted the development of our own version, which gave the company entrance into the oil and gas space.” The composite material in question is called syntactic foam. Lightweight with high compressive strength, it is used in marine environments predominantly to provide flotational buoyancy for oil and gas drilling operations. Matrix is gearing itself up for a boost in the…
