The DIGITS

The numbers that count in 2008

CRUNCHING CAMBODIA

Over US$1,000 million Foreign funds that were invested in Cambodian land and real estate projects in 2007. Cambodia is the only country that allows investors to form 100% foreign-owned companies which can buy land and real estate outright. 45% of the country’s entire landmass has been sold off and 150,000 Cambodians are currently threatened with eviction to make way for the new real estate ventures.

Macau Rising

The gaming capital of the world’s ritziest casinos are:

Venetian Macao
Opened: August 2007
Cost: US$2.4 billion

MGM Grand Macau
Opened: December 2007
Cost: US$1.2 billion

Wynn Macau
Opened: September 2006
Cost: US$1.1 billion

Sands Macau
Opened: May 2004
Cost: US$265 million

Crown Macau
Opened: May 2007
Cost: US$190 million

 

ECO MATTERS

8 Minutes added to a Northwest Airlines transatlantic ?ight by ?ying 10km/h slower, saving 162 gallons of fuel.

12 billion: Number of incandescent light bulbs sold worldwide every year, comprising

19% of the world’s energy bills. According to the International Energy Agency, switching to energy-saving bulbs could save the planet 555 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

 

CHINA IN FIGURES

0 The number of Chinese MBA graduates in 1998

30,000 The expected number of Chinese MBA graduates in 2008

10 million The estimated number of Chinese people who have no electricity

350 million The number of Chinese people who smoke (a third of the world’s smokers). Around a million people a year are thought to die from smoking-related diseases

540 million Number of mobile phone users in China, with an increase of 44 million in the past six months

240 billion yuan (US$34.5 billion) The estimated amount earned by the Chinese government in tobacco taxes in 2005

The World’s Most Competitive Countries

According to an annual study by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the US is the most competitive nation for the 15th year running. It is predicted that Singapore will take over next year, after coming in less than a point behind America.


1 USA
2 Singapore
3 Hong Kong
4 Switzerland
5 Luxembourg
6 Denmark
7 Australia
8 Canada
9 Sweden
10 Netherlands

 

“This is not a few weeks, few months thing. It could be two or three years.”
JUAN JOSE DABOUB, World Bank managing director, warning that the cost of staple foods such as rice were expected to remain high in the future

Sources: TIME, CNBC European Business, The Independent, BusinessWeek, Condé Nast Portfolio