In what looks to be the conclusion of a long-running saga, shareholders in Singapore-based conglomerate Fraser and Neave have voted to sell its beer business to the company.

The fastest growing market for beer in the world, it comes as little surprise that some of the lobes biggest brewers are increasing turning their attention to Asian nations and identifying them as core growth markets for the future.

New markets can spring spectacular surprises, but much can be learned from others who have been there before.

By George F. Brown, Jr.

A client in the medical equipment industry recently shared the following experience with me: 

Can China overcome its geology and infrastructure problems to become the dominant force in natural gas? And can other economies benefit from the opportunities this might create?

The world's biggest energy user is also one of the world’s worst polluters, due to its heavy reliance on coal and oil. Though China is now also the world's largest installer of wind turbines and the leading builder of nuclear reactors, it’s not enough to meet China’s unquenchable thirst for energy.

Since Hungary emerged from Soviet control, Magyar Telekom has been making rapid progress towards sustainability, recently earning an A+ rating from the Global Reporting Initiative. 

After more than four decades of Soviet control, the late 1980s saw a whole swathe of Eastern Bloc countries again become the masters of their own destiny. In Hungary, the transition occurred in 1989 and within just a few months, the country’s infrastructure was being modernised.

American Express Travel Services South Africa is developing its continent-wide American Express franchise network to meet the unique requirements of Africa’s rapidly growing oil and gas industries.

Mineral Processing Manager Greg Rasmussen talks about the role of one of the leading exponents in new mining technology in the introduction of new ideas to the industry.

Ralph Waldo Emerson promised that if we built a better mousetrap, the world would beat a path to our door. It’s a common theme, though, within the mining industry, that customers aren’t so easily weaned away from the technology they know and love.

Despite what it admits have been challenging economic times, the company’s like-for-like sales have risen 3.7 percent during the three months to 23 September.

Established in the UK since the opening of its first store in 1985, as of 23 September, Domino’s is able to boast ownership of 748 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Total sales for the group over the aforementioned three month period rose 7.9 percent to £136.4 million.

Whisky combined with driving is generally frowned upon, but in a new initiative experts in Scotland have found an innovative use for distillery by-products.

In what is a world first, a deal has been signed to turn by-products from a Scottish distillery into fuel for cars.

By linking up with Celtic Renewables, a spin-out company from Edinburgh’s Napier University, the Tullibardine distillery in Perthshire plans to use bacteria to feed on the “leftovers” of the whisky making process. This will produce butanol that can be used to fuel vehicles.

The announcement comes as China looks to increase its investments in Afghanistan’s resources sector ahead of the withdrawal of US-led military forces from the country in 2014. In June, the two countries decided to upgrade their ties to the level of a strategic and co-operative partnership.

Increasingly, Afghanistan’s neighbours have been looking to expand their influence in the country.