Solidiance in the news
March 2013 | Article
What Makes Singapore the Most Innovative Compared to Others in Asia Pacific?
Singapore has been labelled as the most innovative city in Asia Pacific based on Solidiance's research across the region. Damien Duhamel, the Managing Partner Asia Pacific of Solidiance asserts Singapore's predominance compared to other ranked cities - Singapore has vision and the capacity to implement the vision quickly. What's happening in Singapore is evolution - not revolution - of how people are now more educated in Singapore and willing to take risks.
March 2013 | Article
Solidiance Ranks the Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific
Solidiance ranks the Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific based on two years of comprehensive research, measuring the 6 main categories such as human talent, knowledge creation, technology, society, government, and global integration. In this ranking, Solidiance derives qualitative information through quantitative means, and interprets quantitative information through qualitative elaboration, resulting Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne to appear as the top three.
March 2013 | Article
Asia Pacific's Most Innovative City is...
Singapore sits at the top of the Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific ranking according to Solidiance's study. The city outsmarts others in the region, including those in China and India despite they're being the fastest growing economies in Asia. The study argues that a city's level of innovation did not necessarily correlate with its size or its speed of growth. A city needs to be innovative not to grow quickly, yet to sustain its growth.
March 2013 | Article
Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne are the Top Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific
The achievement in being able to make dramatic and perpetual improvements for the past 25 years makes Singapore being the most innovative city in the whole Asia Pacific. This result is acquired by Solidiance that examines six links between what a city has to offer and the amount of talent that relocates to that city: human talent, knowledge creation, technology, society, government and global integration.
March 2013 | Article
The 10 Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific
Innovation is an ever-moving target, and regardless of the fact that quantifying its existence can be incredibly difficult, especially on a large scale, Solidiance examines Asia Pacific cities to find out which cities are worth reckoning as the most innovative. This ranking is complemented with a short movie featuring interviews with government officials, entrepreneurs, and artists in the region. Eventually, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne come out as the top three winners.
March 2013 | Article
Must Read from around the World : Singapore Tops the Innovation Ranking
Singapore topped the list of 10 innovative cities in Asia Pacific according to Solidiance's ranking. The city is reckoned for its stable politics, limited government regulation and widespread presence of global brands–all of which are conditions that attract “creative” types, such as artists, academics and inventors, to live there. The Australian cities, Sydney and Melbourne, follow right after, rounding up the top three on the list.
March 2013 | Article
Singapore Leads Asia Pacific Region in Innovation
Solidiance identifies the top cities in the Asia-Pacific region where entrepreneurs are likely to thrive through its Most Innovative Cities ranking. Aiming to single out the cities with ideal business conditions and high quality of life, Solidiance comes up with Singapore on the top of the list. Despite several prominences that the city possesses, the government is often criticized to hinder the city's freedom of expression.
March 2013 | Article
Singapore: Innovation Leader in Asia Pacific Region
Singapore has been identified as the most innovative city in Asia Pacific, excelling in global integration category compared to others in the region. Solidiance, the author of this study asserts that the ranking is likely to change in the future due to the fact that the cities are still growing. This ranking comes up with a short documentary movie about opinions towards innovation from entrepreneurs and other key city stakeholders in Asia.
March 2013 | Article
Innovation is Emerging in Asian Countries, Led by Singapore
Urbanisation and megacities are among the buzzwords of the decade, especially in stories of Asia’s emerging economies. Being innovative is necessary to build a sustainable city, and Solidiance rounds up a list of the Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific. Singapore has the crown as the first winner, meanwhile Bangkok sits on the 12th rank, and yet acknowledged as number one on the society category.
March 2013 | Article
Bangkok is One of the Most Innovative Cities in Asia Pacific
Bangkok is among the most innovative cities in Asia Pacific, according to a study done by Solidiance. The city ranks the highest and outperforms others in terms of society which included culture, value systems and ideology that it upholds, yet sits at the 12th rank overall. Bangkok is very open to other cultures and fast changing, making it as a rising force to reckon with, granting it the most potential to climb in the ranking in the future.
March 2013 | Article
Myanmar Thrust onto the Frontline of Consumerism
The big brands have now swept into Myanmar, determined to have a share of an anticipated boom and transform the nation's impoverished people into brand-savvy global consumers. Damien Duhamel, Solidiance's Managing Partner Asia remarks that rushing in to untapped market of Myanmar to seek for 'pioneering advantage' is a laden risk. Meanwhile MNCs from Taiwan, HK, Singapore are likely to enter in 2nd or 3rd wave to build sustainable market share.
March 2013 | Article
Renewable Energy is a Necessity in China
Renewable energy is an increasingly hot topic in China and is a sector targeted for increasing amounts of government attention and investment before 2020. According to Solidiance's analysis, there are 3 key drivers behind the continued interest in this sector : China’s increasing demand for electricity, the need to reduce its reliance on coal for energy production, and the need to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
March 2013 | Article
China: The World's Fastest Growing Solar PV Market
Chinese government targets total installed capacity to reach 21 GW by 2015 and 50 GW by 2020. However, the industry is overcrowded in which the strong firms suffer from problems of overcapacity, troublesome technological development processes and an international slowdown. According to Solidiance's analysis, chief opportunities in the Chinese solar PV sector lie on domestic development, new technology R&D, and cost reduction.
March 2013 | Article
Wind Power in China Faces Period of Adjustment
Following years of unregulated growth, China still dominates the global wind energy market with 25% of total global installed wind capacity and is taking the opportunity to mature with the key industry trends including consolidation and internationalisation. According to Solidiance's analysis, the sector started its period of adjustment in 2011, as the newly installed wind power capacity began to experience a slowdown of its rapid growth.
March 2013 | Article
Hydro Power - China's Most Effective Renewable Energy Resource
Installations of hydro power continued to rise in the period up to 2011, with China accounting for 22% of the total global installed hydro power capacity. Considerably the most effective renewable energy resource, hydro power sector is dominated by SOEs, although foreign firms are still plausible to invest with limited capacity. However, some challenges faced by China may cause the investment in the sector to decline after 2020.
March 2013 | Article
Thailand as Southeast Asia's Automotive Leader and Its Strategic Tie with Myanmar
Thailand has been spearheading economic growth in South East Asia, even before ASEAN was formed. Although we can’t neglect its political instability, it has accumulated knowledge and experiences especially in automotive sector and by now it is known as “Detroit in Asia”. Aki Nakamura, Solidiance's Head of Japan Desk, assesses this existing superiority and its strategic tie with Myanmar as an interesting aspect to look into.
February 2013 | Article
Vietnam's Slumping & Challenged Property Market Sees Signs of Improvement
Vietnam's economic downturn is slumping its property market as the banking scandals discouraged foreign investors and domestic buyers. Michael Sieburg, the Manager of Solidiance Vietnam, states on a Property Market article that regardless of the current economic slowdown, Vietnam's property market sees a bright light through the large investments planted by foreign firms, signaling an increase of their confidence. And for this to cause positive impact, the government needs to back it up with substantive efforts i.e. building on its macroeconomic gains.
January 2013 | Article
China's Renewable Energy: the Outlook for Growth
As the world's manufacturing hub, China is prompted to bear the environmental costs in regards to renewable energy. Fossil fuel use is unsustainable, hydro power industry is past its peak, wind power is slowing down, meanwhile solar PV is a traction for investment, as well as biofuels which is still being investigated for rapid future growth. This article is based on Solidiance's "China's Renewable Energy" white paper
January 2013 | Article
Renewable Energy in China to Experience Explosive Growth
China soon to experience a renewable energy boom due to increasing demand for electricity; reduction in use of coal for energy production; and cutting carbon emissions. Hydro power saw rapid growth only until 2011, and wind power players are having consolidation and internationalization. Solar market is facing overcapacity , meanwhile biofuels and biomass are newfound areas waiting for growth. This article is based on Solidiance's "China's Renewable Energy" white paper.
January 2013 | Article
Chinese Government Increases Investment & Attention towards Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is a sector targeted for government's heavy investment and attention before 2020. Hydro power sector is slowing down & dominated by SOEs. China is world's wind power leader yet starts descending. Solar PV industry is getting overcrowded, meanwhile biomass and biofuels are new & still supported by poor infrastructure. This article is based on Solidiance's "China's Renewable Energy" white paper.
November 2012 | News
Solidiance and Arthur D. Little Form Comprehensive Alliance in Asia
Solidiance, a Singapore-based B2B growth strategy advisory firm operating in several Asian
Countries, officially signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with Arthur D. Little, a global management consulting firm to jointly pursue business in the Asia Pacific region and enhance companies' network. Solidiance and Arthur D. Little share many of the same values, such as an emphasis on leveraging innovation creation to contribute to client companies’ growth, as well as their clear client-centric approach.
November 2012 | News
Innovation at Work: A Fun & Free Apple Application by Solidiance: The Asia Quiz
Solidiance has released "The Asia Quiz", a free quiz application that tests and broadens your Asian market insights, containing questions with multiple options to answer and focused on the four main topics : technology, industrial, med-tech, and general knowledge of Asian market. "The Asia Quiz" is free for download on iPhone, iPad, and iTouch that are ran by at least iOS 4.0 all around the world. It also comes with article reviews and tutorial videos from different medias for further references that may be required. “The Asia Quiz” is developed by AppSolution.
Download here: http://bit.ly/TheAsiaQuiz
October 2012 | Article
Is Singapore a Healthcare Innovation Hub in Southeast Asia?
Singapore is regarded as a small country with luring attraction for FDI in ASEAN. With the flowing investment coming in, as remarked in the Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry Singapore magazine article by Praneet Mehrotra, Solidiance's Singapore Principal, the country's feasibility to undertake R&D activities and be a test-market for healthcare sector makes it potential to be harnessed by global companies as a place to invest. This article also expands on the key reasons why Singapore is an important investment destination, specifically for R&D purposes in the healthcare sector.
October 2012 | Event
China's Construction Sector Slowdown and its Impacts on Foreign Companies
As part of an extended series of industry breakfast events hosted by Solidiance across Asia, Solidiance China hosted its 2nd by-Invitation only breakfast event on the 5th of September 2012 in Shanghai to examine the current market trends in the construction and industrial sector. The event discussed challenges this slowdown presents for China’s industrial equipment and later develop solutions for Fortune 500 to maintain positive returns on their investments in China.
October 2012 | Article
Build Your Team Based on Diversity to Innovate in Asia
Part three of the “Easy-to-Implement” series by Solidiance’s Managing Partner Asia, Damien Duhamel, as featured in the Singapore Business Review magazine, focuses on the importance of diversity as a means to innovate a company from within. Recruiting beyond the obvious circle as well as enhancing diversity in the business is one of the fastest roads to innovation in companies. As such, a melting pot of origins, cultures, perspectives, will ultimately create a melting pot of good ideas.
October 2012 | Article
Emerging Trends and Opportunities in Myanmar's Property Construction Market
Myanmar's property market has faced broad changes in the last two years as the international business people seek investment opportunities in the country. Property demand has surged and as a response, developers seemingly will follow a certain pattern that had been seen in Vietnam 20 years ago, as Damien Duhamel, Solidiance's Managing Partner Asia, stated in this New York Times article. Developers from Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong will build new hotels and offices, resulting in the emerging of apartment and condominium market oriented around expatriates.
June 2012 | Article
Failure and Risk-Taking are Key Incentives for Company Innovation in Asia
Part two of the “Easy-to-Implement” series by Solidiance’s Managing Partner Asia, Damien Duhamel, is featured in the Singapore Business Review magazine. Focusing on the particular issue of bringing order in the innovation of a company from within, this commentary piece further mentions that failure must be defined as a learning process and that one should encourage risk-taking by discounting failure. Without failure, there would not be any mind-blowing idea from manifest.
May 2012 | Article
The Fundamental Pillars in Growing a Strategy Consulting Business in Asia
Solidiance’s Managing Partner Asia, Damien Duhamel, was interviewed by the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. He details his entrepreneurial and professional background, the history behind Solidiance’s founding, the difficulties he encountered while setting up the company, while also weighing in about the fundamental pillars of being a successful entrepreneur in Asia.
May 2012 | Article
Don't Listen to, but Observe your Asia Customers to Find New Ways to Innovate in Asia
Part one of the “Easy-to-Implement” series by Solidiance’s Managing Partner Asia, Damien Duhamel, is featured in the Singapore Business Review magazine. This first part states that the rule is not to listen to the customers, but to observe them instead. Innovation is a tough exercise, but it must be done by the enterprise, not by its customers. Observing customers in Asia and interpreting their behavior helps to see a usually not-so-obvious opportunity.
September 2011 | News
Solidiance Forecast: Up to 4 Million Green Cars in China by 2020
The Chinese automotive market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 10% in the next decade thanks to its growing middle class. The Chinese government aims to have 500,000 to 1,000,000 green cars (including electric and hybrid cars and buses) on the road by 2015. Based on Solidiance’s forecast, there could be between 2 to 4 million green cars on the roads in China by 2020, given a 5-10% penetration rate of the Chinese Electric vehicle market.
September 2011 | Article
Singapore Amongst Greenest City in Asia; Proof of Growth in the Asia Green Buildings Market
The Business Times expands on the growing market of green buildings in Asia, stating that the industry helps sustain Asia’s growth. Singapore, in particular, has leapt ahead of its time to show what future Asian green cities can look like. Therefore, it is no surprise that a recent high-profile report by Solidiance, a consultancy firm focused on the Asia Pacific region, has already ranked Singapore first on the top 10 green cities in the Asia-Pacific region in regards to green policy.
September 2011 | News
Business Monitor International Forms Alliance with Solidiance
Business Monitor International (BMI) has signed an affiliation agreement with Solidiance to become its consulting partner for the region. The partnership seeks to bridge and connect BMI’s systematic market research, ratings and forecasts with Solidiance’s bespoke consulting services, both of which serve the top 1000 multinationals operating in Asia.
August 2011 | News
Ingenious Switzerland Appoints Solidiance as Business Scout in Singapore
Ingenious Switzerland, the Swiss center of excellence for architecture, engineering and design based in Zurich, has appointed Solidiance, Asia’s premier B2B growth consulting firm as their business scout in Singapore. Singapore with its aspirations to be a regional green building hub has been identified as strategic export market with considerable potential for Ingenious Switzerland. For its part, Solidiance will drive the business development of Ingenious Switzerland in the region through its recognized domain knowledge in the construction and engineering field.
July 2011 | Article
Google's Street View Cars Stir Controversy in Japan
In Japan, Google is not the leader in online searches, and its Street View Cars used to aid relief efforts has been wildly unpopular. Many Japanese citizens, including prominent executives and technology bloggers, were outraged at the personal activities the cameras captured. "Google Street View cars have been controversial, maybe more so than other countries, given the limited land where living spaces and public spaces often overlap," said Aki Nakamura, head of Japan business development for Solidiance, to TechNewsWorld.
June 2011 | Article
Vietnam Logistics Industry: The Road Ahead Seems Only Paved With Good Intentions
Road freight holds a natural advantage in Vietnam’s US 3 billion dollar logistics industry. With almost no air freight, limited rail freight, humble maritime freight, road freight represents about 75% of freight volume in Vietnam. Over the last decade, the number of transportation enterprises increased by almost five-fold according to the Government Statistics Office in Vietnam. This article provides a closer look into the road and traffic conditions in Vietnam, road freight challenges in Vietnam, and suggestions on how to best resolve them.
March 2011 | Article
India's Mobile Telecom Content Industry to Expand Rapidly
Solidiance’s Partner Asia, Heiko Bugs, was interviewed by Techistan regarding his views on the current market in the India telecommunications industry. He delves into further detail by explaining Solidiance’s focus in India, especially in the areas of applications and mobile content. Additionally, he also discusses the issues companies face in regards of regaining their investments.
March 2011 | Article
Singapore's Green Building Policy Ranks First in Asia Pacific
Associate Professor Wong Nyuk Hien, a design and environment researcher at the National University of Singapore, credited the Green Mark Scheme for Singapore’s positive results in the green building category of Solidiance's recent green cities ranking. Launched by the Building and Construction Authority in 2005, the scheme rates the environmental friendliness of buildings.
February 2011 | Article
The First Asia Green City Index Ranks Tokyo as Asia Pacific's Greenest City
Clean Air Portal reports that Japan’s largest city earns top marks for the management of carbon emissions, public transportation and air quality. Solidiance has named Tokyo the greenest major city within the Asia-Pacific region, and rounding out the top 10 Green Cities in Asia are Seoul, Melbourne, Singapore, Osaka, Sydney, Auckland, Busan, Taipei and Hong Kong. Cities were evaluated according to CO2 emissions, energy, transportation, air quality, water, waste, green space, and environmental government. It was ranked according to economy, environment, and social factors.
February 2011 | Article
Solidiance Ranks Asia Pacific's Top 10 Green Cities
Solidiance’s ranking of Asia Pacific’s top 10 green cities is calculated based on key factors such as carbon dioxide emissions, renewable energy usage, public transport ridership, overall waste management and green building policies. Solidiance's Asia Pacific's Top 10 Green Cities Index and ranking was the very first ever in Asia.
February 2011 | Article
Singapore Ranks First in Building Policy and Water Management in Asia
Solidiance conducted the first comprehensive study of Asia Pacific’s Green Cities, as reported by The Straits Times. Solidiance published the first Asia Pacific Top 10 Green Cities ranking after analysing all key cities the region. Tokyo is the greenest city in Asia-Pacific region, followed by Seoul, Melbourne, Singapore and Osaka. This result is concluded through the study of the social, economic and environmental factors contributing to the environmental sustainability in each Asia city.
February 2011 | Article
How the New Singapore Budget Can Help Firms Go Green ?
With the right incentives, Singapore could become one of the world capitals for electric vehicles. Solidiance says that as Singapore’s population continues grow, environmentally efficient choices will no longer be a luxury, but a necessity. Singapore may have come up tops in comparison to regional peers when it comes to green buildings - according to recent findings by marketing and growth strategy firm Solidiance but there are other areas, like adoption of cleaner, more sustainable auto fuels, where experts said fiscal incentives can help Singapore take the lead.
December 2010 | Article
Better Infrastructure Needed to Boost Electric Vehicles Industry in Singapore
Demand for electric vehicles in Singapore and the rest of Asia will rise as infrastructure develops. Solidiance forecasts that the battery market for electrical vehicles alone in China could be worth as much as USD 57 billion in 2020. On another hand Singapore is not doing enough to be in the 'driving seat' of the electrical vehicle market in Asia. It is a spot it could easily secure with the right policy.
November 2010 | News
How Much are Home Buyers Willing to Pay for a Green Home in Singapore?
Solidiance’s study on the Singapore green buildings market shows that the majority of home buyers are willing to pay a premium for a green home, as published in Eco-Business.com. The study was conducted with the support of the Singapore Green Building Council, further confirming that green buildings are still only viewed as a lifestyle product.
November 2010 | Article
What are the Cost Savings for Singapore Green Home Buyers?
The Straits Times publishes a report on the first ever poll on public perceptions of green homes, conducted by Solidiance. The result was encouraging: up to 44% polled would pay up to a 5 percent more for a green home, citing cost savings as the top reason.
August 2010 | Article
Thailand's Road Safety, an Opportunity for Truck Manufacturers?
Thailand has one of the worse road safety records in the world, but there are signs that it is improving. Asian Trucker interviews Mickael Feige, Solidiance’s Manager for the Thailand office, to find out what is being done to make the Kingdom's roads safer. Aside from elaborating on the causes of the minimal road safety, Solidiance also shares some insight regarding the issue of drug use, inspections for second hand vehicle trucks, and others.
March 2010 | Article
Building Insulation Materials in Malaysia Could Lead the Way in ASEAN
Insulation materials could pave the way to greener cities and green buildings in Malaysia. Equally important, wool-based insulation enables households and companies to save on up to 30% of energy cost. Malaysia has three wool-based insulation materials manufacturers, and as such could lead the changes in mindset across contractors and project developers in ASEAN. Heiko Bugs, Partner Asia at Solidiance explains how.
December 2009 | Article
The Thailand Truck Industry: Surviving the Crisis ?
Despite the decreasing demand during the political and economical crisis in 2009, the Thailand truck market showed strong resilience and suppliers aggressively cut the manufacturing output down. The Commercial Vehicle market in Thailand somehow showed unexpected resistance to the economic crisis. Solidiance's office in Thailand elaborates on this phenomenon.
November 2009 | Article
Emergence of Healthcare Sector in Vietnam Attracts Set of Opportunities and Challenges
The Vietnamese government has pumped USD 1 billion into its emerging healthcare sector. But despite its attractive growth potential, Vietnam’s emerging economy presents its own set of unique challenges to would-be investors and foreign companies. Damien Duhamel, Solidiance’s Managing Partner Asia, shares his Vietnam Medical Device insights.
June 2009 | Article
The Southeast Asia Third Party Logistics Market in Growth Mode
Solidiance’s study on the logistics industry in ASEAN shows that 83 % of the service logistics activity in the region occurs in Singapore and Malaysia (Penang). The total service logistics market in Southeast Asia has an estimated worth of USD 557 million. Due to her regional hub status, Singapore has a 60 % share of the region’s logistics market. Semiconductor, Telecom and the Electronics industries are the fastest growing and most outsourced industries, with the latter being the most attractive industry in terms of growth and size.
April 2009 | Article
Why Invest in Vietnam as a Manufacturing Location?
In a recent survey with Fortune 500 executives, Solidiance determined that 63% of business executives believe that Vietnam is now a more attractive investment opportunity than Thailand. Vietnam’s political stability is comparable to that of China and Singapore, which allows for foreign investors to adopt a long term view.
April 2009 | Article
Why Shareholders Must Weigh Risk in Chinese Manufacturing and Supply Chain Sector
Companies that are considering moving production into China's interior must weigh the trade-offs of lower costs against the impact on their supply chains. While traditional barriers such as logistics infrastructure and talent shortages are less likely to plague manufacturers, a new crop of challenges, such as provincial regulations and enforcement, may still hinder success. In this article, Pilar Dieter, Solidiance’s Principal for the China office, shares strategic insight regarding the Chinese manufacturing sector and why it is best for shareholders to tread carefully.
March 2009 | Article
Wool Insulation Materials in Malaysia is a Highly Profitable Proposition
Solidiance was selected among a panel of international strategy advisory firms to support the development of the Wool Insulation Market in Malaysia. The content of the engagement was published in a white paper for the Malaysian Government and other key authorities. This article underlines the work Solidiance has done and the potential savings of more than USD 200 Million Malaysia would benefit from if Insulation was included in the building codes by-laws.
August 2008 | Article
Many Roads & Opportunities for Disruptive Innovation in Asia
Increased connectivity, mobile payments and changing ideas of ownership presents new opportunities to conduct business-not-as-usual. Many successful disruptors have profited from transposing existing business models and proven technology from another sector into their own. Can Asian companies adopt more disruptive innovation approach? See what Damien Duhamel, Solidiance’s Managing Partner Asia, has to say about this.
July 2008 | Article
How can Asian companies transform themselves from low-cost manufacturers to leading innovators?
In order to instil innovation at the core of companies in Asia, Solidiance suggests cultivating diversity within the team, encouraging the flow of ideas, promoting failures, and head-butting! However, culturally speaking, companies in Asia are still miles away from a Google and an Apple environment. Damien Duhamel, Solidiance’s Managing Partner Asia, is interviewed by The Edge Business Magazine regarding his views on innovation.
March 2008 | Article
The Basic Rules of Company Innovation in Asia
As Damien Duhamel, Managing Partner Asia at Solidiance, stated in this interview with Marketing Interactive, the biggest factor that holds back Asian companies from being innovative is recruiting within the comfort zone. It is time for companies in Asia to innovate but few have the courage or the ability to do so. Solidiance shares a few hints on how innovation can be instilled at the core of companies in Asia Pacific, providing key skills on how to be innovative.
