Peter A Coclanis

PETER A COCLANIS IS ALBERT R NEWSOME DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND DIRECTOR OF THE GLOBAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA-CHAPEL HILL (US)

In 1961, Shell became the first foreign investor to receive Singapore’s Pioneer Certificate, for its investment decision to build an oil refinery on Pulau Bukom that year.

Shell exits Singapore refining: The end of an era?

AS MOST readers know by now, on May 8 oil giant Shell announced that it had agreed to sell its Bukom refinery in Singapore to a joint venture of Indonesian chemicals firm Chandra Asri and global tradi...

Vietnam will soon become the 16th country in the world with more than 100 million people.
PERSPECTIVE

People power: Make room for Africa

The big population story for the rest of the century is predicted to be the rise in relative importance of Africa, alongside the relative declines of Asia and the West.

Reliance on foreign workers in some key sectors may be holding back labour productivity.

Singapore’s productivity paradox

Despite its impressive overall economic profile, the republic’s labour productivity, though improving over time, continues to disappoint. What gives?

Kuala Lumpur city skyline

 Acronym alert : SEA BRICs? SEA CRIBs?

THERE has been a lot of talk of late about the possibility of a new international grouping known informally as the BRICs-plus, with Indonesia often being mentioned as a member. Such talk got me thinki...