Day: July 10, 2024

The Impact of Globalization on Small Businesses: Globalization has profoundly influenced small businesses worldwide, presenting both opportunities and challenges that have reshaped their operational landscape. At its core, globalization refers to the increasing interconnectedness of economies and societies through cross-border flows of goods, services, capital, information, and technology. For small businesses, this interconnectedness means greater access to international markets and resources. Today, even the smallest local enterprises can reach global customers through e-commerce platforms, allowing them to compete on a broader scale than ever before.

One of the most significant impacts of globalization on small businesses is the access to new markets. Previously restricted by geographic boundaries, small businesses can now market and sell their products or services globally through online platforms. This access opens up opportunities for growth and revenue diversification, reducing dependency on local economic conditions. For instance, a boutique clothing store in a small town can now reach customers in major cities or even overseas, expanding its customer base exponentially.

However, with these opportunities come challenges. Increased competition is a primary concern for businesses entering global markets. They must contend with both local competitors and established international brands with larger budgets and resources. Different regulatory environments and varying cultural norms also pose challenges, requiring small businesses to navigate legal complexities and adapt their marketing strategies to diverse consumer preferences.

Furthermore, globalization has forced small businesses to become more adaptable and innovative. To remain competitive, they often need to embrace technological advancements and streamline their operations.

Moreover, globalization has reshaped supply chains, offering small businesses access to a wider range of suppliers and partners globally. While this can reduce costs and improve product quality, it also introduces complexities such as logistics management and supply chain transparency.

“Yandex Split Nears Completion with Share Exchange Finalization”,Russian traders have finalised a share exchange for investors in Yandex, often dubbed Russia’s Google, one of the final steps needed to complete a more than $5 billion deal that will see local investors take control of the bulk of the technology company’s business.

A consortium of Russian investors is leading a buyout of Yandex from its Dutch parent company Yandex NV after months of negotiations, with the parent selling its assets in Russia at a heavily discounted price due to Kremlin demands on foreign asset sales.

The deal, the largest by a Western-held company to exit Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, will see Yandex’s Russia-based businesses, which generate more than 95 per cent of revenue and include search, advertising, e-commerce and ride hailing, acquired by the Russian investors.

Yandex’s Nasdaq shares were suspended shortly after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and so the deal will allow Russian investors to trade the stock again, while foreign investors hope to salvage something from the international assets.

Russia’s two main bourses, Moscow Exchange and SPB Exchange, said late on Tuesday a voluntary exchange for investors to convert their Yandex NV shares into shares in the new Russian entity, MKPAO Yandex, had been completed.

Moscow Exchange said it had exchanged 42.4 million shares worth a total of 180.3 billion roubles ($2.06 billion) across thousands of transactions carried out by 99 brokerages. It was not clear how Moscow Exchange calculated the value of shares.

MKPAO Yandex listed on Moscow Exchange in April and its shares will begin trading on July 24.

SAO PAULO: Brazilian aims for Olympic gold in women’s lightweight, Beatriz Ferreira’s boxing journey started at the age of four in her family’s garage, where she first discovered her passion for the sport.

Now, 27 years after first picking up the gloves, the Brazilian, daughter of twice Brazil boxing champion Raimundo Oliveira Ferreira, is the favourite to win gold at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the lightweight category.

Growing up in a poor neighbourhood of Salvador in the northern Brazilian state of Bahia, her father transformed their garage into a makeshift gym.

“He cleared out the garage, set up a punching bag, and invited neighbourhood kids to train. It was his way of keeping us off the streets,” she told Reuters between sparring at the Brazilian Boxing Federation training centre.

In pursuit of her dreams, she moved to Sao Paulo to train with the Olympic team.

“I didn’t know anyone in Sao Paulo, but I had a dream and the money boxing had earned me. I trained with the Olympic team, which was an invaluable experience,” she recounts.

Despite financial hardship, she persisted, even when her money ran out. Her dedication paid off when she was invited to be a reserve for the Olympic team.

JAKARTA : “Indonesia Uses Palm Oil Fund for Cocoa, Coconut Sectors”,Indonesia plans to use funds from its palm oil export levy to finance development of the country’s cocoa and coconut sectors, the country’s trade minister said on Wednesday.

The world’s biggest palm oil exporter has since 2015 collected a levy to fund its palm oil biodiesel mandate, smallholder replanting programme and palm oil research.

“Initially we planned for separate agencies for cocoa and coconut, but it has been decided to merge them with BPDPKS,” Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan told Reuters. BPDPKS refers to the country’s agency in charge of collecting a palm oil export levy and disbursing the fund.

“It will be a cross subsidy, for cocoa and coconut development, nursery and seedlings from (the crude palm oil levy),” he said.

Indonesia currently imposed a 0-15 per cent export tax on cocoa beans, which the government will assign to BPDPKS to collect and manage, coordinating minister of economics Airlangga Hartarto said.

Zulkifli said the plans would be implemented soon and the agency has sufficient money so there was no need to impose an additional levy on cocoa and coconut producers.

In a statement, the industry ministry said the plan was needed to ensure security of supply, with cocoa output in the 2015-2023 period shrinking by 8.3 per cent annually.

Indonesia was the world’s fourth-biggest exporter of cocoa products last year, though had to import 62 per cent of the cocoa beans needed, the ministry said.

Indonesia’s smallholder palm oil group APKASINDO urged the government to reconsider its plan and said there was not yet enough funding for palm oil farmers.

“LONDON: “Russian Athlete List Shrinks as Sports Chiefs Reject IOC Terms”, The list of Russian athletes heading to the Paris Olympics later this month has dwindled to just over a dozen, with several sports federation heads opting out due to what they deem humiliating restrictions imposed by the IOC.”

Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow’s closest ally in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, are barred from the Paris Games unless they compete as neutrals without their flags, anthems and emblems.

As of July 10, the Olympics website indicates only 16 Russian athletes are slated to compete in the Paris Games, scheduled from July 26 to August 11.

Russia takes pride in its record as a major sporting power at the Olympics. At the last summer Games in Tokyo in 2021, 335 Russian athletes competed, coming away with 71 medals including 20 golds.

Russians and Belarusian athletes have been forced to undergo an additional vetting process to ensure they do not support Russia’s war and have no connection to its military.

The Olympics kick off as tensions between Russia and the West are at their most acute in decades. Moscow has denounced the vetting process and other restrictions as discriminatory, accusing the IOC of engaging in a “conspiracy” to exclude its athletes.

Several Russian sports officials including in judo, wrestling and gymnastics have said their athletes will not go to Paris because of what they see as the unfair terms. Wrestler Veronika Chumikova said the decision to refuse the IOC’s invitation was her own, not the federation’s.

“The conditions that were prescribed there – without the flag, without the anthem – were somehow unpatriotic,” Chumikova told Reuters in a WhatsApp message.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that each athlete could decide individually whether to compete.