| You may be
wondering now “what the heck? Why is he blathering on about this now”?
You have noticed that I’ve developed a keen interest in the commodity
market and the less developed world. The more off the beaten track this
sort of thing tends to be, the keener is my interest.
It doesn’t
take a rocket scientist to imagine what’s going to unfold. China is keen
on securing its grip on mining, energy, commodities. China is likely to
expand this sort of thing to other commodities based economies – e.g. Argentina,
Chile, Mexico. Investments made in this respect will go into productive
activities. The entire process will boost jobs and profits as well as the
respective national economies. In a nutshell, it confirms my impression.
Latin America and its commodity markets offer opportunities for folks who
don’t follow crowds. When you get involved in a hands on role, it may entail
a pleasant change of lifestyle as well.
Exploration
discoveries like Arequipa in Peru illustrate that a bundle can be made
by investing in junior mining companies. Heaps of junior mining companies
operate in the less developed world like Latin America and Africa. The
trend to this sort of venture in particular in the less developed world
seems to be increasing again. As John Embry, a Toronto stock expert puts
it:"We’re going into a worldwide mining boom with the development of
Third World economies…."
The lack of
sophisticated capital markets in the less developed world doesn’t appear
to be an obstacle for raising exploration funds. As far as yours truly
has been able to get a handle of the situation, about fifty percent of
the global exploration investment is raised in venture capital markets
based in Canada. About twenty percent of the global exploration capital
for junior mining companies comes from the Vancouver Stock Exchange, of
which a significant portion goes into exploring mines in Latin America.
The Vancouver Stock Exchange seems to specialise in this sort of rather
short term oriented and speculative investment in junior mining companies
exploring minerals all over the world.
It may not
be necessary for Latin America to develop its own version of a venture
capital market specialising in financing exploration projects. It may even
be unwise to give it a go considering that there are more exploration geologists
in Vancouver than in any other city on earth. This fact gives Vancouver
a competitive advantage. However, sooner or later Latin America will need
its own smoothly functioning capital markets.
Alternatives
To U.S. Universities
International
students who are inclined to study at universities in the United States
find it more and more difficult to obtain visas for their studies there.
You can read about it in loads of newspapers and magazines. Twenty years
ago, when yours truly was a student himself, I would’ve tried to overcome
these obstacles to obtain the visa. Now, twenty years later on, my attitude
is a little more nonchalant and may be summarised with “what the heck?,
I can’t be bothered”. All over the globe, there are other top notch
universities to choose from. This sort of visa nuisance will backfire on
the United States anyway.
The German
business magazine “Wirtschaftswoche” published a while ago an article,
in which it recommends top notch universities all over the globe as alternatives
to outfits in the United States. I couldn’t be bothered to suss out every
outfit that “Wirtschaftswoche” recommends. Instead I’ve concentrated
on the universities that are located in emerging markets. Let’s chat a
little about these universities that may be of interest to students who
feel rather disinclined to put up with the hassles to obtain a visa for
the United States.
In the article
“Wirtschaftswoche” recommends ITESM in Mexico. In Mexico the outfit
is better known as Tec de Monterrey. ITESM consists of more than thirty
campuses all over Mexico. Almost one hundred thousand students are enrolled
there. In case you reckon that the name ITESM rings a bell, you’re right.
Yours truly spreads his wisdom there. ITESM enjoys the reputation of being
one of the most prestigious universities in Latin America. Its website
is www.itesm.mx.
Another university
located in an emerging market that “Wirtschaftswoche” reckons is
worth considering is the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Stellenbosch
is located in the Western Cape, about fifty kilometers from Cape Town.
You have to see the scenery there yourself to believe how beautiful it
is. Even though undergraduate course are still taught in Afrikaans, postgraduate
courses and seminars for international students are taught in English.
Its website is www.sun.ac.za.
“Wirtschaftswoche”
also recommends the Indian Institute of Technology, which runs various
campuses throughout India. At the moment, international students can only
enroll there for postgraduate studies, not for undergraduate courses. All
courses at that outfit are taught in English. Its website is www.iit.org.
Worth sussing
out as an alternative to studying in the United States is also Peking University
in China. That outfit can boast with the biggest library in Asia. There
are currently about 4.500 international students enrolled. All courses
are taught in Chinese. Its website is http://en.pku.edu.cn/.
As far as I
understand the situation rightly, the majority of students who study overseas
still tend to the United States. On the one hand, I can understand them.
I had similar priorities. On the other hand, why should you put up with
the visa hassles ? There are loads of alternatives available all over the
globe. I’ve mentioned only a few. Moreover, doing something out of the
ordinary is always worth giving a go – such as studying in Mexico, South
Africa, China….
The following
is a list of articles written by Jurgen for the magazine:
|
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