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The newest issue of Asia Briefing magazine, titled “Human Resources Across Asia: A Guide for Foreign Businesses”, is out now and available as a complimentary download in the Asia Briefing Bookstore.

Mercer’s 2015 Quality of Living Rankings confirms some well-established insights into Asian cities. However, rankings alone can be notoriously superficial. In this article, we explore the trends which stand up to scrutiny.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lent its full support to Bangladesh’s new system of value-added tax (VAT). Following an IMF mission led by Rodrigo Cubero to the country, the IMF said that the tax will help boost revenue and reduce compliance costs for businesses.

Asian shipping centers continue to go from strength to strength. In the second of our two-part article on Asian investment in Europe’s shipping sector, we look at how these centers have developed and discuss important shipping routes in the Asia-Pacific region.

Sri Lanka found itself in the faintly odd position of being feted by two superpowers last week, as new Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Not surprisingly, the visit does not sit especially well with India, just an hour away from Sri Lanka’s west coast.

The European shipping sector is confident that the Asian market will remain a reliable lifeline. In the first of this two-part article on the opportunities and threats to Europe’s reliance on the Asian shipping sector, we take a look at the general trends in the industry and intra-Asian trade.

Hong Kong’s Advanced Pricing Program allows companies to get clarification from the tax authorities on whether a transaction is considered transfer pricing. These agreements become possible once Hong Kong has a DTA with the country or countries in question.

China and Vietnam are two of Asia’s most appealing destinations for outsourcing. Here, we discuss how ‘indirect’ and ‘direct’ sourcing platforms function in both and discuss some of the HR and compliance issues that foreign companies should be aware of.

The Philippines has overtaken India as the largest hub for call centers in the world with more than one million Filipinos working in call centers and the related Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry as of August 2014

Asia’s Individual Income Tax (IIT) rates have been experiencing a downward turn in recent years, but there still exists a gap between the region’s highest and lowest rates. In this article, we break down the income taxes of China, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore.