Broadsight Issue 6 October 2013

July 2013—BROADSIGHT by

1 Broadgate Financial

BROADSIGHT by

October 2013—Issue 6

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Foreword

Dear Readers,

This month’s issue of Broadsight comes at a time when Broadgate is going through a sea-change in our

organisation and operations. Last month we sold off one of our divisional companies, Broadgate Investment Advisory

Securities (Thailand) Ltd, a company registered with the Ministry of Finance and regulated by the SEC in Thailand, to the

deVere Group, the world’s largest IFA company with assets under management in excess of $7 billion USD. This marks

the end of our involvement with financial services and allows us, going forward, to concentrate our energies on the

three core business units with a focus on ‘green’ building and energy technologies and sustainable agriculture projects.

Over the last month I have been travelling extensively in Cambodia in order to develop our JV partnership with

Cambodia’s second largest conglomerate, the 7NG Group, and CLMV Capital, a boutique investment-banking group.

This is a very exciting time for us as I see great opportunities in this rapidly booming economy. I first started travelling to

Phnom Penh about three years ago and I have seen large changes in this short period of time. Previously, there were no

high-rise buildings in the city, whereas now, there are many on-going and upcoming projects for offices, hotels, malls

and residential buildings. Hopefully the character of the city, with its lovely old French colonial buildings, will not change

beyond recognition.

I would certainly recommend anyone who has not visited before should take a trip to this friendly and hospitable

country with it’s café culture, as well as many fine restaurants and entertainment venues. Cambodia is truly a country of

genuine smiles!

Phillip Lingwood

Senior Vice President

Technical

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

News Feed

Industry News Energy

Industry News Plantations

Industry News Construction

Project News Q&A

ISR Being An Expat in

Asia Contact Information

All of us at Broadgate Financial are pleased to

present you the sixth issue of our Corporate

Magazine: BROADSIGHT. We wanted to make it clear, comfortable to

read and enjoyable. That’s why in each of the

future issues you will find the same guidelines

with:

The hottest news from the previous

month along with upcoming important

issues relating to the business world in

ASEAN and beyond ;

A market report on the most important

aspects of last month’sfinancial news

provided by the Excelsior Worldwide Ltd

company;

Industry news related to our services in

Plantations, Construction and Energy ;

A presentation of one new project

running at Broadgate Financial ;

A Q&A specific to our three industries ;

And finally a presentation of an

Individual Social Responsibility project

run at Broadgate Financial ;

We do hope you will enjoy this magazine as

much as we did compiling it. If you have any

questions or requests, please feel free to

contactus at

[email protected].

In this issue of BROADSIGHT,

Like

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

News Feed

News Feed

News Feed

Market News Deveopment banks finance

record amount of cleof clean

energy : BNEF

Development banks have achieved record levels of investment in the clean energy sector breaking through the US$100 billion a year mark for the first time, according to a new report. Financing for renewables, energy efficiency and transmission infrastructure was up 19% in 2012 with Germany’s KfW, China Development Bank and the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) leading the way. “This year we expect at least another 15% growth in development bank financing,” Abraham Louw, clean energy analyst. “There is potential for an even bigger increase in the longer term if other institutions – such as a possible BRICS-country development bank – become active.” The report also expects a collective switch away from investment in coal power by development banks to drive some of the growth in clean energy investment.

http://www.pv-tech.org/

Firms interested in Myanmar wind power

Firms from Thailand and China such as Gunkul Engineering Public Company Ltd and China Three Gorges are studying the feasibility of wind power in Myanmar, where 70% of the population has no access to electricity, media reports said on Sunday. Most Western sanctions were dropped last year, but foreign firms claim that a major disincentive for investment in the newly opened economy is the lack of electricity.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/

Farmers block Chiang Mai city mall

Corn farmers protesting against the low crop prices on Tuesday morning surrounded Chiang Mai provincial hall, blocking all entrance and exit gates, reports said. The protesters’ core leaders said farmers had to take action because their earlier demands were totally ignored by the government.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/

China offers tax rebates on

solar power

In an attempt to prop up the struggling sector and also cut pollution levels, manufacturers will be refunded 50% of the value added tax from 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2015, the state-owned Xinhua news agency has reported. Chinese firms emerged as key players in the solar power sector in recent years. But weak demand and trade rows have resulted in overcapacity, leaving leading firms with huge debts.According to the Xinhua report, the country's top 10 solar panel makers have up to 100bn yuan ($16.3bn; £10bn) in debt. Over the past years, economies across the world, especially developed nations, have looked to increase the use of renewable energy sources.Chinese firms have been keen to tap into the market and emerged as leading players in the sector. But a sharp decline in prices, coupled with slowing demand, has hurt global solar panel makers and Chinese firms have also borne the brunt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Cambodia parliament gives

Hun Sen new term as PM

Despite a boycott and weeks of protest by the opposition over disputed elections, Cambodia’s parliament has granted Hun Sen a new five year term as PM. He told reporters that ‘’the door is not closed yet for negotiation with the opposition party, but they have to accept the election results’’. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) have accused Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party of widespread election fraud. Tens of thousands of people joined public protests earlier this month over the election results. At least one person was reported dead after clashes with security forces. Correspondents however say that there is nothing in the Cambodian constitution that prevents the prime minister from governing with a half-filled parliament. With state institutions - under the control of Hun Sen, protests are the only way opposition supporters can challenge the result.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24202250 Hun Sen, 61, has vowed to be stay in power until his 70s.

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

What is Spriulina?

Spirulina is a 100% natural single-celled plant or

microalgae that is often used as a nutritional

supplement. According to Monica Reinagel, spirulina

grows naturally on the surface of lakes and“it’s

basically pond scum—but really nutritious pond scum!”.

Also one of its main benefits is thatit is high in protein

(60% protein) and many other nutrients.

Due to its nature as a bacteria, it can help with

digestion and also boosts a persons energy levels and

immune system. Considering its nutritional value and

other potential benefits its use as a nutritional

supplement is continuing to grow and more medical

studies will be done to fully understand thebenefits.

How does it grow?

The spirulina is put into big plastic containers, which

are closed and all of them are linked to each other

using hoses. The spirulina is then gathered in one

central container for harvesting. This system of

collection limits the risk of contamination as only one

container is opened. The growing process occurs

quickly with harvesting happening every two days.

Currently EnerGaia produces around 75kg a month

for about a year but has now built sales up to about

75kg a month with plans to expand capacity and begin

exporting to other markets. After meeting with the

entrepreneurs behind the company, it is easy to see

that EnerGaia is a promising company willing to

expand its business abroad and to create new

products.

Currently, its Research & Development department is

working on a new product: spirulina pasta, which

should be in stores soon. Saumil Shah – Managing

Director – sees a great opportunity in spirulina as

demand for sources of protein is increasing as the

population grows.

.“Meat production requires large amounts of resources

such as water, land and animal feed. It is believed that

current meat production system won’t be enough to

support the increasing global population. We see

spirulina as a great and healthy alternative for people’s

diet.” Jason Campbell and Bénédicte Ciotti

Growing Rooftop Spirulina

Industry News

Plantations

Founded in 2009, the idea for EnerGaia came after Saumil Shah was exposed to algae

being used for biofuels while working for GE Energy. Though the application for biofuels

didn’t make economic sense, Saumil saw an opportunity in an entirely different area of

using algae as a nutritional food source under his company EnerGaia.

Currently EnerGaia produces around 75kg a month

however they are about to begin producing on another

rooftop, which will add another 100kg of production.

Why using Bangkok rooftops?

The EnerGaia company is one of the rare companies in

the world to produce fresh spirulina. Having only 21-

days allowed for consumption after collection, the

packaging process should be as fast as possible.

Growing on rooftops locally made in Bangkok, the

company is able to collect and transport it to its

processing center and pack the product within 24

hours, offering the freshest product possible to their

customers.

Being on rooftops allows EnerGaia to maintain a low

carbon footprint. Considering Bangkok’s reputation for

its poor air quality, EnerGaia uses a filtration method

where all the air that is pumped into the system first,

goes through multiple stages of air, filters to remove

any pollutants filtration systems to filter out and ensure

the product remains pure for consumers.

How does EnerGaia see its future?

EnerGaia has only been selling spirulina commercially

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Aerogel Also called “frozen smoke” or “solid air” is created by

making a gel and then removing the liquid portion to

replace it with a gas instead. What this does is it creates

a super lightweight but very dense substance with some

impressive benefits. Silica aerogel is particularly famous

for its insulationproperties, as seen below where

Aerogel insulates crayons from the blowtorch below.

The gas component can be changed depending on the

desired effect. NASA uses various Aerogels to capture

different space particles for further research.

Futuristic Technology Constructions

D3o

Is a fluid like substance that is used for new types of

fabrics and protective materials. D3O is similar to putty

in the hand making it completely malleable but when

impacted with a significant force the material turns to a

solid block.

Currently the product is used in sports equipment and

also for military purposes such as bulletproof vests but

research continues to expand the possibilities.

To see the product in action you can visit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5_n6bOuXkY

Ultra Ever Dry This is one of many products that do similar things but many people consider Ultra Ever Dry to be the best brand. When coated onto a product it creates a little barrier of air on the surface that repels almost any liquid. Currently used in various industrial applications the product is continuing to increase the length of effects. For a video of Ultra Ever Dry in action check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPM8OR6W6WE

Jason Campbell

These futuristic construction technologies are not only interesting but also creative new solutions

to construction problems.

Metal Foam Injecting a foaming agent into a molting metallic substance typically makes this. Though it is generally 75-95% empty space the relationship between strength and density means that the strength to density ratio of this material is very high compared to other products or a comparable block of solid metal. The materials ability to float while being very strong also means potentially in the future it could be used for things such as floating cities. Translucent Concrete

Adding a light instrument like Optical fibers to concrete creates this and though usually only 5% of the material is made of the Optical fibers it allows the concrete to maintain its strength while letting light appear to pass through. What this does is help solve the dark prison like look of solid concrete and opening it up to other buildings. Kinetic Glass Or living glass is a special smart technology that opens and closes little slits depending on preset requirements. The future implication would be for things like air purification systems where the glass in a building could be set to regulate air to ensure no dangerous subtances are at risk to inhabitants.

Industry News

Construction

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Industry News

Energy

Industry News

Energy

Renewable Energy, a turning point

for Asia ?

2013 seems to be a good year for renewable energy in Asia. With recent announcements from

big China and other Asian countries, is this the start of a cleaner future ?

with a target of 3GW through feed-in-tariff (FiT) for rooftop installations rather than ground mounted utility-scale projects. Thailand has increased its commitment to solar energy investments by 50 percent, pledging to get 25 percent of the country’s total energy demand from renewable sources. This announcement is part of a new strategy designed to move Thailand away from dependence on foreign fossil fuels, the source of more than 80 percent of the country’s current energy production. Indonesia

Earlier this year, the Indonesian government set a

new feed-in tariff (FiT) as high as US$0.25 per

kilowatt-hour applicable for 20 years. The state-

owned energy regulator PLN will purchase the

electricity generated from facilities receiving the FiT.

This new scheme aims to promote construction of

new solar facilities in remote areas1 of the country.

Indonesia’s high economic growth means the

What is meant by renewable energy?

Renewable energy, also known as green or clean

energy consists of any sources that can be replenished

in a short time period. It includes biofuels, biomass,

solar, wind, and as well geothermal sources. Apart

from its unlimited use, renewable energy presents as

well another great advantage: it produces little or

even no waste products such as carbon dioxide or

other chemical pollutants and so has minimal impact

on the environment. Therefore, it presents as well

some drawbacks such as its reliability of supply mainly

due to weather conditions and the difficulty to

produce as much energy as fossil fuels do.

Thailand

In July 2013, Thai officials announced a new plan to

increase its renewable energy targetsto almost 14

GigaWatts by 2021 including wind, biomass and solar.

This represents a rise from the current goal of 9.2GW

by 2021. Solar as a source is though emphasized with

country will need an additional 2.7-3.4GW of

capacity in the coming years1 and has set itself the

ambitious target of generating 25.6% of its

electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and

39.5% by 2050.

Solar seems to be the preferred renewable energy for investing. Aside from these countries, several more are as well increasing their Solar PV1 including Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. The efficiency and success of these announcements are not guaranteed but it shows a growing willingness and effort across Asia to improve efficiency and reduce pollution. Though these projects will take considerable time due to their long-term nature it shows the long term thinking that is desperately needed in the area of energy planning.

2013 seems to be a good year for renewable energy in Asia. With recent announcements

from big China and other Asian countries, is this the start of a cleaner future?

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Consequently to the new

Bangkok “green” city plan

covered in the previous

article,it appears that the

construction industry will be

strongly affected in the

future. Let us introduce the

LiteCast panels technology,

Broadgate’s solution to

match the new eco-

standards promoted by the

Thai Green Building Institute.

This month, we had the opportunity to meet Ken Golby, CEO of Excelsior Worldwide

Limited, a fund management company created in 2005, based in Bahamas. Ken Golby

started in the finance industry in 1982. He then moved from consultant to a position of

Managing Director of a national independent brokerage. After some 10 successful years

onshore, Ken moved to Dubai with offshore company Finexco Ltd before finally coming to

Bangkok, Thailand.

Q

A

.

For further information, please email Philip Lingwood at [email protected]

Broadgate Construction is proud to have entered into tripartite joint venture, signed

on 30th August 2013 with 7NG Group (one of the largest conglomerates in Cambodia)

who specialises in areas ranging from construction, building equipment, automobiles,

agricultural interests and real estate, as well as with CLMV Capital Asia, a boutique

private finance insitution who will be raising funds to build factories on 7NG’s

industrial park.

Together with our partners we are currently in the process of building an industrial

park with a master plan of total 1500 ha. located 12km from Phnom Penh in Kandan

State. However, the project is not only about building an industrial park, but also a

completely new town, including shopping centers, living infrasructure (water supply,

schools, hospitals) low cost residential buildings where workers and inhabitants will be

able to co-exist together and have a comfortable quality of life.

As well as building living infrastructure the 7NG industrial park will include industrial

infrastructure such as water drains, ports, and sewage facilities, making the park a

completely self-sufficient town. 7NG Group will provide the land, factory manpower,

existing client based and raise capital while Broadgate will provide the Easy Panel

technology, machinery and expertise in the form of the franchise factory to produce

the construction materials necessary to build the park and town.

Transportation

The 7NG Industrial Park is adjacent to the Asian Highway with a total distance of

140,000km. The park is also adjacent to National Park No 8 which is connected to

National Road No 1, a mere 87km to the Vietnamese boarder. The Mekong river is

close by with port facilities to assist with export of goods produced on the industrial

park.

Recruitment

By building such a park, the project will also be providing employment for numerous

workers, estimated to be around 120,000 people. In order to ensure a smooth

development of the project and full cooperation between workers, 7NG will

supervise, contribute and cooperate with all the factories.

Comparison with other industrial zones

7NG Industrial Park offers several advantages which other industrial zones do not.

Firstly, 7NG will establish a detailed plan and ensure sufficiency of manpower from

neighbouring cities. Secondly, as mentioned before, 7NG will make sure they provide

living infrastructure such as hospitals and schools.

According to Philip Lingwood, Senior Vice President of Broadgate Construction “This

is an exciting project to enhance the industrial capabilities, while also providing

employment opportunities that will benefit the people of Cambodia as a whole”

Project News

From left Srey Chanthan (Chairman, 7NG Group Co

Ltd), Rattana Po (Chairman & President, CLMV

Capital Asia Ltd) & John Mills (President & CEO,

Broadgate Financial Group)

Franchising in Cambodia

BroadGate Financial recently signed a joint venture agreement with 7NG one of the largest conglomerates

in Cambodia. Through this joint venture BroadGate combines its construction knowledge with 7NGs

business expertise to build…

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Q&A

Have you ever wondered how to create a website or how to use your Photoshop program that

has been installed on your computer for years? Well, Web Courses Bangkok (WCB) has a solution

for you! Founded in 2008 by Carl Heaton, it sounds like a natural choice for this English expat who

studied Computing and Internet Technologies at university and has been teaching for 11 years

now. He also created in the same time Web Courses Agency, an agency specialized in web

marketing services such as logo design, web design, e-commerce and online marketing.

What makes a good company website for you?

I do like websites where you can easily find what you are

looking for. For a company website, I want to be able to

understand clearly what their business is about. This is the

primary function of a website: giving information and

adding value. The layout is also something very important.

A website should have space and real images (not stock

ones) to make it comfortable and nice to read. And finally,

it should be nicely responsive – meaning adjustable to

different devices, usually to smart phones, tablets and

computers.

Personally, I like the website coworkchicago.com that

gathers very well all the points that I mentioned but as

well the website fiverr.com that has a strong concept:

people can offer their services online such as translation

or dancing video for $5.

Based on what criteria should a company hire a web

designer?

My main recommendation is to make your choice not

based on their prices but their portfolio. A good web

designer should have a strong portfolio with strong

companies. As well, you will have to choose between a

freelancer and an agency.To do so, you have to know

what you want. If you are willing for a quick and cheap

website (this doesn’t mean a bad one!), then a freelancer

might be more appropriate. Therefore, if you are looking

for a long-term relationship an agency will be better. In

any cases, they should allow you to speak to their

previous customers and have transparent and detailed

costs.

Customer service is something that is really important.

They should answer you quickly and in your own words,

showing that they are able to speak “geek” but as well

business.

Another important point is that a web designer should

always recommend you to buy by yourself your hosting

and domain name unless you trust them enough to give

your credit card.

Finally, the most important question that you should ask

to yourself is: “Do I like this person?”

Could you explain to us in an easy way what do HTML,

CSS, PHP and Javascript mean?

It is really easy! Let’s take the example of your

Facebook profile page. HTML, not meaning How To

Meet Ladies (laughs) but Hypertext Markup Language is

the code behind what you see, for example Timeline,

About, Photos, Friends and More…

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) corresponds to how you

see what you see; for instance, Timeline, About, Photos

etc located on the top of the page below the cover

picture, horizontally, in blue and on a white

background.

PHP - standing for Hypertext Preprocessor - is the brain

behind a website. It corresponds to all the functions

such as when you write something and click on “Post” it

appears on your timeline.

Finally Javascript are all the interactive elements of a

web page such as the fact that you can scroll down

infinitely on your Facebook timeline.

While HTML and CSS are only use for coding websites,

PHP and Javascript can be used for programmes as well.

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

It might sound rough but building a website involves

building a relationship with your web designer. You are

going to work together and you should feel free to tell

him what you want.

Nowadays, more and more platforms such as Weebly

or Wix are offering for people to easily create their

own website. Do you think it will reduce demand for

web designers?

I don’t see this as a threat for web designers. A

company may first create its website on one of these

platforms but there will always be a point where you

get stuck. Indeed, your website has to reflect your

business and evolve with it. Those platforms are

efficient but limited. Being stuck and feeling the need

to do more is a good thing; it means your company is

developing! Many people who are taking our web

design courses tried first these platforms but got stuck

so they come to see us to learn how to use other

platforms such as Wordpress.

As well, people using those platforms often don’t

realize the importance of content in a website. A web

designer will highlight this point in order to improve

your SEO even though his job only consists in making

your content looks nice.

Finally, how will the Internet and technology evolve over

the coming years ?

This is an interesting question! The current key evolution

is how search engines such as Google are finding and

indexing content. I believe in the next years, we will move

from explicit to implicit. What I mean by that is that

currently, to find us on internet, you will most likely type

in a search engine “web courses in Bangkok” but in the

future, you will just have to type “web design” and

because of where you are and any other information

available, the search engine will know you are a beginner

based in Bangkok and will show you our school. And this

starts to happen with Google glasses for example.

Information/content will be related together, having

relationships.

As well, I think websites will be more and more easier to

build and become more interactive enhancing user

experience, something that I especially appreciate – how

adding value to your time spent on the web?

Finally, I think that design trends will always differ. There

used to be the Web 1.0, then the Web 2.0 and people

finally realized that the web is the web and that it will

always evolve even though underlying fundamentals such

as old school graphic design, copyrighting etc will remain

the same.

Mr.Carl Heaton is a passionate web

designer, user experience designer, trainer

and speaker with over sixteen lucky years

of commercial experience. He has worked

with many local and international

companies including EPIC PLC, Barclays

Bank and the United Nations.

Carl is the founder of Web Courses

Bangkok(www.webcoursesbangkok.com) ,

the new leader in International Standards

Based Web Design Courses in Thailand. For more information on the web courses offered, please visit the website : http://webcoursesagency.com/

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

I S R

Before the 1900’s, the public school system placed a

hierarchy on classes. The top were classified as the

most useful subjects for work. I can say that the subject

hierarchy is comprised of mathematics and languages

at the top, humanities second, and at the bottom are

arts. This type of system can generally be found

globally. Many parents back in the day also discouraged

their children from the arts including music, dance, or

visual art. They thought that their children weren’t

going to be big time artists or musicians and neither

were those jobs useful to the working society.

However, this discrimination against art has resulted in

diminishing creativity. If you’re not willing to try

something new, what will change ? A myriad of

students and children are now frightened

The Importance of Art

of making mistakes and many are not prepared to be

wrong. If there are no mistakes, how can originality

exist? Students these days are afraid to step outside the

generic regimen and companies aren’t helping either as

they turn mistakes into a stigma. With this kind of

society, children’s creative capacities continue to

dwindle.

Numerous people look at Picasso or another abstract

artist’s work and think that this work is relatively easy

to do. “A kid can draw this.” Perhaps a child’s work can

produce a similar piece of abstract art, but I think the

harder challenge is whether an adult can create such

work or not. We see children having such innovative

minds, but retaining that imagination is especially

difficult with the public school system.

Several public schools across the United States have cut their art curriculum for budget

purposes. Why art, or why not languages you may ask?

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Education today has driven originality out of young

adults as children grow out of creativity. The process

isn’t becoming creative; I think we are born creative.

The arduous task is maintaining and developing that

creativity as children grow.

I continue to teach students near my university, Boston

College, through a non-profit organization called

Rightside Shirts. This organization takes some of the

students’ artwork, prints them onto T-shirts to then sell

these clothes, returning the proceeds back to the

school in the form of art supplies. My range of work is

anything that the kids haven’t tried yet. Last year, my

class included kindergarteners that have never worked

with watercolour, paint, and several other mediums.

My favourite project with the children was introducing

them to origami, specially how to fold paper into a polo

shirt.

The entire class didn’t even know what origami was! I

increasingly realise that art has become more than just

a tool to expand imagination; it has become an outlet

for students’ emotions. Personally, I paint and play the

piano, and I cannot put into words how relieving and

important these hobbies are in my life. I don’t think I

would be the same person without these interests and

am pretty sure I would be much more pessimistic in my

character. I am lucky enough to have attended a private

school that kept arts in its curriculum, but many public

schools don’t have this luxury.

Countless public schools don’t have the funds anymore

to pay for art teachers; thus, Rightside Shirts has

gathered volunteers like me to become art teachers. If

society wants a bright future, we should support the

arts, which includes thinking outside the box.

I think Ken Robinson wraps up my point well in this

quote: “Creativity, now, is as important in education as

literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”

Kevalin Hutachinda

If you are interested about this organization, please visit the website : http://www.rightsideshirts.org/

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Article

Being An Expat in Asia

How easy is it to move to a new country ? This is an interesting question as many people

react differently to a new environment according to their personality, the country they have

chosen to move to and the environment. Bangkok is a city full opportunities, but also a

challenging one as the language, the culture and the people are completely different.

However, when you start warming up to the city, the city will warm up to you…

Future expatriates should try to learn the language of

the country they will go in order to be integrated

more easily.

Transportation and finding accommodation can also

be difficult. Many people, before being an expatriate,

think that they have better infrastructures (eg:

hospital, …) than in their host country. But most of

the time, the reality is much more different than

what they expected. In South Korea and Thailand for

example, hospitals proposed better services.

Luckily, you can always find people from your home

country via your own company, on the Internet or at

networking events. Many expatriates are willing to

meet other people from their country in order to

stay linked.

As I arrived in Thailand only two weeks ago, I know

how it feels to be an outsider. You are moving for

a short or long time in a new country and you have

to give up all your friends, family, habits and

bearings from your old life. When you arrive, you

have to adapt yourself right away to a new culture

with completely different customs and rituals.

Many people, as you can find by yourself when

you talk to expatriates, say that they had a need to

discover what was overseas. They didn’t want to

stay in their comfort zone. They couldn’t be more

disoriented than in Asia.

The language, the food, the social codes are

different. Many expatriates are expecting that

being overseas is going to be the same life as

before but with more travels or they idealize too

much what their life will be.

Most of the time, they are disappointed

because they were imagining something totally

different. Conversely, in countries where the

fascination is less present, the integration is

easier because they are surprised about what

they see and discover over there.

The biggest barrier expats meet is the language

barrier, especially in Asia. In fact, Mandarin,

Vietnamese and other Asian languages are

impossible for an Occidental person to

understand, as we don’t learn that in schools.

Even simple words as “Hello” or “Please” are

really hard to pronounce and foreigners ‘ willing

to be a part of the host country is put through

the mill.

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

HSBC recently published their Expat Explorer

Survey, where you can compare many countries

based on several criteria as economics (eg:

income), experience (finding accommodation) and

raising children abroad. You can also find tips and

advice from expatriates who are actually living in

Asia and contact them.

One of the advantages of being an expatriate is

that the gross salary is between 10 and 12% higher

than in their country of origin. Most of the time,

they don’t know how to manage their money in a

country where they don’t understand the financial

system.

So if you’re already an expatriate or you are an

expat-to-be, try to enjoy as much as you can,

because not everyone has the opportunity to do it.

You will discover some things about yourself that

you never thought you would before.

‘’It can hardly be a coincidence that no language

on earth has ever produced the expression ‘As

pretty as an airport’’

Juliette Vidailhet

Broadgate Financial is composed mainly of

composed mainly of qualified expatriates from

around the world that make us understand more

than any company how expatriates feel and how

they can be assisted.

We can help by finding for the best possible

solution and help you achieve your goals, giving

you the opportunity to focus on dicovering more

the country you’re in. Thanks to our several

qualified and experienced advisors from the

board, we have the most experienced people by

our side.

October 2013—BROADSIGHT by

Contact

No trees were harmed during the making of

Broadgate Consultants (Thailand) Ltd.

2811, level 28,

The Officies at Central World,

999/9 Ram 1 Road, Patumwan, Bangkok

10330 Thailand

Telephone : +66 2264 5706

Fax : +66 2646 1004

Email :[email protected]

http://www.broadgatefinancial.com/

http://www.broadgateenergy.com

http://www.broadgateconstruction.net/

http://www.broadgateplantations.com/

Contributing authors :

Philip Lingwood

Bénédicte Ciotti

Jason Campbell

Sarah Schade

Kevalin Hutachinda

Do Ngoc Minh

Juliette Vidailhet

Many thanks to :

Carl Heaton

The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of authors and do not necessarily reflect

the official postition of The Broadgate Financial Group.