The history of businesses from the West going to invest or work in Asia is a long one and can be told as much in quotes as anything else. Here are some of the most informative and interesting.

“America needs China to buy her Treasury bills; and China needs America to buy her exports. They are like two drunken giants leaning on each other. Yet a sober reckoning of some sorts seems inevitable; and it is difficult to see how both can be winners.” Sean O'Grady

“Some people think that Japan's success is due to cartels and collaboration. It is not. In the industries in which Japan is internationally successful, it has many fiercely competitive local rivals.” Michael Porter

“We in the West have a choice. Either we concede the argument that China, in the 5,000 years of recorded human history, has been a much more successful and durable culture than America or Western Europe and is now reclaiming its natural position of global leadership. Or we stop denying the rivalry between the Chinese and Western models and start thinking seriously about how Western capitalism can be reformed to have a better chance of winning.” Anatole Kaletsky

“We had better get used to Chinese and Indian ideas coming to influence ours: on the environment, on financial services, on corporate governance and so on. We had better get used to great scientific research coming not from Europe or North America but from Asia. We had better get used to ideas about society … coming from other parts of the world. It will be thrilling but also frightening—and maybe for those of us in the comfortable West, just a little humbling.” Hamish McRae

If you are heading out to the Land of the Rising Sun for an all important business meeting you will need to make sure that you are well versed in etiquette. Politeness, manners customs and being a good guest are all hugely important to the Japanese. Here is some of the main areas you need to keep in mind.

In The Home

When you step inside a Japanese home your shoes must always be replaced by slippers provided by the host. If the floor is covered by Tatami mats, then you must slip off your slippers as well and walk in either socks or bare feet. So, make sure you aren't wearing socks with holes in them! When entering the bathroom you must change from the slippers into special toilet slippers which are, again, provided by the host.

Table Manners

If you walk into a dining room or a restaurant and find the room furnished with low tables and cushions you will be expected to seat yourself in a certain manner. Men in casual situations will usually sit cross legged at the table, while women are expected to sit with both legs to one side.

Big No-Nos

Japanese retail and household spending in April was revealed to have continued to rise for the third consecutive month, according to recent figures. It's good news for a country still recovering from one of the most devastating natural disasters experienced by mankind – the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Retail sales climbed from 5.2% from a year earlier, while household spending rose by 2.6%.  

The good news is largely credited to the government's policy of boosting domestic sales to offset against the weaker exports Japan has been facing since the earthquake. Policymakers have offered government subsidies to the car industry in an attempt to get things moving. As a result, domestic spending has been rising steadily in 2012. But consumer sentiment has also been cited as a reason for the improvement. People have been more willing to spend money on holidays and other non-essential treats.

But it's not all rosy, and closer analysis reveals several weak points in the Japanese economy. Firstly, a separate report indicated that unemployment was higher in April than it was in March. It's bad news because any long-term shock or weakness in the job market could easily damage any economic improvement seen in 2012. It's also risky as, in order to increase domestic spending further, a salary rise would be needed for jobs in Japan. The increase in unemployment suggests that this would be potentially difficult for many Japanese companies.

Furthermore, although the domestic spending rise looks good on face value, it was far less of a rise than predicted by analysts, indicating that consumers are still cautious about what they spend their money on. The rise was also seen in February and March on a much larger scale, suggesting that the rises could ease off in the near future.

Everyone knows that Asia is likely to be the next superpower. With so much happening in the way of industry, everyone from nuclear power plant owners and bankers, to violin specialists and companies of all shapes and sizes, has learnt to hold their breath when the winds of change start blowing across the continent. We take a look at some of the more influential events to have occurred across Asia which have, or may in the future, impact upon the world.

China alone is the second largest economy in the world, responsible for much of the world's production in material goods. They export £1.2 trillion worth of product every single year. That's a lot of product to be shipped around the globe, transported to shelves and then sold to buyers. So it's worth keeping an eye on politics between China and the rest of the world. Despite their poor human rights record, the US keep relations cordial for the reason that poor relations with China would have a poor effect on American – and indeed European trade. But it's worth considering that it's a double-edged sword. China also imports goods from the US, including power generating equipment, agricultural products and medical equipment. So when human rights activist Chen Guangcheng expressed a desire to flee to the US on humanitarian grounds, both countries had to act sensibly and reach a solution.

In 2011, China exported nearly 2 trillion US dollars worth of product, churned out by its ever-increasing cheap labour force. It is an extraordinary amount of money, and ten years ago, nobody would ever have predicted that the country would have been that dominant – especially when European and American economies are struggling under the weight of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. So how has China done it?

China has largely achieved its dominance of the market by undercutting every other country in the world with its cheap labour – to the extent that it is cheaper to ship products from China across miles of ocean to the consumer, rather than have products made in the country itself. But there are drawbacks to this. In order to make a profit, the product has to be made extremely cheaply and quickly, in large volumes. This has resulted in Chinese products gaining a reputation for being cheap and poorly-made rather than good value.

A vast number of cheap instruments are produced in China, for example, but these are often purchased by schoolchildren on their first instrument. This is due to shortcuts taken by the Chinese companies in order to make a profit. Fine violin wood must be dried over a period of seven years, but this is time-consuming and not cost-effective. As a result, Chinese companies may choose to dry the wood manually in an oven over a few days, but this does not allow the instrument to produce a good sound. Consequentially, you would never see a Chinese violin in a professional orchestra, as musicians of that calibre choose their instruments from renowned violin workshops in France or Germany. Often, these are workshops which have been in business for many years.

There are many ways and means to invest your money. Many people often wonder how and where to invest their money during difficult times. One of the easiest ways to invest money is to keep it in your bank account and to gain interest out of them. Some people believe that investing money in the bank's provident fund gives better returns than simply depositing the money in a savings account. The interest rate of provident fund is higher than savings rate and hence, this option it is quite beneficial for the investors.

However, it becomes very difficult to invest our money during the time of inflation, slow growth of economy and occurrence of natural calamities. Hence, people try and search for safe alternatives to invest their money. People have a constant fear of losing their money and try and remain coy towards financial investment ideas. However, it is a fact that all these factors do not stop people from making investments. There are many cases where the investors have earned huge profits, even during difficult times. Every person making any kind of huge investment always bears a risk of losing his money.

The Inpex Corporation and Frances Total SA have just approved a 34 billion dollar project in Australia. The cost outlay is huge and almost unbelievable given the current financial crisis. You may be wondering why the Japanese have put so much into this project, seeing as they are generally known for their highly strategic and well thought out moves. If you think they are becoming erratic you may be way off in your assumption.

The investment is on the Ichthys gas export project. This development is aimed at tapping natural gas from Australia’s northern coast; around 12.8 trillion cubic feet. Japan is currently the world’s top exporter of the LNG natural gas which is cooled to liquid prior to exportation.

The Japanese are highly industrialised and have had environmental issues brought on by gas emissions into their atmosphere. The natural gas has less emission in comparison to other fuels. This will help Japan to clear their atmosphere of the emissions caused by coal.

In comparison to other fuels, especially coal; natural gas costs much less to produce. This will immensely reduce the production costs of the industries in Japan and Asia, giving them an edge in production.

Unlike other sources of fuel, namely solar power, the natural gas is more reliable. Its production will provide a constant and available source of power that will enable running of industries round the clock.

The Japanese have been able to invest such a huge cash outlay in Australia, due to their political environment. Australia’s politics are stable and thus their investment can be certain of being followed through to the end. An unstable political environment would present a bad investment.

Australia and Asia are close to each other. This also works in the favor of the Asians when it comes to shipping costs. They end up spending less and thus there are lower production costs. The project location is very well suited to the top importers of natural gas.

Singapore is one of the leading nations in Asia and is well known for its rapid growth, so long as its economy is concerned. Although Singapore is making progress very fast, it is facing certain problems. One of the greatest problems that Singapore is facing in recent times is inflation. The government of this country is leaving no stone unturned to eliminate inflation. According to the reports, the inflation rate in Singapore has reached 4.3 percent now. There can be several reasons behind such high rate of inflation but the main reason is known to be the increasing costs of houses in this country.

Due to such high rate of inflation, people are making fewer investments in every field. The day to day expenses of every common man has increased. The demand for high quality products has decreased and as a result, only limited number of quality goods is produced. The Singapore government is assuring the people that the inflation period will last for a few years only. Many companies have stopped small production units to reduce the cost of production, thus leading to unemployment among many people. The interest rates on loans have also increased which has led to decreasing number of people applying for loans. Fuel like petrol, gas, tax prices has been increased drastically. Moreover, the prices of gold and silver are at an all-time high. The tourism in Singapore has been on a decline, in recent times. Tourists are considering other cheaper Asian destinations.

There is a very old story that has been told many times when talking about investments and economy. It is all about an investor whose will was to take his money and plant it somewhere fertile, where he could watch it grow and produce. However, this investor was toned with fear, and there was nothing he could do calmly, because every investment had its own risk. This investor had an assessor, who was the total opposite from him when it came to thinking about investments. This assessor was optimistic about every single investing idea that was born.

When a very valuable opportunity presented to the investor's sight, they sat down and analyzed the situation. The idea is great Sir, things should workout incredibly great, at least for the first year- said the assessor. However, the investor's words were: “No, imagine what would happen if I put all my money and my investor's money on this? Imagine, if things go well for the first year, after this time they will want to take their money out of action. I will be left alone with tons of debts and unemployed”

You probably heard about Japan's horrible nuclear disaster, which took place in the first half of 2011. A minimum imperfection in a nuclear plant's system was enough to leave Japan and the rest of the world in a strong crisis. People in Japan were moving all around the country to find areas which were not affected by radiation. Others preferred to cross the borders and move to other countries of Asia or even Europe. There were a few who stayed inside the affected areas, trusting they wouldn't be harmed, as they were economically unable to move anywhere else. Other countries in the other side of the world like The United States, Central American countries, Mexico, and South America areas were worried about the radiation traveling through the air and reaching their lands in the form of acid rain. This is not as mythical as it sounds. In fact, it was very probable that this radiation could pollute the clouds and invade the rain in an invisible way. Little by little the radiation would've fallen from the sky and ruined thousands of square miles of terrain, making it infertile. Not to mention what could've happened to people who had contact with this substance.