For the first time in 10 years, yellow sand from the deserts
of Mongolia and Kazakhstan has blown into Tokyo. The arrival of the "Asian
dust" is a traditional indicator of the coming of spring. It may only be a
grain of sand, but seeing that tiny piece of earth makes me feel like I'm a
part of Asia. That is not a bad feeling.
As the first Big Story of Japan's fiscal New Year, we look at a ranking
of Asia's 500 fastest-growing companies, prepared in collaboration with
the Financial Times of the UK and Statista of Germany.
Of those high performers, our story focuses on seven. That includes the
top-ranked company, Carro, a Singapore-based online used-car sales platform. We
also highlight its Malaysian competitor, Carsome, which stands at 17th in the
ranking.
The secret of Carro's success is that it provides detailed reports of any flaws
found with its vehicles.
In the world of microeconomics, used-car markets are considered a typical
"market for lemons," in which buyers cannot judge the real value of
the fruit based on its appearance. Removing information asymmetry between
sellers and buyers is crucial if the market mechanism is to work effectively.
It makes sense, then, that Carro's strategy is so popular among its customers:
With the information gap removed, clients are able to buy used cars at a fair
price.
Other than online car dealers, the story also features Indian mattress seller
Wakefit; Singapore-based delivery company Ninja Logistics; South Korean
robotics startup Twinny; Japanese software startup AI Inside, whose technology
converts handwritten documents into digital data; and New Zealand electricity
retailer Electric Kiwi.
The ranking is based on the companies' compound annual revenue growth rate
between 2016 and 2019. The performances do not reflect the impact
of COVID-19, but reading these entrepreneurial success stories, I am
convinced that such "animal spirits" will drive the revival of the
post-COVID world.
Market Spotlight this week is a story on Appier, the first Taiwanese
startup to list in Japan since Trend Micro went public in 1998, while our
Business Spotlight looks at Bilibili, known as "China's YouTube."
Asia Insight is an examination of the Tokyo Olympics. According to the
latest Kyodo News poll, only 23.2% of Japanese support holding the games this
year.
As for the mounting costs amid the diminishing enthusiasm, a professor at College
of the Holy Cross in the United States points out in the story that
the Tokyo Olympics are "basically the last in the old world
where the concept was you spend an unlimited amount, and everyone should be all
right with that because it's the Olympics."
While we're on the subject, there is talk of a possible boycott within the
Western world of the Beijing Olympics in 2022, because of human rights
issues related to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Some apparel brands, including Muji, are facing potential criticism for
using Xinjiang cotton, which has become a focus of attention amid claims of
forced labor. The Japanese company maintains its cotton is ethically produced.
The story describes the difficulties that private companies must navigate in
dealing with this highly sensitive issue in China.
I also recommend our stories on Myanmar's Generation Z, and the reopening
of the Suez Canal.
Please do not miss our opinion piece on the #StopAsianHate movement. The
author writes that "'Asian hate' has also long encompassed stereotypes and
discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities as well as against
indigenous peoples, including within Asia" and that "the need to 'Stop
Asian Hate' is not just a US or European challenge."
I agree that we have to discuss this issue in a broader context, so that more
people regard this problem as their own.
