Carl Berrisford Carl Berrisford, Analyst, Chief Investment
Office Research  From the frenzied shopping of mainland Chinese
tourists in Hong Kong, to the mushrooming of malls from Jakarta
to Delhi, signs of a more consumerist Asia are everywhere. The
region has taken to retail therapy, and each ringing of the cash
register trumpets a potential investment opportunity.  In fact,
the phenomenal rise of the Asian consumer has been going on for
the last decade, thanks to the region’s growing urbanization,
burgeoning middle classes, and rising household incomes. Major
shifts in the economic make-up of the world’s three most
populous countries—China, India and Indonesia—mean that 42% of
the world’s consumers will be in a spending mode for some time
to come.  A major economic force What does this mean for the
rest of the world? Hong Kong is an interesting case study. This
city of seven million receives some 22 million mainland Chinese
visitors a year, and their voracious appetite to consume has
placed considerable str