Asia's companies are uniquely positioned to gain long-term advantage over their foreign competitors. How? By reaping the gold in innovative green business practices. Many US and European executives have been too focused on their company's stock price and their bonuses rather than long-term planning. Other corporate leaders believed General Motors vice-chairman Bob Lutz's public statement last year that 'global warming is a total crock of s**t'.
Yet history proves that recessions can be catalysts for farsighted and agile companies to launch new products and technologies. Last year, Shenzhen-based BYD unveiled the world's first electric car for the mass market. Potential sales - and profits - could be huge.
Finally, the global recession is less detrimental to green innovation in Asia than in the 'developed' world, because its companies know how to overcome limited resources and achieve success. These companies can do more with less. How should Asian entrepreneurs invest their time, talent and money in green business?
First, they should focus on improving and streamlining the production of today's most-needed products and technologies, starting with greater energy efficiency.
New technologies for upgrading existing buildings will have enormous demand, because buildings - not transport, or industry - are the largest energy users in many nations. In the US, for example, buildings consume 38 per cent of the nation's energy. In Britain, homes guzzle a quarter of the nation's energy.
In China, buildings account for 20 per cent of total energy use, but consume 21/2 times more energy than comparable buildings in similar climates. The reasons are inadequate insulation and inefficient or infrequently maintained heating and air-conditioning systems.
More efficient heating, air conditioning, and lighting systems will find an immediate market, because they save money instantly for owners and users. Those investments often have a several-year payback, and sometimes only one year. Recently, the 'numbers' have become more compelling, because many nations' economic stimulus programmes include energy efficiency incentives, thereby creating even greater opportunities for Asian companies to sell the right technology at the right price.