Investing in Asia: Donegan reflects on her 35-year career

Major changes

Over the 35 years I have been an investor in Asia, many of the region's cities have transformed at an amazing pace. My first trip was in 1983. I visited shipyards in Singapore that are now high-rise flats and trendy bars, and rubber plantations in Malaysia that have become industrial parks.

Shanghai's Pudong area in the mid-1980s was mostly fields and today it is home to highways, tunnels, bridges and one of China's largest airports. The gleaming skyscrapers are the epitome of modernisation and a symbol of reform.  Witnessing the pace of change has been fascinating. People have progressed from the bicycle to the scooter to the car, but the infrastructure is struggling to keep pace. When I first visited Asian countries they were great for bargain shopping; these days the tables are turned and Asian shoppers flock to the West for bargains. In the early 1980s, investors in ...