Look Back to Go Forward

As we prepare for 2024, it is timely to review what we achieved and did not achieve in 2023. Additionally, it is important to understand the events that drove our clients, and therefore our business, with the aim of forecasting their impacts on 2024.

Our Team´s DNA

Each time I reflect on the performance and dedication of our team, whether it is the core team or our associates and consultants, I conclude that we are fortunate to have dedicated skilled professionals who are happy to go the extra yard.

It is also important we are grateful to acknowledge service and quality is in their DNA and people with this attitude attract like people and good clients.

This time of year, I remember that most of us have much to be grateful for. We are not living in the shadow of war without water or power or societies where we can't express our views. I appreciate the people who read this will also have much to be grateful for.

I believe the one thing Covid has taught us is to be a little flexible and remember we are in relationships for a long-time. At Projects RH, we chose from our first days to run our business on a relationship model and not on a transaction basis. This is deep in our culture and modus operandi.

Put simply, our business would not exist without our clients so we must be grateful for them. The business we have seen has been diverse in sector and geography.

We commenced our year, in the first week of January, whilst in Colombia, with a new Canadian client working in anaerobic digesters when the key and clear focus was on earning carbon credits. We will close 2023 with work-in-hand in Australia, Eithopia, Mongolia, Hong Kong, Canada, USA, and Colombia.

What we are and what we are not

Calendar 2023 was an incredibly busy year for the team of Projects RH, and we saw the business develop into new markets and broaden the clients that were seeking our services. Our core business remains providing communications and linking good projects with smart money.

The number and quality of our clients continues to grow. We are now able to quickly assess the opportunities and decide which we will proceed with. We only accept mandates which we believe will achieve their goals. 

Our business remains one of people working with people. Despite all the modern systems and apps plus AI, increasingly we are returning to being people who wish to deal with people other than for routine purchases. Our business is not something which can come from a fulfillment center.

In our market sense it was a year of two parts. The first half of the year saw a clear focus on systems and the environment. The second semester saw the reemergence of resources and infrastructure to support the greening of the economy.

Opening the Year

By January 2023 most of us had returned to our pre covid business models which require people to meet with people and in our case in particular, to travel to meet those people.

Whilst zoom and Google meets will ever be part of our daily lives, we found that we needed to travel again. 2023 saw us In Hong Kong, USA, Canada, Panama and of course Colombia.

Technology has allowed us to do is be rapidly involved in discussions with people we had already met.

Our 2023 sectors:

Shopping list of clients covered many areas including:

• Recycling of tires and animal waste – the circular economy
• MedTech
• Fintech
• Artificial Intelligence
• Mining – gold, copper, cobalt, nickel
• Resources – oil, gas, shale oil
• Food : chocolate, prepackaged meals, supplements
• Property development

Our Markets

• Australia
• Canada
• Colombia
• Ethiopia
• Hong Kong (SAR)
• Indonesia
• Panama
• Mongolia
• Thailand
• United Kingdom
• United States

Our strategic partnership with Pan Ocean Advisory Group

Our strategic partnership with Pan Ocean Advisory Group Limited (POAG) based in Hong Kong and Vancouver grew and blossomed. I think that the daily talk to the Chairman of POAG at his 8:30 am ensures we know what is going on across our respective and common world.

Plus, we have 60–90-minute meeting on the weekend covering all active files. This ensures we are understanding what the investors are seeking and where they want to invest. Who in our respective teams is doing what. Since the Covid lockdowns we understand our respective -and especially- our shared strengths.

Global Business Environment

The global business environment has been driven by a series of factors which have seriously impacted on our business decisions. Critical to what we see each day is the impact of rising inflation and increasing costs of money in the form of interest rates. More important, however, is the lack of certainty in the world.

We have transitioned from an economy that received pump-priming in the form of capital injections by central governments in a Keynesian-style solution to our global woes that occurred during and immediately after Covid-19.

Now we can change the migration driven by necessity rather than opportunity. In receiving countries, this push for demand has resulted in the stimulation of inflation. It should be noted, however, that global migration is not the sole cause of inflation.

Throughout the world, central banks have resorted to increasing interest rates, as it is the only lever they have. This is being led by the US Federal Reserve, requiring other central banks to follow suit, due to the impact on their currency and liquidity in their country as money seeks the best return.

The economic stimulus package associated with Covid-19 continues to impact the global economy. In particular, the US Inflation Reduction Act has seen investments of billions of dollars in the renewable energy sector and its supporting areas.

For Projects RH, great interest lies in digesters, water recycling, green mineral mining, and energy projects. Investments are flowing towards places where they can yield the best returns on a risk-adjusted basis. This means energy and mining projects are taking place in almost every part of the world.

We keep a close eye on finding opportunities from places like northern Mongolia, Ethiopia, northern Colombia, Indonesia, Canada, Australia, and central Wyoming. We appreciate our busy team for taking calls from investors around the world.

The Foundations for Growth

2023 has been a challenging year as we see the opportunities emerging from the recovery from the 2020-21 Covid-19 economic largess.

It is a time for gratitude to our clients, team, and strategic partners as we review the year that was 2023.

We will continue laying foundations for growth and selectively pursuing opportunities in the next year.

Looking ahead to 2024, I am confident that our foundation is solid, and we are well-positioned for further expansion and growth. Thank you all for your dedication and commitment to making Projects RH the success that it is.

By Paul Raftery, CEO Projects RH, paul.raftery@projectsrh.com  and +61 418 486 015