VJC H1 Econ QN

1    VICTORIA JUNIOR COLLEGE 2014 JC2 PRELIMINARY EXAM H1 ECONOMICS – PAPER NO. 8819 17 September 2014 08:00 – 11.00 am Wednesday 3 hours Additional Materials: Answer paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your index number and name on all the work that you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together, by question, using the strings provided. Start each question on a FRESH piece of paper. Section A Answer all questions. The number of marks is given in [ ] at the end of each question or part question. Section B Answer 1 question. The number of marks is given in [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 8 printed pages.

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3    in Singapore have been turning to Cambodia for sand where prices are low and environmental standards almost non-existent. Source: Adpated from http://www.unep.org, March 2014 Extract 2: Singapore’s sand shortage Singapore is developing rapidly and its population has increased since 1960, from 1.63 million to 4.84 million inhabitants in 2010. Given its small area, Singapore needed more space for its infrastructure development. To respond to this demand, the city has increased its land area by more than 20% in the last 40 years (an addition of 130 square kilometres), mostly by using imported sand and gravels to reclaim land from the sea.  A spokesman for Singapore's national-development ministry adds that construction companies have been importing sand from “vari ous” regional countries and claims that “recent restrictions on sand exports have not affected the supply of construction sand to Singapore.” But global demand for dwindling supplies of sand and other materials is mounting. Critics say that Singapore needs to shift faster from building cheap but resource- intensive concrete structures towards more expensive construction techniques that use, say, more steel and glass. Relying as it does on low-wage, low-skilled migrant workers from South Asia, Singapore's construction industry is not yet ready for such a high-tech transformation. Source: Adapted from The Economist, 8 October 2009 Table 1: Indonesia Economic Indicators 2009 2010 2011 2012 Real GDP Growth (annual %) 4.6 6.2 6.5 6.3 Unemployment (% of labour force) 7.9 7.1 6.6 6.6 Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) 24 25 26 24 Source: World Bank Extract 3: Scepticism grows as trade barriers fall Almost two decades on, as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC*) leaders converge in Indonesia once more for their annual summit this week and the next, trade barriers continue to fall across an increasingly connected r egion, but scepticism of APEC and its goals remains strong in some quarters. Many Indonesians feel trade liberalisati on has made life harder for them. Entrepreneurs struggle to compete against cheaper goods produced elsewhere, farmers say they find produce prices have fallen and low-skilled workers say their salaries have stagnated. Activists and civil society groups see falling barriers as a means of further exploiting Indonesia's natural resources. But officials say this is all the more reason to agree in the coming days on ways to ensure there are benefits to disadvantaged groups and less developed countries. The effects, said Dr Bayu, now a champion of the 21-member regional grouping, will be incremental. "The decisions that come out will not be immediatel y felt, but they will come in the form of investments and structural reforms," he said.

4    Indonesia has been pushing the concept of "sustainable growth with equity" over the past year in its role as APEC chairman. Putting th is into action, on Wednesday, senior officials from APEC's 21 economies – Hong Kong and Taiwan are represented alongside China – agreed to help small and medium-sized enterprises to compete abroad and seek financing. They also agreed to expand transport links and education exchange across the region, and step up investment in infrastructure. "The benefits for Indonesia are clear, given that infrastructure is one of the most pressing needs in our country," said Ambassador Yuri O. Thamrin, the Foreign Ministry's director-general for the Asia-Pacific and Africa. Source: The Straits Times, 4 October 2013 * APEC is a cooperative process that is predominantly concerned with trade and economic issues, with members engaging with one another as economic entities. Questions (a) i) Describe the trend of the world’s cement production from the year 1994 to 2012. [2] ii) Using demand and supply analysis, account for the trend in the world’s cement pr