Asia

Commentary: The merits of Singapore’s new carbon trading marketplace
18Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Market, World

Commentary: The merits of Singapore’s new carbon trading marketplace

Climate Impact X is a welcome addition to the country’s climate action initiatives that provide new economic opportunities, help price discovery and can aid future compliance, say energy researchers. SINGAPORE: Singapore took another big step in advancing the green agenda last month. The country on May 20 announced plans to position itself as a hub for carbon services. Climate Impact X (CIX) is a joint venture between the Development Bank of Singapore, Singapore Exchange, Standard Chartered Bank and Temasek Holdings. First envisioned by the Emerging Stronger Taskforce’s Alliance for Action on Sustainability, CIX will provide a marketplace for trading carbon credits commencing in late 2021. Singapore is well-suited to hosting a carbon marketplace. It is an ideal base for multinatio...
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Asia’s factories sustain expansion, supply chain woes cloud outlook
18Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, World

Asia’s factories sustain expansion, supply chain woes cloud outlook

Asia's factory activity continued to expand in May thanks to an ongoing recovery in global demand, surveys showed on Tuesday, though rising raw material costs and supply chain constraints clouded the outlook. TOKYO: Asia's factory activity continued to expand in May thanks to an ongoing recovery in global demand, surveys showed on Tuesday, though rising raw material costs and supply chain constraints clouded the outlook. A spike in COVID-19 infections in countries like Taiwan and Vietnam could disrupt semiconductor output and supply chains, posing a headache for manufacturers and weighing on Asia's export-driven recovery, analysts say. Japan and South Korea saw an expansion in factory activity moderate in May, purchasing managers' indexes (PMI) showed on Tuesday, underscoring the fr...
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Commentary: Targeted travel restrictions needed but careful not to undermine Changi Airport’s connectivity
18Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, World

Commentary: Targeted travel restrictions needed but careful not to undermine Changi Airport’s connectivity

A handful of netizens have been calling for the aviation hub to close its doors to the world after a COVID-19 cluster there but IPS’ Faizal Yahya says be careful what you ask for. SINGAPORE: The recent wave of infections in Singapore, which included a COVID-19 cluster at Changi Airport last month, has prompted some calls for the suspension of passenger travel at the airport altogether. While many have called for an earlier tightening of restrictions of travel from certain places with surges in infections, which are reasonable, worryingly, there are some who have commented that Changi should also have been closed to inbound travelers to protect Singapore from bringing in COVID-19 cases into the country. “Can’t they just close the border for 14 days?” asked one. “How about a complet...
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Giving away 70,000 free meals in NYC’s Chinatown changed this bakery manager’s perspective on leadership
17Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, World

Giving away 70,000 free meals in NYC’s Chinatown changed this bakery manager’s perspective on leadership

Patrick Mock, general manager of 46 Mott, and volunteers have delivered 70,000 free meals to low-income Chinatown residents in the last year. "There's never an easy day for me," Patrick Mock tells CNBC Make It over the phone as he surfaces from the New York City subway to Manhattan's Chinatown. Mock, 27, grew up in the neighborhood and has been the general manager of 46 Mott, a Cantonese-style bakery, for four years. And in the last year, he's taken up organizing efforts to help save struggling Chinatown businesses while also caring for the neighborhood's most vulnerable residents during the pandemic. He now spends his days running the bakery on top of making sure the meals program he launched last spring — where he hand-delivers free meals to Chinatown's elderly and unhoused — is running...
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COVID-19 pandemic relapse spells trouble for India’s middle class
16Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, Market, USA, World

COVID-19 pandemic relapse spells trouble for India’s middle class

NEW DELHI: Ram Babu moved from his village to the Indian capital New Delhi in 1980, to clean cars. Soon, he learned to drive and got a job as a tour bus driver. Decades later, he set up his own company, Madhubani Tours and Travels. In March 2020, a stringent nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic froze economic activity overnight. Babu's business collapsed, and he drove his family back to their village. “Since March last year, we haven’t earned a single rupee,” he said. “All of my three buses are standing still for more than a year. We are completely broken.” India’s economy was on the cusp of recovery from the first pandemic shock when a new wave of infections swept the country, infecting millions, killing hundreds of thousands and forcing many people to stay home. C...
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Why France is a welcome security partner for Japan
16Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, USA, World

Why France is a welcome security partner for Japan

This past week, French forces joined the Japan Self-Defense Force, Australian Defence Force and U.S. military for a multilateral amphibious exercise in Camp Ainoura, Sasebo. This marks the first time French ground forces have trained on Japanese soil in the postwar era. This training comes on the heels of two French naval vessels that made port in Kochi last month, en route to a joint maritime exercise with members of the so-called “Quad” (Australia, India, Japan and the United States). These activities are representative of the steps Japan is taking to diversify its portfolio of security partners, but many outside observers may now be asking the blunt but obvious question: Why France? Certainly, partnering with countries such as Australia and India makes sense given the centrality of J...
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1,000-year-old ‘stolen’ artefacts to return to Thailand from US
15Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

1,000-year-old ‘stolen’ artefacts to return to Thailand from US

BANGKOK: Two ancient sandstone artefacts believed to have been stolen from Thailand during the Vietnam War are set to return from the United States Friday (May 28) night, officials say. The temple support beams with their exquisite carvings of the Hindu deities Indra and Yama date back to the late 10th or 11th century and had been on show for decades at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. They are expected to touch down in Bangkok on Friday night and will be put on display at the National Museum for three months from Tuesday, following a special ceremony. Thai Fine Arts Department Director General Prateep Pengtako said the two lintels are about 1,000 years old and show the influence of the ancient Khmer Kingdom, which had its capital in modern-day Cambodia. "Lintels are part of the...
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Returning Singaporeans, PRs will need to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before departure
15Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, World

Returning Singaporeans, PRs will need to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before departure

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans and permanent residents will soon be required to present a valid negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test taken within 72 hours before they depart for Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (May 26). From 11.59pm on May 29, all Singaporeans and permanent residents, except those who have stayed in lower-risk countries and regions in the last 21 days before departure to Singapore, will have to present the negative test result. Only then will they be allowed to board their flight or ferry to Singapore, said MOH. The lower-risk countries and regions are Australia, Brunei, mainland China, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau. "All travellers will also be required to present their valid COVID-19 PCR test result at the air, sea and l...
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China’s exports up 28%, imports hit decade-high
15Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, World

China’s exports up 28%, imports hit decade-high

BEIJING: China's exports rose 27.9 per cent in May while imports grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade as the global economy powers back from the COVID-19 crisis, official data showed on Monday (Jun 7). Demand for China's goods has bounced after economically painful lockdowns last year due to the pandemic, and as vaccines are rolled out across much of the world. The figures are also boosted by last year's low base of comparison when the coronavirus was spreading rapidly. Exports from the world's second-largest economy posted strong growth but came in lower than expectations of 32 per cent. "To be honest, that is a cracking number by anybody's standard and shows that global demand remains robust," said OANDA's Jeffrey Halley. In May, import growth hit its highest rate sinc...
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EU to impose new sanctions on Myanmar junta, companies
14Jun By Desk TeamNo Comments
Asia, World

EU to impose new sanctions on Myanmar junta, companies

JAKARTA: The EU will impose a new round of sanctions on Myanmar's military junta and its economic interests in the coming days, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told Reuters on Thursday (Jun 3). In an interview in Jakarta after meetings with Southeast Asian diplomats, Borrell said the fresh sanctions from the EU would be the third batch introduced since the military ousted Myanmar's democratically-elected government on Feb 1. "There is a third row of sanctions in preparation that will be approved (in) the coming days (targeting) personnel of the military junta and also the entity that represents the economic interests of the military," he said. Since the coup, EU sanctions have frozen assets or applied travel bans on 21 military and civilian members of Myanmar's junta. Europea...
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