Asia

The federal retirement fund is about to invest in China. Some former US military leaders object.
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia

The federal retirement fund is about to invest in China. Some former US military leaders object.

WASHINGTON — The retirement savings program for federal and military personnel is preparing to more than double the number of countries represented in its investment fund that tracks international stock markets. One of the countries to be added is China — and that's a problem for some people. Eight former senior military leaders have issued an open letter seeking to prevent the change, which is set to take effect in the second half of this year. The letter has rekindled a controversy that has flared several times since the Thrift Savings Plan first committed to broadening its international stock fund, called the I Fund. The result, the letter said, will be that a portion of money in the fund will be invested in Chinese companies including "weapons manufacturers, U.S.-sanctioned entities an...
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Myanmar Says Factories Must Take COVID-19 Precautions Before They Reopen
17May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia

Myanmar Says Factories Must Take COVID-19 Precautions Before They Reopen

YANGON—The Myanmar government will allow only factories that have set up preventive measure to combat COVID-19 to resume operation on April 30, according to the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population. On Sunday, the Ministry of Labor issued an order saying that the country’s factories would be permitted to reopen after they have set up COVID-19 preventive measures in line with the instructions of the Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS). Factories stopped operations from April 12-19 for the Thingyan New Year public holidays and the government has currently ordered all factories to remain closed for 10 more days until April 30. The health and labor ministries say they will inspect factories to assess whether they have adopted measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, facto...
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Asia’s Quest Ventures plans to invest in Indonesia
17May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, Singapore

Asia’s Quest Ventures plans to invest in Indonesia

Singapore-based venture capital Quest Ventures plans to expand its investment to Indonesia, among other Southeast Asian countries, after recently announcing the first close of a fund worth US$50 million. The amount represented more than half of its target for the fund named Asia Fund II. It will be invested in post-seed and series A stages funding in start-ups across Southeast Asia and emerging Asia such as Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines. Quest Ventures has been deploying capital in Singapore and Vietnam with its portfolio, including as second-hand e-commerce platform Carousell, property finding platform 99.co and rental fashion StyleTheory. “We were deliberate in selecting our investors and we hope with this fund we can bring different skill sets, domain experience and connections...
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15May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, Singapore

Singapore-based startup plans to make mental health approachable

Intellect, a Singapore-based startup, has decided to make the idea of mental health more approachable with an app that offers self-guided exercises based on cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. The company develops consumer and enterprise versions of the app (for employers to offer as a benefit) and now has users in several countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, India and China. Since its beta launch earlier this year, co-founder and CEO Theodoric Chew says Intellect has signed up about 10,000 users, as well as 10 companies ranging in size from startups to large corporations. The startup plans to launch Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesian versions, and is currently working with researchers to develop localized versions of its exercises, which include guided journaling, behavioral exerci...
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Coronavirus brings trouble to Cambodia’s garment industry
4May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China

Coronavirus brings trouble to Cambodia’s garment industry

Hundreds of garment factories in Cambodia and elsewhere in Asia are facing serious financial problems because clothing brands have either canceled their orders or stopped placing new ones over the past several weeks. The brands say they have no other option, because the demand for clothes has decreased significantly now that many stores in the West are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In Cambodia alone up to 130 factories have asked the country's Labor Ministry for permission to suspend their operations entirely or partly. With about 750,000 workers, the garment industry is the biggest employer in the Southeast Asian nation. Around 100,000 Cambodian workers have recently lost their jobs, either permanently or temporarily. This number is likely to increase in the weeks and months...
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Coronavirus lockdown to slash Malyasian retail sales by 61 per cent
4May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

Coronavirus lockdown to slash Malyasian retail sales by 61 per cent

The six-week long coronavirus lockdown is expected to slash Malaysian retail sales by 60.7 per cent this month as non-essential stores are forced to close. Retail Group Malaysia, which calculates data on behalf of the Malaysia Retailers Association, estimates that retail sales for the full year will drop by 5.5 per cent, should the government’s Movement Control Order be lifted at the end of this month. It has already been extended from 18 March until 28 April. RGM’s MD Tan Hai Hsin told The Edge that the majority of the nation’s retailers are recording zero sales this month. “This has never happened before in history”. While online sales have surged in Malaysia since the coronavirus struck the nation, and consumers are spending more on food and groceries, categories like jewellery, ...
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Indonesia Central Bank Says Yields Bid Too High at Government Bond Auction
4May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

Indonesia Central Bank Says Yields Bid Too High at Government Bond Auction

JAKARTA — Bond investors should not bet on Indonesia selling debt at higher yields, as the amount to be raised for the rest of the year will be manageable and capital inflows will push yields lower, central bank governor Perry Warjiyo said on Wednesday. Warjiyo's comments come a day after the government raised 16.62 trillion rupiah ($1.08 billion) at its regular bi-weekly auction, below target, despite total incoming bids of 44.4 trillion rupiah. The government called for a greenshoe option auction on Wednesday for a maximum of 23.8 trillion rupiah, covering for the target it did not meet the previous day. Warjiyo told an online news conference the central bank bought 2.3 trillion rupiah in Tuesday's auction as a non-competitive bidder and may purchase more in the additional auct...
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6 million unemployed in tourism alone – a stark outlook for Thailand’s tourist industry
4May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia

6 million unemployed in tourism alone – a stark outlook for Thailand’s tourist industry

More accurate predictions are starting to emerge as the full impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak in Thailand start to become clearer, and we still don’t have the shops open yet. Reports from the UN’s International Labour Organisation, in collaboration with the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, have already made stark predictions about the problems that lay ahead for the Thai government, and the people working in the immediate and peripheral parts of the tourism industry. Up to 6 million people are expected to lose their jobs in the tourism sector alone as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, that’s in a country with a total population around 66 million. Tourism is a critical industry for the Thai economy that accounts for between 15-18% of the country’s GDP in direct in...
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Grab: From business-school project to game-changer in Southeast Asia
4May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Market, Singapore

Grab: From business-school project to game-changer in Southeast Asia

Ride-hailing app brings financial security to drivers and new technology to region SINGAPORE -- In Malaysia, taxi drivers not using meters were once a common sight. And women, fearful of possible assaults, avoided riding alone in taxis. Seeking to transform the taxi industry in their home country, Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling founded the ride-hailing app Grab in 2012. In the eight years since then, Grab has grown into a leading provider of social infrastructure in roughly 340 cities across eight countries in Southeast Asia. The two began developing a plan to start a business when they were students at Harvard Business School. Their idea for a ride-hailing app, for which they found inspiration from a lecture on balancing the pursuit of corporate profits with social contributions,...
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Southeast Asia’s private equity investment slows in 2019, outlook gloomy
4May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

Southeast Asia’s private equity investment slows in 2019, outlook gloomy

Private equity investment in Southeast Asia declined to US$12 billion last year after reaching a record high of $14 billion in 2017, with COVID-19 posing a risk to investment this year, a global consulting firm says. According to “Southeast Asia Private Equity Report” published by Bain & Company, last year’s private equity investment in Southeast Asia was driven by the internet and technology sector, which represented over 60 percent of all deals, especially in Indonesia. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the global recession in 2020 will challenge private equity investment this year as investors look for ways to protect their investments and reemerge stronger after the crisis, the report said. “In preparation for this period, general partners are looking at the global finan...
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