World

JAKARTA: Indonesia plans to build one of its largest industrial parks on the north coast of Java island in a renewed drive to attract manufacturers relocating out of China as Southeast Asia's biggest economy comes out of a coronavirus-induced lockdown. Yet, despite its low wages and huge domestic market Indonesia must overcome decades-old hurdles including red tape, rigid labour laws, and poor infrastructure to be able to move up the global manufacturing value chain. This time, in its quest to emulate rivals such as Vietnam, the government has shown serious intent in bringing about change and is aiming to pass an ambitious 'omnibus' Bill later this year to address some of the pressing foreign investor concerns. At the same time it is pushing ahead with plans for a 4,000-hectare indu...

LONDON: Tottenham defender Ben Davies has urged his team-mates to make a fast start when they restart their Premier League campaign on Friday. Jose Mourinho's side face a vital showdown with Manchester United in north London in their first game since the coronavirus lockdown in March. Tottenham go into the game in eighth place, four points behind fifth-placed United and a further three adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea in the race to qualify for the Champions League. Tottenham were struggling before the pandemic, going six games without a win in all competitions and crashing out of the Champions League and FA Cup. But they will be boosted by the return from injury of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Moussa Sissoko, and Davies believes they can hit the ground running against United. "It...

As of Tuesday, 4.68 million homeowners were in forbearance plans, allowing them to delay their mortgage payments for at least three months. This represents 8.8% of all active mortgages, up from 8.7% last week. Together, they represent just over $1 trillion in unpaid principal. The number of active forbearance plans rose by 79,000 in the past week, erasing roughly half of the improvement seen since the peak of May 22, according to Black Knight, a mortgage data and technology firm. By comparison, the number of borrowers in forbearance plans fell by 57,000 the previous week. Increases happened every day for the past five business days. After declining for three weeks, the number of borrowers delaying their monthly mortgage payments due to the coronavirus rose sharply once again. The mortga...

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Monday (Jun 29) issued an advisory regarding ten varieties of winter melon products after samples were found to have high amounts of the allergen sulphur dioxide. Seven importers were directed to recall the products, many of which were imported from Malaysia. The products are as follows: All batches of Zheng Shi Ming candied melon strips (3kg) imported by Yuan Sang, manufactured on Jun 13, 2020 All batches of Sweet Homes preserved winter melon (250g) imported by Bake with Yen, manufactured on Apr 24, 2020 All batches of Winter Melon Sweet (300g) imported by Ah Pau Choy from Vietnam with expiry dates in October 2021 All batches of candied melon (300g) imported by Z T P Ginseng Birdnest from China, with best before dates before November ...

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc's China car registrations in May jumped 150per cent month on month, data from auto consultancy LMC Automotive showed. BEIJING: U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc's China car registrations in May jumped 150per cent month on month, data from auto consultancy LMC Automotive showed. Tesla's China registrations, including imported cars, grew to 11,565 in May from 4,633 units in April. Data from China Passenger Car Association shows sales of Tesla's Shanghai-made Model 3 sedan hit 11,095 units. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Yilei Sun; editing by Jason Neely)

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. will cut more than half of its 2,000-strong workforce in a restructuring move as the coronavirus devastates travel demand and delays continue to plague its regional jet project, a source close to the matter said. The aircraft-making subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. will also close its U.S. headquarters, a development center in Canada and sales offices in the United States and Europe, the source said. While the company’s testing site in the state of Washington will remain, its workforce will be also drastically reduced. By making the small regional jet, now known as the Mitsubishi SpaceJet, MHI hoped to succeed in the commercial aircraft market as airlines shifted to small and midsize planes from larger ones to improve fuel-efficiency. The plane wa...