Tuesday, August 16 2022 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
NEW DELHI -- India is likely to overtake Japan as Asia's second-largest economy by 2030 when its GDP is also projected to surpass that of Germany and the U.K. to rank as the world's No.3, according to a report released by IHS Markit.
SINGAPORE -- The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group saw a significant step-up in passenger demand in December 2021, on the back of a continued expansion of its Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) services and the year-end travel season. Eight cities joined the Group's VTL network during the month.
SINGAPORE-- S&P Global Ratings believes that sukuk issuance volumes will be flat at best in 2022 amid lower and more expensive global and regional liquidity, increased complexity, and reduced financing needs for some core Islamic finance countries.
KUALA LUMPUR - Foreign Direct Investment has driven the strong performance of Malaysia's manufacturing sector for the first nine months of 2021, more than doubling compared with the same period of 2020, and accounting for 88.3% or RM91.7 billion of total approved investments within the sector.
NEW DELHI - India's foreign exchange reserves grew by US$2.2 billion to a total of US$634.9 billion in the week ended January 14, Reserve Bank of India data shows. The reserves peaked at US$642.4 billion in the week ended September 3, 2021.
HONG KONG --- Macau's proposed gaming law amendment signals lower license renewal risks for rated issuers, according to global ratings agency Standard and Poors.
HANOI - Vietnam's economy expanded by 5.22% y/y in Q4 2021, beating market estimates. A stronger-than-expected recovery in exports supported growth, despite the surge in pandemic cases.
SINGAPORE -- With substantial vaccination coverage attained in most economies, ANZ Bank economists foresee a less-interrupted recovery in 2022, with the ASEAN region gaining the most.
TAIPEI -- Opening the 2021 Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue in Taipei City, President Tsai Ing-wen reaffirmed Taiwan's commitment to working with like-minded partners to promote a secure, peaceful, free and open Indo-Pacific region.
She said no amount of external pressure could shake Taiwan's commitment to freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and particularly partnering with like-minded democracies around the world.
HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is forecasting that Hong Kong exports will grow by 8% in value in 2022, down from the 25% expansion experienced in 2021.
CANBERRA -- Australia has ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), giving farmers and businesses access to the benefits of what will be the world's the largest free trade agreement from January 1,2022.
KUALA LUMPUR -- Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Islamic Bank (HLB) have introduced HLB Solar Plus Loan/Financing-i, a new green energy financing facility for home owners to seamlessly apply for financing of solar power energy systems together with their home loan/financing application.
BEIJING -- JD.com expects its first carbon-neutral intelligent industrial park for China's logistics industry, the Xi'an Asia No.1 logistics park now under construction, to be carbon-neutral on the operations level by early 2022.
BANGALORE -- Australia is to establish a new consulate in Bangalore and to set up a centre of excellence for critical and emerging technology policy in India as part of efforts to drive the technology partnership between the two countries.
SEOUL-- South Korea's inflation accelerated further to 3.7% y/y in November, its fastest pace since December 2011.
SINGAPORE -- Credit and financing conditions are largely favourable in the run-up to 2022, says S&P Global Ratings. However, factors including high cost inflation and the new COVID-19 Omicron variant could pose a significant risk to that stability.