Tuesday, October 24 2017 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
BANGKOK - After several years of preparation for accession to the international brand protection system, Thailand this week has finally joined membership of the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks with the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
HONG KONG – Global asset manager Natixis says its capital flow tracker points to outflows of US$152 billion from China in Q2 2017, revised from a previous estimate of US$144 billion. This is higher than US$95 billion in Q1 2017.
BEIJING - China’s foreign exchange reserves increased for the sixth straight month in July, hitting the highest level since October, official data shows, as the Government continues its crackdown on capital outflows and a weaker dollar boosted the value of assets denominated in other currencies.
BEIJING - China Everbright Bank has joined other Chinese banks in making Luxembourg its European headquarters, as Europe’s financial centrrs vie to lure Chinese businesses, against the backdrop of uncertainty around Britain's exit from the European Union.
BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday urged Japan to "walk the talk" and put its positive expression of improving ties with China into action, China’s State newsagency, Xinhua, reported.
BEIJING - Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has called on North Korea to make a response to guarantees offered by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Both Wang and Tillerson were attending a series of meetings of ASEAN Ministers in Manila.
GENEVA – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs), grew by 10.4% in the first-half of 2017 compared to the first-half of 2016. This was the strongest first half-year performance since air cargo’s rebound from the Global Financial Crisis in 2010, and nearly triple the industry’s average growth rate of 3.9% over the last five years.
BEIJING - China's Tianjin Municipality and Hunan Province have dismantled production facilities for inferior-quality steel bars following a national inspection by the State Council. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang recently called for steadfast efforts to push overcapacity cuts after the inspection found that certain steel mills were trying to resume production of inferior-quality steel bars.
JAKARTA – ANZ Bank is forecasting a further interest rate cuts of 25 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2017 after growth in Indonesia remained static at 5.1% in the second quarter. It says economic activity was primarily weighed down by a contraction in Government expenditure, while growth in household consumption was also lacklustre.
SEOUL – South Korea’s President, Moon Jae-in, has told U.S. President Donald Trump that South Korea will never accept the recurrence of a second tragedy of war on the Korean Peninsula. The two Presidents spoke by telephone yesterday to discuss ways to co-operate in jointly responding to North Korea.
SINGAPORE - India's public sector banks will need substantial capital to make large haircuts on loans to unviable stressed projects and to meet rising Basel III requirements, according to an S&P Global Ratings published today.
SEOUL – South Korea’s President, Moon Jae-in, has called for a "stern response to North Korea’s ceaseless provocations with nuclear missile test launches" to be put into action, "not just words alone”.
His remarks came during an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) held immediately after the North’s launch in Mupyong-ri, Jagang-do Province, of what is believed to have been an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
MELBOURNE – A new business networking organisation focussing on Thailand, the Thai Australia Network (TAN), has been formally launched in Melbourne with the support of the Thai Government.
GUANGZHOU - LG’s planned Guangzhou display-panel factory will be 30% owned by joint-venture partner Guangzhou-Kaide Technologies Development Co., sources close to the matter told Caixin. The South Korean home-appliances giant announced on Tuesday that it would build a facility to produce large-panel organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays in Guangzhou’s Economic and Technological Development Zone.
GENEVA - Surveyed in early-July for IATA’s quarterly business confidence index, more than three-quarters of airline CFOs and heads of cargo indicated that profitability increased in Q2 2017 compared to the same period of 2016. IATA said the survey results suggest that Q1 may have marked the bottom of the industry’s profitability cycle.
MELBOURNE - Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT), a subsidiary of Philippines’ headquartered port developer and manager ICTSI, has named 18 not-for-profit community organisations within the Port Phillip and/or Hobsons Bay communities as this year's recipients of grants from the VICT Community Investment Fund.