Thursday, November 14 2019 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
SEOUL - South Korea's Presidential Office, Cheong Wa Dae, has expressed its intention to continue the momentum of inter-Korean dialogue despite North Korea's latest firing of ballistic missiles.
SHANGHAI - Huawei is accelerating the construction of a computing ecosystem for both its own infrastructure and its partners, according to a report in Caixin.
SINGAPORE -- The pressure on Asia-Pacific sovereign credit metrics should ease in the next few months of 2019, compared with the first half of the year, according to S&P Global Ratings.
BEIJING - A peak Chinese Communist Party Committee headed by President Xi Jinping has pledged support for Shenzhen, adjacent to Hong Kong, in building a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
JAKARTA - After winning the 2019 election, President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has a great opportunity to bring the Indonesian economy into a stronger footing, according to a new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. It says Jokowi's economic policies achieved mixed outcomes in his first term (2014-2019). "He hasn't delivered a promised 7% economic growth, but steady 5% growth is perceived as a commendable achievement, given slowing global growth, rising uncertainties, and low commodity prices."
BEIJING - China has issued a white paper to expound on its defensive national defence policy and explain the practice, purposes and significance of China's efforts to build a strong military.
SHANGHAI - China's sci-tech innovation board (STAR market) has begun trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, with the first batch of 25 companies debuting on the board. The firms, spanning industries from microchips and biotechnology to artificial intelligence, were greeted by an immediate buying spree when trading opened.
BEIJING - Subsidiaries of China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC) hav announced that their parent is planning a restructuring that will result in its merger with China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. (CSIC). The Chinese media group, Caixin, says the merger would create a serious challenger to the current No. 1 shpbuilder, Hyundai Heavt Industries.
BEIJING - China's State newsagency, Xinhua, is reporting that mobile phones are a must for the Chinese people, even when they are taking showers, quoting a skincare brand report.
BEIJING - China's Global Times newspaper, which is seen as aligned with the military and reflects official Chinese views, has published a new attack on Australia's role in the Pacific, saying that Australia is "still fixated on a Cold War-style mindset".
It goes on to say that China does not regard Australia as its competitor, but a collaborator in the South Pacific.
The article refers to what it calls the 'Blue Economy', which Xu Jinghu, special representative of the Chinese Government on African affairs, told a conference in Nairobi in November 2018 "plays a critical role in China's development growth", according to a report in China Daily.
SINGAPORE -- The election of a new Government has allowed Thailand's political system to evolve in response to societal demands, even though the process is gradual, said S&P Global Ratings in a report published today.
SINGAPORE - Global ratings agency, Standard and Poors, says it believes economic risk in Thailand remains high on a global comparison. While the Thai economy is diversified, it has a low per capita GDP, S&P says.
KARACHI -- Pakistan International Container Terminal (PICT), a subsidiary of Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), in co-operation with State-owned Pakistan Railways, has launched a new dedicated rail cargo service connecting the cities of Karachi and Lahore.
HONG KONG - The Q2 GDP growth has come in at 6.2% y/y (versus 6.4% y/y in Q1), in line with market consensus. On sequential terms, the economy grew by 1.6% q/q, slightly higher than in Q1, at 1.5% q/q.
BANGKOK - Due to a constant appreciation of the Thai Baht, the Bank of Thailand has issued new 'Thai Baht speculation measures1 effective from July 22, which put a daily limit of Bt200 million on non-resident baht accounts. The previous daily limit was Bt300 million.
SINGAPORE --India's annual budget reflects broad continuity in the Central Government's fiscal programme, says S&P Global Ratings, which believes the proposed injection of Indian rupees (INR) 70,000 crore (or INR700 billion) into the banking sector as capital support should help stabilise financial sector conditions, "although the funding is likely to weigh on government finances at the margin".