Business Archives - Page 12 of 40

The Saturday Debate: Has Canada’s relationship with China become too damaged?

10Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

The Saturday Debate: Has Canada’s relationship with China become too damaged?

“It is important to emphasize that the capture of (Michael) Kovrig and (Michael) Spavor was not a mere bump in the road in our relationship with China,” writes J. Michael Cole. “Business as usual with China will make us complicit in creating a world where the space for human rights, liberty, and democracy is narrowed.” On the other side, relations between Canada and China are at their lowest in 50 years, yet 61 per cent of Canadians believe “Canada can engage economically with China while maintaining a hard line on areas of disagreement,” writes Sarah Kutulakos. “Relationship repair depends on two things: Pursuing Canada’s interests and resuming channels of communication.” J. Michael Cole Senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Global Taiwan Institute YES The return la

9Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Should we invest in China or not?

Is BlackRock’s entry into China a “blunder” as George Soros claimed in a recent op-ed? Or are critics misconstruing China’s recent regulatory crackdown, as Ray Dalio would like us to believe? Both Soros and Dalio are highly respected and very successful global macro investors. BlackRock, the world’s largest fund management group with close to $10 trillion under management, recently launched a set of mutual funds for the Chinese consumer. It raised $1 billion from more than 100,000 investors, making it the first foreign-owned fund group in China. Soros believes this move was a mistake that will not only lose money for BlackRock clients, but also imperils the national security interests of the U.S. He believes that the current regime regards all Chinese companies as instruments of the one-

New Delhi would like to re-visit the level of ambition that it has set for the partnership with the South East Asian bloc, said External Affairs Minister

9Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

New Delhi would like to re-visit the level of ambition that it has set for the partnership with the South East Asian bloc, said External Affairs Minister

New Delhi, India: The Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided the backdrop for how most countries approach both their economic policies and have even shaped our way of life. “From the prolonged crisis of the last two years, four areas have come into sharp focus for international business cooperation: resilient and reliable supply chains, health security, digital for development and green and sustainable recovery.” Jaishankar stated that Covid-19 has brought out many inadequacies in the global health system. “Meaningful partnerships, sharing of advanced technologies, collaboration in vaccine and pharmaceutical production, capacity building and transparency in health information are all part of the answers. And in all of this, the role of businesses

Cloud competition heats up with new data centre

9Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Cloud competition heats up with new data centre

Cloud competition heats up with new data centre Mr Supparat attributes data centre growth to the rise of over-the-top platforms and content provider services in Thailand. Competition in Thailand's data centre market is expected to intensify, driven by the launch of the STT Bangkok 1 data centre, developed by ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Thailand (STT GDC Thailand). China plays a major role in the segment, with tech powerhouse Huawei claiming three data centres in Thailand, while internet giant Tencent has two here and e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba reportedly aims to establish one. According to global tech research company Gartner, Thailand's spending on public cloud services is expected to surge 31.7% year-on-year to 26.8 billion baht in 2021 and 28.2% to 34.4 billion baht in 2022...

Burger chain looks to revitalise via franchises

8Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Burger chain looks to revitalise via franchises

Burger chain looks to revitalise via franchises From left, Mrs Chamchan and Mr Supak. Steak Group, the owner of EZ'S sausage and the operator of Siam Steak burger chain, announced the expansion of its business via the franchise model to turnaround business. Siam Steak Group, the owner of EZ'S Sausage and the operator of the Siam Steak burger chain, has expanded via the franchise model to turn around a business spluttering from the pandemic. Managing director Supak Muennikorn said the company wanted to emphasise expansion through the franchise model and online channels to reduce risk. He said 90% of the company's business now relies on schools and universities, which have shifted to distance learning and online courses. According to Mr Supak, after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out the c...

7Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Tourism boost for islands

A Royal Enfield Classic 500 sidecar tour. (Photo: ITTIKORN PANATKOOL) To boost local tourism and the economy, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is holding "Thailand SHA: The Memory @ Phuket, Phang-nga and Krabi" from today until Oct 3. The goal of the event is to promote tourism among local travellers and expats who can travel safely within secure tourist-friendly destinations. This will help to bring back confidence in tourism and national healthcare, as well as assisting businesses affected by Covid-19. With assistance from the CCSA and TAT, they offer international tourists who are part of the Phuket Sandbox programme the opportunity to travel to other provinces, by linking Phuket within the 7+7 Phuket Extension, which includes Koh Samui, K...

COVID-19: Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy fails as countries look to the West

7Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

COVID-19: Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy fails as countries look to the West

Beijing, China: As the Chinese vaccine is not reliable anymore, the countries which once trusted and approaching western countries for jabs.On the parallel lines, countries that earlier relied on Chinese vaccines have now started to opt for vaccines from other countries after the Western stranglehold on mRNA supplies has loosened. “Basically people took what they could get” informed City University of Hong Kong associate professor Nicholas Thomas, who is an expert in the field of foreign policy and public health. “But as this has gone on, general populations, rather than just medical practitioners, have become more educated about the differences,” Thomas said adding that people have realised that not all vaccines are equal in terms of protection. This ‘turn away’ from the Chinese

7Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

BAY aims to raise international income

Mr Pairote said Krungsri would support customers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises growing in the region, through business matching programme. Bank of Ayudhya (BAY), under the marketing brand of Krungsri, aims to increase net income of international business to 10% by 2023 under the bank's mid-term business plan. Presently, Krungsri is present in five Asean countries -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines -- in several forms, including foreign branch, representative office, local bank and local financial service provider. After starting regional business operations in 2014, the net income of regional banking business accounts for 4% of Krungsri's total net income and targeting to increase to 10% in 2023, said Pairote Cheunkrut, Krungsri's chief strategy off...

China strains its relations with the United Kingdom with its aggressive attitude

6Oct

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

China strains its relations with the United Kingdom with its aggressive attitude

Media reports from the UK suggest that the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson is working on a proposal that will remove China’s state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) company from the construction of a £20 billion nuclear reactor on the UK’s eastern coast.[1] This potential removal of China from the country’s nuclear industry comes on the heels of a recent downward spiral in UK-China bilateral relations, sparked by China’s wanton counter-sanctions on UK’s parliamentarians and think tanks earlier this year. However, Beijing can expect London only to harden its anti-China stance with the UK now being firmly part of the AUKUS security alliance focusing on the Indo-Pacific. Way back in 2015, China’s CGNPG had secured a deal with the UK government, under which it

Economies on the brink push SE Asia to reopen

6Oct

By Desk TeamNo Comments

Economies on the brink push SE Asia to reopen

Economies on the brink push SE Asia to reopen FILE PHOTO: Labourers work at Hung Viet garment export factory in Hung Yen province, Vietnam Dec 30, 2020. (Reuters) Even as they struggle with one of the world’s worst Covid-19 outbreaks, nations across Southeast Asia are slowly realising that they can no longer afford the economy-crippling restrictions needed to squash it. On the factory floors of Vietnam and Malaysia, in the barbershops of Manila or office towers of Singapore, regulators are pushing forward with plans to reopen, seeking to balance containing the virus with keeping people and money moving. That’s leading to a range of experiments including military-delivered food, sequestered workers, micro-lockdowns and vaccinated-only access to restaurants and offices. In contrast to Eu