Asia Pacific

HHI Greek broker Intermodal has identified Greek owner Evalend Shipping as the company behind an order for a pair of ammonia carriers in South Korea this week. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) announced earlier this week it had won an order for two very large ammonia carriers (VLACs). Costing $121m each, the 91,000 cu m ships will be built at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, delivering to Evalend in 2027. HD KSOE, South Korea’s largest shipbuilding group, has won ship orders worth $4.77bn so far this year. Source link

Finance and technology professionals are generally better paid in Hong Kong than in Singapore, with investment-banking analysts earning 46 per cent more than in the Southeast Asian city-state, according to a report from Bloomberg Intelligence.Analysts make an average of US$92,149 a year in Hong Kong, compared with US$63,305 in Singapore, according to a BI report published Wednesday. The trend extends to associates, who make almost US$123,000 (HK$961,967), or 36 per cent more than peers in Singapore, BI said, citing figures from recruiting firm Michael Page. Executive directors at investment banks earn about 13 per cent more in Hong Kong.Despite Singapore’s...

By: Jens KastnerCoast Guard Administration photo shows rescue attemptThe tragic incident involving the drowning of two Chinese fishermen on February 14, following a chase by Taiwan’s coast guard near Kinmen island, is poised to further weaken Taiwan's sovereignty in favor of China's territorial claims. The event took place in an area that China had long acknowledged as “prohibited or restricted” for Chinese vessels, but on February 17, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office denied the existence of any such restrictions.Following the drownings, China's coast guard declared its intention to conduct regular patrols in the waters near Kinmen. On February 19, they boarded...

Xalts founders Supreet Kaur (L) and Ashutosh Goel Xalts, a Singapore-based fintech platform for financial institutions and businesses to build and manage digital finance applications, has acquired Contour Network, which connects global banks with global businesses. The transaction details remain undisclosed. The initial focus for Xalts will be embedded solutions for trade and supply chain finance. These will enable banks, logistics companies and technology companies to offer integrated solutions to businesses using a single platform. Also Read: Report: Singapore businesses remain open to implement embedded finance, Web3 in 2023 Contour was started in 2017 as a pilot by eight global...

Pharmaniaga is one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in Malaysia. A big part of its success is that since 1994 it has been awarded a government concession to provide medical supplies to the public sector. But Pharmaniaga is not a state-owned company, in that the government of Malaysia does not directly own shares. Instead, it is majority-owned by Boustead Holdings, a diversified conglomerate owned by a military pension fund (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, or LTAT) which is, in turn, controlled by the government. This ownership structure, in which the state has indirect ownership in firms through various layers of holding...

A nostalgic hit song from a 1990s China state TV extravaganza titled "Go back home to visit often" portrays an idealized world where several generations of family get together to eat and talk about their lives, offering each other support and advice in times of difficulty. But the reality these days for many of China’s young people is quite different. Economic woes, a competitive culture and parental pressure to tick off traditional milestones like a partner, a career, marriage, a mortgage and children are making the youth feel disconnected from their families. The search phrase 'cutting off family ties' was...

CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Monday that revenues from the Suez Canal had "decreased by 40 to 50 percent" so far this year due to attacks on shipping by Yemen's Houthi rebels.The canal is one of the main sources of foreign currency for Egypt which is gripped by a severe financial crisis.Since November, the Iran-backed Houthis have launched numerous attacks on vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, which the group says are aimed at ships with links to Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.The attacks have caused several major shipping...

DOHA, Qatar — Taliban officials sent a defiant message to Western nations, donors and Afghan women’s groups this week, refusing to attend a conference hosted by the United Nations to discuss humanitarian crises facing Afghanistan and cooperation on human rights issues.The two-day conference, which began on Sunday, was the second of its kind. It was held to try to chart a course forward for international engagement with the country. But the Taliban administration took issue with the inclusion of some groups at the meeting. Attended by special envoys from 25 countries and regional organizations, the conference is aimed at increasing...

By: Salman Rafi Shiekh Don’t worry, we’ll take charge here Pakistan’s February 8 elections have produced a severely divided mandate, with no party able to win a majority and with universal claims of rigging. While such political situations usually eventually produce coalition governments, this is proving to be extremely difficult: whichever party comes to… Source link

According to all credible quick counts, Prabowo Subianto will be the next president of Indonesia. He and his running mate, President Joko Widodo’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, won the three-way race with a convincing 58% of the votes, easily clearing the 50% threshold required to win in a single round. The losing candidates, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, may challenge these results in the Constitutional Court, and some protest from civil society groups is expected. But it is unlikely that the outcome will change given the large margin of victory and because there...