Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed Japan to reevaluate its energy strategy once again. A sharp rise in the price of LNG, a lack of energy alternatives to reduce reliance on Russian LNG imports and Tokyo’s commitment to phasing out Russian coal and oil imports — all while ensuring Japan’s energy security — are making this reevaluation […]Continue Reading
Silicon Valley Bank, which catered to the tech industry for three decades, collapsed on March 10, 2023, after the Santa Clara, California-based lender suffered from an old-fashioned bank run. State regulators seized the bank and made the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation its receiver. SVB, as it’s known, was the biggest US lender to fail since […]Continue Reading
Rapidus, Japan’s advanced logic foundry venture company, has chosen Chitose as the site for a new 5 trillion yen (US$37 billion) semiconductor production facility, a move that will pull the island nation’s northernmost region more firmly into its technology supply chain. Chitose, located 40 kilometers and 30 minutes by express train southeast of Sapporo on […]Continue Reading
Companies in traditional sectors should take the initiative in the coming decade to go digital under Beijing’s newly announced “Digital China” plan or they will be eliminated, according to some academics. “Digitalization is now a global trend,” Zhang Jun, dean of economics at Fudan University, told guancha.cn in an interview. “Without it, China’s service and manufacturing sectors […]Continue Reading
New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, the most prolific Canadian politician on TikTok with almost 900,000 followers, has deactivated his profile in a move that will undermine his party’s attempts to engage with young voters through social media. On February 27, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced TikTok would be banned on all federal-issued government devices […]Continue Reading
Economists have urged African countries to shift to low-cost manufacturing – the path that led countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan – to industrial prosperity. These East Asian economies – which recorded high growth rates of at least 7% between the 1950s and 1990s – are commonly referred to as the […]Continue Reading
TOKYO – Mitsubishi Electric has invested US$25 million in Astroscale, Japan’s leading space debris removal start-up, in a deal that will develop and manufacture satellite buses for Japan’s national security satellite constellations. The buses will be equipped with a standardized docking plate that other spacecraft can use when servicing, moving or deorbiting satellites that cannot […]Continue Reading
JAKARTA – After rejecting floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology to exploit one of Indonesia’s largest – and most remote – offshore natural gas discoveries, Indonesia’s Joko Widodo administration has now approved its use by a Malaysian company for a smaller onshore field in western Papua. That’s not the only paradox. While Genting Oil and […]Continue Reading
Digital cameras, which almost wiped out film cameras and were then nearly wiped out in turn by the iPhone and other cell phone cameras, are making a surprise comeback. Led by sophisticated models with interchangeable lenses, unit sales are stabilizing and the value of sales is rising. This is good news for Japanese camera makers, […]Continue Reading
Australia has recovered better than most from the Covid pandemic. As measured by gross domestic product (GDP), the economy is now 7% larger than it was before the pandemic. Over 2022, the economy expanded by 2.7% – more than any of the seven largest advanced economies, and more than twice the average growth rate in […]Continue Reading