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
In light of China ending its zero-Covid policy, Macau is seeking to recover its tourism-based economy. Success will depend on the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19, international travelers’ willingness to visit the region and the Macau government’s ability to support local economic recovery. n China since December 2022, recent data […]Continue Reading
China, which blocks all western social media on the mainland, mocked the United States government for trying to stop young people from using TikTok, the most downloaded app during the pandemic. The White House issued a 30-days notice to government organizations on Monday to make sure that TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance Ltd, is removed from all federal […]Continue Reading
About a decade ago, the world’s biggest economies agreed to crack down on multinational corporations’ abusive use of tax havens. This resulted in a 15-point action plan that aimed to curb practices that shielded a large chunk of corporate profits from tax authorities. But, according to our estimates, it hasn’t worked. Instead of reining in […]Continue Reading
It’s nearly a decade since the term “fourth industrial revolution” was coined, yet many people won’t have heard of it, or know what it refers to. Also known as industry 4.0, it’s a way of describing how connecting together different advanced technologies could transform how we make things. An example of this could be putting […]Continue Reading
Beijing has expressed discontent after the United States put five Chinese companies and their overseas firms on its ‘entity list’ for allegedly providing services and products to the Russian military. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the US commerce department over the weekend sanctioned AOOK Technology Ltd, Beijing Ti-Tech Science and Technology Development […]Continue Reading
Indonesia has vast potential. Despite numerous setbacks since its independence in 1945 — including the 1997 Asian financial crisis — the country is now the largest Southeast Asian economy and a member of the G20. Traditionally an agrarian economy, Indonesia is transitioning towards more services and manufacturing employment. These efforts have been promoted by strong government […]Continue Reading
In 2021, Australian company Star Scientific signed an agreement with the Philippine government to develop green hydrogen as a fuel source. This agreement joins a long list of similar agreements around the world. But the number of large-scale hydrogen projects that have progressed from agreements into development is rather short. Vastly more investment is pouring into solar […]Continue Reading