Thailand’s Move Forward makes way for Pheu Thai to form next government
BANGKOK: Thailand’s election-winning Move Forward party will let alliance partner, the Pheu Thai party, lead the formation of a government after its prime ministerial candidate failed to get parliament’s backing, a senior official said on Friday (Jul 21). Party secretary Chaithawat Tulathon told a press conference that Move Forward wouldContinue Reading
ZTE leaving Ericsson, Nokia in its 5G dust
TOKYO – Despite campaigns and sanctions against Chinese-made 5G telecom equipment in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan and elsewhere, Chinese telecom giant ZTE’s share price has risen by 61% over the past year while rivals Ericsson and Nokia’s have dropped 30% and 22% respectively.
This surge-plunge comparison can be attributed to China’s greater commitment to building 5G base stations and its focus on the technology’s industrial application, of which China is the world-leading pioneer. ZTE is China’s second-ranking telecom equipment maker after Huawei.
Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia are paying a heavy price for their dependence on the consumer market in an inflationary and rising interest rate environment.
On July 14, Nokia’s shares plunged 9.6%, the biggest fall in two years, and Ericsson’s dipped 8.7% following disappointing company sales and profit announcements for the second quarter and the rest of 2023.
It was the second abrupt drop in Europe’s two leading telecom equipment companies’ shares so far this year. The first was in April in response to weak first-quarter earnings.
Both companies have been laying off workers and otherwise cutting costs in response to weak demand and excessive inventory, primarily in North America. As a result, their customers – mostly telecom service providers – have been forced to cut prices and postpone 5G projects.
On July 14, Ericsson reported a 3% year-on-year increase in sales (-9% excluding newly consolidated investments and changes in foreign exchange rates) and a 62% decline in operating profit (net of restructuring charges) in the three months to June.
Management said this was in line with their expectations. However, it was not in line with market expectations.
On July 20, Nokia reported a 3% year-on-year decline in sales and a 16% decline in operating profit in the three months to June.
Neither company expects much improvement in the second half and both are now hoping for recovery in 2024. India and Southeast Asia are bright spots in their otherwise generally dismal performance.
ZTE, on the other hand, reported a 28.5% year-on-year increase in operating profit on a 4.3% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2023. R&D spending was up, but the cost of goods sold was significantly reduced. As of this writing, ZTE had not yet announced second-quarter results.
At the Mobile World Congress held in Shanghai at the end of June, ZTE introduced its method of building “smart” automated factories connected with 5G industrial private networks.
Called “Industrial Field Network + ZTE Digital Nebula,” it includes centralized production and logistics control, energy management, environmental protection and security.
ZTE works with hundreds of industrial companies on energy-saving, emission reduction, operational efficiency improvement through digital infrastructure and the construction of low-carbon supply chains.
Last February, the company posted on its website an analysis of what is required to take 5G industrial applications from supporting systems to core operations, namely:
Integration of cloud, network and applications: End customers need a one-stop solution that can solve real problems for the core operation and improve efficiency.
Deterministic service assurance: The private network for the core operation needs to provide ultra-low latency and jitter, ultra-high reliability and zero packet loss.
Simplified operation and maintenance: To lower the barriers of 5G private network operation.
“Since the commercial launch of 5G, the application of 5G in vertical industries has developed rapidly, and multiple application cases with commercial feasibility have been incubated,” ZTE said on its website.
“According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology [MIIT], more than 7,900 5G 2B private networks had been built in China by September 2022, and the effect of 5G empowerment has gradually appeared in many industries such as manufacturing, ports, mines and power grid.”
Product development has been accelerated and production efficiency significantly improved, the company said.
Last March, MIIT set a target of 2.9 million 5G base stations to be installed in China by the end of 2023. At the end of June, the total was 2.94 million – the target reached six months ahead of schedule with about 600,000 units installed in the first half of the year.
All urban areas of any significant size in China are now covered, with the breadth and depth of coverage steadily increasing.
China now has nearly 700 million 5G mobile phone subscribers and more than two billion IoT (Internet of Things) connections to industrial sensors and consumer electronics devices. This has been accomplished since October 2019, when the first 5G services were introduced.
China’s state-run Global Times reports that 5G industrial parks have been set up in Shanghai, Dalian and many other cities. The first 5G IoT industrial park in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is scheduled to be completed this month.
In 2018, ZTE established its Global 5G Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Binjiang, a district of Hangzhou, to develop and set standards for the technology.
Huawei is pursuing the same strategy as ZTE but on a larger scale. It is not publicly traded so its performance cannot be assessed by stock price performance.
However, Asia Times has reported: “Huawei claims 6,000 contracts to build standalone 5G networks for Chinese businesses, vs. about three dozen in Europe and fewer than 10 in the US.”
Market researcher TrendForce estimates that, by 2026, industrial manufacturing, energy and utilities will account for half the value of the global 5G market. Smart vehicles and consumer electronics will provide nearly a quarter.
This plays directly into China’s strengths as a rapidly automating industrial economy with a strong position in autos and consumer electronics, and a great need to use energy more efficiently.
GSMA, the global mobile network operators association, reports that “Mainland China is the largest 5G market in the world, accounting for more than 60% of global 5G connections at the end of 2022.
“With strong takeup of 5G among consumers, the focus of operators is now increasingly shifting to 5G for enterprises. This offers opportunities to grow revenues beyond connectivity in adjacent areas such as cloud services – a segment where operators in China have recently made significant progress.”
Japan is on a 5G track similar to China’s. NEC, Japan’s leading telecom equipment maker, has seen its share price rise over 25% in the past year, supported by a 28.6% boost in operating profit on a 9.9% increase in sales in the fiscal year ended March 2023 and management’s guidance for higher sales and profits this year.
NEC management says, “The impact of 5G will be felt not only by consumers using mobile phones. The real impact will change the way manufacturers design their plants, the way autonomous vehicles travel more safely, and the way healthcare organizations deliver more advanced and safer treatments.”
In factories, “5G makes real-time processing of a series of actions possible based on linkage between cameras and robots, namely capturing minute defects in articles flowing on the production line with high-definition cameras, identifying their characteristics in real-time with an AI engine and picking up the defective articles with a robot.”
NEC is transforming its own factories into 5G-enabled facilities, perfecting the technology and selling it to outside customers. Unlike the US, Japan never abandoned manufacturing.
On the contrary, it has led the world in factory automation and is making a major contribution to China’s automation as its leading supplier of industrial robots and is now likewise equipping its factories with private 5G networks.
Follow this writer on Twitter: @ScottFo83517667
Inmates recaptured hours after breaking out of jail
PUBLISHED : 21 Jul 2023 at 11:35
KANCHABURI: Two drug detainees broke out of Kanchanaburi Prison on Friday morning, but both have now been recaptured, police said.
According to an initial report, the escape occurred around 8am when the two male inmates, one Thai and the other a Myanmar national, scaled over the barbed wire-topped two-metre-high prison wall.
The Thai man was captured by prison guards shortly after the breakout. The Myanmar national was recaptured at about 10am, after he was seen running into a forest behind the prison.
Prison guards said the two men were not convicted prisoners. They were being held in the prison to undergo a drug rehabilitation programme.
Seah Kian Peng to be nominated Singapore’s new Speaker of Parliament
SINGAPORE: Marine Parade MP Seah Kian Peng will be nominated as Singapore’s new Speaker of Parliament at the next sitting in August, announced the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday (Jul 21). The Speaker’s post became vacant after Tan Chuan-Jin resigned from parliament and the People’s Action Party (PAP) this week over an affair withContinue Reading
Couple killed, five injured in collision
PUBLISHED : 21 Jul 2023 at 10:46
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A man and his wife were killed and five other people seriously injured when two cars collided on Highway 41 in Thung Song district of this southern province on Thursday evening.
Pol Lt Col Komkrit Arunothai, a Thung Song police investigator, said a surveillance camera captured the moment a Nissan Almera veered to the right, skidded over the median strip and collided head-on with an oncoming Toyota car on the opposite side of the highway.
The impact left both vehicles severely damaged.
The driver of the Nissan, Anan Srimuangmaen, 54, and his wife Piyaporn Sae Lao, 38, were killed in the collision.
The driver of the Toyota, Somnuek Sawaengchok, 46, and four young women – Nanthaporn Kongklaew, 18, Thonthida Sawaenglok, 18, Nitcha Thongchinda, 18, and Charuwan Aksornwong, 17 – were injured. All of them were from Thung Song district, Nakhon Si Thammarat. They were rushed to Thung Song Hospital for treatment.
According to a police investigation, Anan and Piyaporn were on their way back to Chanthaburi province, following a leisure trip to Hat Yai district of Songkhla province.
Police were investigating to find the cause of the accident for any necessary legal proceedings.
The unpalatable necessity of engaging with the Taliban
One would be hard pressed to find someone as diametrically opposed to the Taliban’s ideology as Mahbouba Seraj.
A distinguished human-rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Seraj, 75, resides in Afghanistan and is executive director of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center and manages domestic-violence shelters for women and children. And yet she has called for dialogue with the regime as her country is mired in a humanitarian crisis.
“After 18 months of brutality, it’s time to hear their side of the story too. We really have to come up with some agreement. Talks have to start with the Taliban.”
Her call for engagement with the Taliban is not despite its odious treatment of women, but because of it. Seraj is among a growing chorus of voices that have said not engaging with the Taliban is going to make life much worse for those segments of Afghan society that are suffering the most.
Last year Deborah Lyons, then head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), called for the international community to work directly with the Taliban. Hinting at US sanctions that had shut Afghanistan off from the global financial system, Lyons said Afghan businesses were closing, unemployment increasing and poverty rising.
Afghanistan continues to face unprecedented humanitarian, economic and climate-related challenges. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has reported that 28.8 million people, out of the 38 million population, urgently need humanitarian assistance, 17 million face acute hunger, and 60% of the population faces difficulty accessing water.
Of an estimated US$3.2 billion required to fund humanitarian assistance in 2023, UNOCHA has received just $742.3 million.
US role
The road to mitigating the Afghan people’s suffering, however, goes through Washington.
A retired Central Intelligence Agency official recently suggested the US maintain a presence in Kabul for counterterrorism purposes against Islamic State (ISIS). As one-dimensional as this suggestion is, the Taliban might welcome it, as they consider ISIS’ Afghan franchise, ISIS-Khorasan Province (ISKP), their mortal enemy.
Such an engagement could provide an opportunity for the international community to influence the regime’s policies. As some reports have pointed out, the Taliban’s oppression of women may be born of a political choice rather than ideology, or could be due to internal power struggles.
Through strategic engagement and incentives, the international community could exploit the regime’s internal divisions to benefit ordinary Afghans.
Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, civilian casualties have continued due to violence by non-state actors, with 1,095 killed and 2,679 wounded, the UN has said. This is, however, a decrease from 2020, when there were 8,820 civilian casualties, including 3,035 deaths. The latest UN report accuses ISKP of most attacks.
Last December, ISKP claimed responsibility for an attack on a Chinese-owned hotel in Kabul, prompting China to advise its citizens to leave Afghanistan. The group has openly threatened to assassinate the leaders of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and has increased recruitment propaganda in the region’s languages.
This perhaps explains why Afghanistan’s neighbors are ready to maintain working relationships with the Taliban.
Why is the US dithering? It could be a matter of imperial hubris. Historically, the US has not reacted well to strategic defeats that hinder its global influence.
Three strategic defeats of the 20th century come to mind – Vietnam, where a guerrilla army defeated a superpower; Cuba – where a communist regime in America’s back yard defeated a CIA-backed “regime change” operation; and Iran – where a popular uprising toppled a pro-US regime that upheld Iran as one of the twin pillars of Washington’s Middle East policy.
By contrast, the US has mostly showcased the Taliban’s coming to power as a tactical defeat – poorly designed reconstruction strategies and, as US President Joe Biden put it, Afghanistan’s pre-Taliban leadership are to blame.
This cynical political packaging of the fiasco ought to insulate the Biden administration from political blowback should it decide to engage with the Taliban.
Even Russia is gradually pursuing engagement with the Taliban, despite the fact that many in the Taliban leadership fought alongside the Afghan mujahideen in the 1980s against the Soviet occupation, a catastrophic defeat for the USSR that catalyzed its eventual disintegration.
Despite the US withdrawal, the fate of Afghans remains tied to Washington’s decisions. The Biden administration’s Afghanistan policy remains undecided, with a preference thus far for piecemeal humanitarian interventions.
Some experts have called for the US to distinguish between the Taliban regime and the Afghan state, that is, continue targeted sanctions on Taliban leaders while funding specific functions of the Afghan state, knowing full well that a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is not going to win awards for democracy or women’s rights any time soon.
With Washington focused on Ukraine and China, one hopes that if not for humanitarian reasons, then at least the mounds of mineral resources in Afghanistan may make US policymakers consider engaging with the regime.
If this improves the lives of Afghan people, particularly women and minorities, that would be a fortunate and welcome byproduct. And true to form, future American presidents may just find it politically convenient to claim they did it all for the women of Afghanistan.
This article was provided by Syndication Bureau, which holds copyright.
TSMC: Chip giant delays Arizona production in blow to Biden
Getty ImagesChipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) has delayed the start of production at its factory in the US state of Arizona, in a setback to President Biden’s technology ambitions.
The firm says chip manufacturing will no longer start next year, due to a shortage of skilled workers.
The White House has laid out plans to bring more chip production to the US.
It comes as an ongoing trade row centred on the technology intensifies between Washington and Beijing.
On Thursday, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said production of advanced microprocessors at its Arizona factory in the south west of the US would now begin in 2025.
During an earnings presentation, Mr Liu said the plant, which has been under construction since April 2021, faced a shortage of workers with the “specialised expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility.”
He added that the firm was “working to improve the situation, including sending experienced technicians from Taiwan to train the local skilled workers [in the US] for a short period of time”.
TSMC also forecast a 10% drop in sales this year, because of slower demand for semiconductors.
The company said its profits fell by around 23% to 181.8bn Taiwanese dollars ($5.8bn; £4.5bn) in the three months to the end of June, compared to the same time last year.
TSMC first announced plans to build a facility in Arizona in 2020, during the presidency of Donald Trump.
In December last year, the firm said it would more than triple its investment in the project to $40bn (£31.1bn). This marked one of the largest foreign investments in American history.
At that time, Mr Liu said the first of TSMC’s two semiconductor production facilities at the Arizona plant would be operational by 2024, with the second coming online by 2026.
A long-running technology dispute has seen the US impose a series of measures against China’s chipmaking industry, while investing billions of dollars to boost America’s semiconductor industry.
The US produces around 10% of the global supply of computer chips, which are key to everything from cars to mobile phones. In 1990 the country accounted for almost 40% of global production.
Last year, President Biden signed legislation committing $280bn to high tech manufacturing and scientific research in the US.
The investment included tax breaks for companies that built computer chip manufacturing plants in the country.
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More generation capacity needed to meet Singaporeâs growing electricity demand: Tan See Leng
The Keppel Sakra Cogen Plant, which will be located in the Sakra sector of Jurong Island, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
It will produce up to 600 megawatts of electricity, or about 8 per cent of the country’s peak electricity demand in 2022.
“As electricity demand will continue to increase, we will need more generation capacity while ensuring that the power sector transitions to a net-zero future,” said Mr Ngiam Shih Chun, chief executive of the Energy Market Authority.
“The hydrogen-ready Keppel Sakra Cogen Plant is a good example of the infrastructure we need, and we encourage other generation companies to make similar investments.”
China ramps up efforts to prevent flooding amid heavy rains
BEIJING: With more heavy rain forecast in the coming days, China has activated an emergency response in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and ramped up flood control efforts in the Hai river basin, Xinhua reported on Thursday (Jul 20). The Ministry of Water Resources will make preparations for flood storage in reservoirsContinue Reading
IHG Hotels & Resortsâ Vignette Collection débuts in Phnom Penh – Southeast Asia Globe
IHG Hotels & Resorts today announces a partnership with Odom Living Co., Ltd. to introduce Vignette Collection to Phnom Penh in 2027.
Located in the heart of Cambodia’s bustling capital, the 50-room Vignette Collection Phnom Penh Odom will provide guests with an exclusive Luxury & Lifestyle destination and joins a family of distinctive, elegant, and intriguing luxury and lifestyle hotels. Created for the next generation of luxury travellers, each property is unique yet connected by a shared vision to make a positive change for people, place, and planet.
The second IHG Hotels & Resorts property to open in Cambodia – following Six Senses Krabey Island – Vignette Collection Phnom Penh Odom joins one of the world’s largest luxury and lifestyle portfolios with more than 450 open hotels and over 100,000 rooms. Vignette Collection is IHG’s first collection brand and joins Six Senses, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Regent Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Hotel Indigo.
Patrick Finn, Vice President, Development, South East Asia & Korea, IHG Hotels & Resorts said: “Vignette Collection is IHG’s newest Luxury & Lifestyle brand, and already growing quickly in many markets. It’s the perfect choice for partners seeking a distinctive identity for their hotel, while benefiting from our global scale, systems, and expertise as the second largest Luxury & Lifestyle hotel operator in the world.
“It’s been wonderful to work with Odom to bring Vignette Collection hotel to Cambodia’s capital city. Since launching in 2021, Vignette Collection has opened six properties in destinations including Brisbane, Bangkok, Porto and Washington, and grown a pipeline of 15 outstanding hotels. Over the next 10 years we anticipate a rapid expansion of Vignette Collection, reaching 100 properties globally, attracting guests who seek authentic, experiential and considerate stays.”
Kim Leang Kean, Odom Board Chairman and Founder of real estate developer ULS added: “Phnom Penh is a vibrant city with a rich history, incredible architecture, mouth-watering food and a unique culture, and we believe that Vignette Collection Phnom Penh Odom will further enhance its status as a must-visit destination.
“The Vignette Collection brand experience of authentic one-of-a-kind stays, each with its own distinct outlook and story to tell, is perfectly suited to attracting the next generation of travellers to this thriving city. Surrounded by an exciting mix of upmarket retail outlets, office spaces, hotel and residences, it will quickly become the place to be for visitors and locals alike.”
Located on the top seven floors of Odom Tower – the 45-storey office component of the mixed-use development ODOM, Vignette Collection Phnom Penh Odom is conveniently situated along Preah Norodom Boulevard, a major road in Central Phnom Penh. With its central location within the Tonle Bassac district, it will be close to many international embassies and Cambodian government agencies, as well as international businesses and non-government organisations.
Vignette Collection Phnom Penh Odom will feature 50 rooms and suites and facilities including two restaurants, a rooftop bar, a lobby lounge, a swimming pool, fitness centre, a members-only private club and four meeting rooms.
The brand has expanded quickly in Southeast Asia, with the opening of Sindhorn Midtown Hotel Bangkok, Vignette Collection in 2022, with the rebrand of Dinso Resort & Villas Phuket, Thailand following later this year and two further hotels in The Aquatique Pattaya and Bangkok Chinatown.
Vignette Collection, IHG’s first collection brand, is a family of one-of-a-kind properties in sought-after urban and resort locations where the next generation of Luxury & Lifestyle travellers can indulge in stays that weave responsibility, community and locality together, backed by the reassurance of the company’s trusted reputation and leading loyalty offer.
About IHG Hotels & Resorts
Held under the umbrella of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC holding company, IHG Hotels & Resorts is a global hospitality company, providing True Hospitality for Good. With a family of 18 hotel brands and IHG One Rewards, one of the world’s largest hotel loyalty programmes, IHG has over 6,000 open hotels in over 100 countries, and more than 1,800 in the development pipeline.
For IHG’s latest news, visit their Newsroom and follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
About Vignette Collection
Vignette Collection is IHG Hotels & Resorts’ first collection brand. A family of one-of-a-kind properties in sought-after urban and resort locations where guests can indulge in a growing passion for stays that are authentic, experiential and considerate. Here for the next generation of luxury travellers seeking both discovery and purpose, Vignette Collection weaves responsibility, community and locality together for stays that are as distinct as our hotels.
For more information, visit vignettecollectionhotels.com.
About ODOM
Nestled in central Phnom Penh, ODOM is a world-class mixed-use development comprising two towers: the 45-storey Odom Tower, offering 40,000 sqm of Grade A offices; and Odom Living, featuring 22 floors of spacious one to four bedrooms apartments for modern families and professionals. The towers are connected by Odom Square, a five-storey podium with green and commercial space for communities to thrive.
ODOM’s lead developer is Urban Living Solutions (ULS), a Cambodian-owned company focused on community-centered development.
