Sri Lanka announced a restructuring plan for its massive domestic debt on Thursday (Jun 29) to meet targets set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and aim to turn around its economy, which has been hammered by a financial crisis. The island nation is asking foreign investors in its internationalContinue Reading
JAKARTA: Indonesian livestreamer Christine Febriyanti stood in a room crammed with clothes in Jakarta, hawking colourful garments to hundreds of viewers on a TikTok livestream for a local fashion brand. “For the Vitamin C kind of girls, you’ll fulfil all of your nutrient needs with these orange pants,” the 25-year-oldContinue Reading
SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian countries are drawing up governance and ethics guidelines for artificial intelligence (AI) that will impose “guardrails” on the booming technology, five officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Regulators across the world are rushing to draft regulations to govern the use of generative AI, which canContinue Reading
Local consultancy firm Perfeicao, which helps Chinese and Portuguese firms break into new markets, said the number of deals have gone up three times since Macao reopened its borders at the beginning of this year.
“Right now, China exports a lot of services and new technologies,” said Mr João Li, director of the firm’s Portugal office.
“We received a delegation comprising the top 500 companies from Brazil. They were looking for internet and technology companies such as Jingdong, Baidu, and Tencent (to find out) how to create a shared economy.”
These exchanges are also part of a bigger political shift as China eyes strategic partnerships in the West and beyond, amid soaring tensions with the United States.
In April, China and Brazil pledged to work together in international finance and fair development.
That same month, Macao’s Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng met with Portugal’s leaders to discuss bilateral trade.
“China is one of the biggest countries in the world in terms of demography, and one tiny place in China that has Portuguese as an official language, it has to make a difference,” said Prof Veloso.
As labour laws tighten, non-resident work permits are becoming harder to obtain. Yet, locals are not keen on many of these jobs.
“The shortage of manpower is real. Some hotel rooms are left unoccupied because these jobs pay too little and Macao residents are not willing to take them,” said New Macau Gaming Staff Rights Association’s president Cloee Chao,
Ms Chao suggested raising the minimum wage in these jobs to attract locals. However, the local labour force is also shrinking, with younger residents looking at job opportunities abroad.
“Some saw opportunities in foreign countries and eventually migrated. The younger generations choose to study abroad and some are not coming back to work after graduation.” said Macao legislator Ron Lam.
The Labour Affairs Bureau and its partners have invited big tech names such as Tencent and Alibaba to their career fairs in hopes of attracting young residents to stay.
Industry players are also working on talent retention by encouraging training and reskilling.
“For example, in the exhibition industry, there are many backstage jobs such as lighting, but those require training,” said Ms Chao.
“With appropriate training, it is possible to switch to other professions, such as getting an insurance or real estate licence.”
Mr Lam said he believes Macao should develop a framework that sets a standard for career development and a benchmark for wages.
“If locals are required to be competitive and continue to study, the government should take the lead in building a qualification framework that is based on a tripartite agreement that brings together government, industry and labour,” he said.
He added that with such a qualification, it would be easier for residents to develop in different fields.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief Eddie Yue said the city wants to give the industry flexibility to develop, innovate and create an ecosystem.
However, that does not mean a light-touch regulation.
In fact, Prof Aris said he believes the new rules allow Hong Kong to fill a void left behind by a series of meltdowns in the west.
“At the point of lowest confidence, is when you can instil more confidence in investors by showing them that it is safe to trade these assets in Hong Kong, because they are well regulated,” he said.
“There is room for Hong Kong to step in and become an international hub in the trading of virtual assets.”
Overseas investors such as Mr Chen Zhuling, who runs a Singapore-based blockchain company, is also eyeing a slice of the pie.
His firm is looking at potentially offering staking services in the city, as its crypto space grows. Staking is a way for crypto holders to earn rewards on digital assets.
“Hong Kong is never short of sophisticated funds and investors. So that’s going to have a great inflow into the crypto space,” said Mr Chen, the chief executive officer of RockX.
“After the crackdown of Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank, there are no efficient on-ramp, off-ramp services globally. (This is) where after the licensing, banks will be more comfortable to serve that need.”
More than 80 companies, including major crypto exchanges OKX and Huobi, had expressed interest to operate in the city even before the new laws kicked in.
Prof Aris said he believes these movements signal a growth trajectory, one that the Hong Kong is preparing to meet as it steps up recruitment of fintech professionals.
The growing market potential for durian in China has pushed cities in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which borders Vietnam, to beef up logistics to facilitate imports from its neighbour. Chongzuo, a border city in Guangxi, is building an advanced logistics centre with cold-chain storage and food-processing facilities to improve theContinue Reading
HANOI: Vietnam aims to cut its rice exports to 4 million tonnes a year by 2030 from 7.1 million tonnes last year, the government said in a document detailing its rice export strategy. Vietnam is the world’s third-largest rice exporter, after India and Thailand. The move is aimed at “boosting theContinue Reading
And he says the trend is being seen across the board, “not only in our industry”. “Many [firms] in the bicycle, sports equipment and clothing sectors are facing the same challenge,” he said, “as the inventory pressure facing European and American clients is very high.” Dan Digre, CEO of loudspeakerContinue Reading
“PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES” With US-China relations in particular riddled with explosive issues like trade, human rights and Taiwan, Beijing has tightly consolidated its control of sensitive information. Many experts interpreted state TV coverage of the raids as an unambiguous warning to Chinese citizens about the risks of engaging with firmsContinue Reading