Indonesia bans e-commerce firm Temu over fears its small enterprises could be ‘destroyed’

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We want to see more of the things that make world more productive and profitable fill the online storage. If it is harmful, what’s the place? We’ll outlaw it. Our microscopic, small and medium enterprises may be destroyed if left unregulated”, he continued. &nbsp,

Temu had originally tried to record to work in Indonesia, according to the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small Business. &nbsp, &nbsp,

According to Mr. Fiki Satari, Special Staff for Creative Economy Empowerment at the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, it has attempted to register with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights since September 2022 for trademark right. &nbsp,

Because a company already had a label under the name, its registration was refused. &nbsp,

After Temu’s program was presented at the 2024 E-commerce Expo on September 24 and 25, in Greater Jakarta, the company’s presentation became a topic of conversation. &nbsp,

Temu, which is available in about 60 states, entered Southeast Asia last season, beginning with the Philippines last August and Malaysia last September. In July of this year, it expanded to Thailand.

Indonesia banned TikTok Shop from the market in October of last year, citing the need to safeguard customer information and smaller businesses. But the short-form movie giant bought a 75 per cent interest in Indonesian e-commerce person Tokopedia in January, marking its re-entry into the business. &nbsp,

Read the entire article around in Bahasa Indonesia.

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Oracle to invest .5bn in AI and cloud computing in Malaysia | FinanceAsia

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As demand for artificial intelligence ( AI ) and cloud services rises, Oracle has made plans to invest more than$ 6.5 billion to establish a public cloud region in Malsyais. The upcoming cloud region, Oracle’s twelfth in Asia Pacific ( Apac ) will enable Oracle customers and partners in Malaysia to leverage AI infrastructure and services and migrate mission-critical workloads to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure&nbsp, ( OCI).

The planned public cloud location may enable Malaysian firms modernise their applications, travel all load to the fog, and develop with data, analytics, and AI, according to a company media release. &nbsp,

Customers will have access to OCI Generative AI Agents&nbsp, with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG ) capabilities, accelerated computing and generative AI services to help keep sovereign AI models within country borders, and the OCI Supercluster, a large AI supercomputer&nbsp, in the cloud, the release said. In addition, over1 50 additional services may be made accessible.

” We warmly welcome Oracle’s$ 6.5 billion investment in Malaysia, which represents yet another expansion of their 36-year footprint in Malaysia”, said YB senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, minister of investment, trade and industry ( MITI), Malaysia.

The minister added:” This funding will enable Indonesian institutions, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, with modern and cutting-edge AI and sky technologies to enhance their worldwide competitiveness. It also represents a major step in the direction of the optimistic 3 000 intelligent factory goal of the New Industrial Master Plan by 2030. The establishment of a common cloud area in Malaysia by Oracle highlights Malaysia’s facilities readiness and its growing reputation as a top South Asian destination for online investments.

” Malaysia offers special growth prospects for companies looking to accelerate their growth with the latest electronic systems”, said Garrett Ilg, executive vice president and general director, Japan &amp, Asia Pacific, Oracle. &nbsp,

Growing desire

The move by Oracle comes amid growing demand for AI and data centres in Asia Pacific ( Apac ), with Blackstone’s$ 24 billion recent deal for Sydney-headquartered AirTrunk one such example. &nbsp,

” Rapidly growing need for AI services prompts calls for more data centres that keep large amounts of data and computing power to teach and build AI models”, said Franco Chiam, vice president, fog, data center and future electric infrastructure, Apac, IDC.

Chiam added:” According to IDC FutureScape’ The Network and Cloud Impact 2024 Predictions’, Malaysia’s public cloud services market is expected to grow by 27.2 % Growth from 2022 to 2027. The future Oracle sky location in Malaysia, so, signals the country’s ability to become a gateway for technical innovation and growth in Southeast Asia”.

Some Nvidia AI equipment companies will be available to clients via Oracle, including Nvidia AI Enterprise, Nvidia Omniverse, and Nvidia DGX Cloud.

Dennis Ang, senior director, enterprise business, ( Asean and ANZ region ), Nvidia, said:” With the new Oracle Cloud Malaysia Region, customers in Malaysia will gain local access to Nvidia’s accelerated, secure, and scalable platform for end-to-end AI development and deployment on OCI, helping accelerate the development of generative AI applications”.

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Commentary: No one wants an Asian NATO, except Japan’s new PM Ishiba

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The Cold War, which began with the US and the Soviet Union working together to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II, came about as a result of NATO’s establishment in 1949. NATO’s second secretary-general Hastings Ismay reportedly said that NATO was created to “keep the Soviet Union away, the Americans in, and the Germans down”.

As part of Washington’s isolation policy, NATO worked not just to support its member states, but also to examine the spread of communism.

Not everyone was convinced. European President Charles de Gaulle withdrawn France from NATO’s integrated military command in 1966 because he desired more freedom from the US. Emmanuel Macron, the present French president, sees a European military that is American-uniform, despite Paris ‘ return to NATO in 2009.

Many people believed that NATO’s anti-communist vision was superfluous after the end of the Cold War with the political upheavals in Eastern Europe in 1989 and the Soviet Union’s breakdown in 1991.

Strangely, NATO reinvented itself to support democracy and stability despite the presence of significant Russian threats, including military activities in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa.

Despite this, many in Europe also question whether the US can be trusted to fulfill its NATO agreements, especially if Donald Trump is elected president once more after the November US election. The beach country of Japan, Japan, and the United Kingdom continue to be the most fervent supporters of NATO.

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Singapore’s prime office market subdued amid cautious business spending

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The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is another concern looming in the minds of businesses.

“If you are going to apply AI across several functions, the question has become ‘do you need the headcount?'” said Savills’ Mr Cheong.

“This is still being figured out, so many businesses are still waiting for a decision from their head offices. In the meantime, they don’t have the budget to move and fit out a new space.”

This uncertainty explains why in recent time, businesses with expiring leases have chosen to renew at their current location – but for a smaller space and a shorter time, according to Mr Cheong.

Doing so means paying higher rents per square foot as landlords are asking for a premium for shorter leases, he added.

Still, office tenants typically find this a better deal given the difficulty in finding a similarly priced Grade A office space in CBD, and the rising costs involved in refurbishing a new space.

“This is why short-term renewals have been the main activity we saw in 2023 and early 2024, and that is why rents went up marginally, not because of overwhelming new leases,” Mr Cheong said.

Meanwhile, hybrid work arrangements have continued after the pandemic, presenting another key factor for firms to reassess their office spaces.

Even though some have appeared to buck the trend – such as Amazon which has mandated its employees to return to office five days a week – experts still think hybrid work will remain the new normal.

“If more companies implement policies requiring employees to return to the office, the demand for office space could increase. However, this shift would take time as leases are typically signed for three to five years and existing space allocations are fixed,” said Ms Tricia Song, head of research for Southeast Asia at CBRE Singapore.

“In Singapore, where real estate costs are high, some companies might continue to favour hybrid work arrangements or adopt collaborative and flexible office designs to accommodate the rise in in-office employees.”

LOOKING AHEAD

That said, the market is still seeing pockets of demand.

Knight Frank noted that Meta’s space at South Beach Tower has “broadly been backfilled by smaller occupiers”.

These smaller businesses have been among the most active in seeking out new office spaces, with “modest demand” coming from firms such as those from North Asia that are establishing new offices in Singapore, the consultancy added.

JLL also observed that a “significant portion” of Meta’s space has been re-let or is currently in advanced negotiations.

Demand is coming from existing occupants looking to expand within the same building, and others relocating from elsewhere in the CBD. These are firms from the professional services and tech industries, said Dr Chua.

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IHH Healthcare snaps up Malaysia’s Island Hospital for 6m | FinanceAsia

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A consortium led by previate equity player Affinity Equity Partners has sold its 100% stake in Malaysia’s Island Hospital to IHH Healthcare (IHH), a Kuala Lumpur-headquartered international healthcare group.

The 100% sale at a value of RM4.2 billion ($966 million) includes Affinity’s 78% stake, with the remainder of the shares belonging to the founder & CEO, Mark Wee, and senior doctors of the hospital.

Founded in 1996, Island Hospital (pictured) is a leading 600-bed healthcare provider in Penang, Malaysia, with 119 specialists across 40 medical and surgical specialties. Island Hospital attracts around one in three inbound foreign patients to Malaysia, according to a statement from Affinity. Medical tourism is one of the fastest growing parts of the Malaysian private healthcare market.

Under Affinity’s ownership, Island Hospital expanded its original 300-bed facility, through the development of the adjoining Peel Wing during the pandemic. Additional land has been acquired with approvals secured for future development, a media announcement said. 

Since Affinity bought the hospital in 2015 for an undisclosed amount, Island Hospital expanded its medical and surgical offerings through recruitment and investments in medical infrastructure, resulting in a tripling of foreign patient volumes. During this period, profitability more than tripled, driven by mofd complex cases, and higher operating efficiency from the doubling of bed capacity, according to the announcement. 

Island Hospital also invested in its core specialties of orthopaedics, gastroenterology and general surgery, and established new centres of excellence in cardiology and cancer.

Rippledot Capital Advisors acted as the sole financial advisor to the Affinity-led consortium on this transaction.

“Island Hospital’s evolution into a leading healthcare institution that positively impacts the community, stakeholders, and serves as a beacon of medical excellence in Malaysia and beyond . . .  I’m confident that Island Hospital will continue to thrive under the IHH platform,” said Tang Kok Yew, founding chairman and managing partner, Affinity Equity Partners, in a statement.

Affinity Equity Partners is one of the largest independent private equity firms in Asia Pacific (Apac), investing in Asia Private Equity since 1998. Affinity has $14 billion of assets and funds under management, and is currently investing out of Fund V, a $6 billion fund. Affinity’s investment focus includes Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Greater China. 

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Indonesian miner BUMA secures 1 trillion Rupiah bond issuance | FinanceAsia

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Mining services firm Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama (BUMA), the principal subsidiary of Indonesia Stock Exchange-listed Delta Dunia Makmur, has completed the successful issuance of the BUMA II 2024 Rupiah bonds (BUMA II 2024 bonds) with a total value of Rp1 trillion ($65.7 million).

The bonds were oversubscribed by 1.4 times and were issued in three series: Series A with a nominal value of Rp251 billion at a fixed interest rate of 7.25% per annum, maturing in 370 calendar days; Series B with a nominal value of Rp332.71 billion at a fixed interest rate of 9.25% per annum, maturing in three years; Series C with a nominal value of Rp416.26 billion at a fixed interest rate of 9.75% per annum, maturing in five years.

A “wide range” of Indonesian pension funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, asset managers, and banks invested in the offering, a BUMA spokesperson told FinanceAsia.   

Indra Kanoena, president director of BUMA, commented, “The strong market response to BUMA II 2024 bond offering reinforces confidence in BUMA’s strategic direction, robust cash flow management, and credit profile. This bonds issuance allows us to further diversify and solidify our financial foundation, driving growth in our business while strengthening our position as a leading mining service provider and advancing toward becoming a diversified global mining company.”

The proceeds will be used to manage its debt maturity profile and fuel future growth. BUMA has operations in Indonesia and Australia, and in June this year it bought the Atlantic Carbon Group in Pennsylvania for around $122 million, and subsequently BUMA became the leading producer of anthracite coal in the US. 

42.29% of the proceeds, amounting to Rp422.9 billion, is being allocated to repay debt under BUMA I 2023 Series A, which matures on January 8, 2025. Additionally, 28.86% of the funds will be used for capital expenditure to purchase heavy equipment, enhancing BUMA’s production capacity and operational efficiency, the media release said. 

The remaining 28.85% will support BUMA’s ongoing operational activities, enhancing the company’s ability to manage cash flows and control costs effectively.

The issuance has further diversified the company’s financing strategy, which consists of both USD and IDR bonds, conventional and Shariah bank loans, and leasing financing schemes. The strategy strengthens the company’s financial resilience, enhances its ability to navigate market volatility, broadens its financial base, placing the company in a better position for future growth, according to the media release.

The BUMA II 2024 bonds received an A+ rating from Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (Pefindo) and Fitch Ratings. BNI Sekuritas and Trimegah Sekuritas Indonesiawere the joint lead underwriters for the bonds’ issuance.

Delta Dunia Group also owns two new subsidiaries: Bukit Teknologi Digital (BTech), offering mining technology solutions, and BISA Ruang Nuswantara (BIRU), a social entity dedicated to education, vocational schools, and fostering a circular economy. In July 2024, the group established Katalis Investama Mandiri to support its long-term strategy in environmental, social and governance (ESG).


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Risks rising for Asian banks from climate change | FinanceAsia

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Bankers are assessing how these dangers are playing out for their risks and how the so-called” passive” credit risk may be growing as a result of the recent severe storms that have ravaged Asia Pacific ( Apac ).

In early September, Super Typhoon Yagi caused billions of dollars of financial losses and cost hundreds of lives across Hainan, Guandong, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, and to a lesser degree Hong Kong. Banks need to realize how climate change makes lending more prone to risk because the insurance gap is also significant throughout the area. Banks are currently protected by ( re )insurance against the most extreme weather events, but if that becomes more expensive or difficult to access, the physical risks of climate change become more directly transmitted to the banks.

Tom Mortlock, weather threat expert guide – analytics, Apac, Aon, told FinanceAsia:” Financial institutions and the stream of credit is key to economic development across Asia, but so too is the insurance that sits behind this, that de-risks the lending. Sadly, Asia’s plan distance is one of the largest in the world, with only 14 % of economic costs covered by insurance in 2023, making banking in areas with high climate risk a potentially dangerous task.

Why is climate change important for financial institutions? is a report that Aon has just released.

Mortlock remarked,” Climate change is increasing the underlying risk profile in many locations and over time scales that banks are lending on. Low insurance coverage and high climate risk, combined with low insurance coverage and high climate risk, can pose a” silent” credit risk on lenders ‘ books, which has so far gone unnoticed.

Analytical analysis might be essential to weighing the risks. We are now starting to see a variety of financial institutions use traditional insurance-based analytics to understand their climate risk exposure and incorporate this into their loan origination and risk appetite decisions, according to Mortlock. &nbsp,

Although extreme weather is almost unavoidable in every region, some Asian cities are much better suited to extreme weather than others thanks to investments in drainage systems.

The Climate Risk Group’s Head of Corporate and Financing Sector Engagement, Philip Tapsall, head of the Cross-Department Initiative, stated:” Hong Kong is better prepared than other cities and regions for extreme weather events that are expected to worsen with climate change, particularly typhoons and flooding.”

However, banks operating in Hong Kong are significantly more exposed to less developed regions like south-eastern China and Southeast Asia ( SEA ), where climate change raises financial risks to balance sheets due to direct losses and economic effects.

Exposures can be caused by disruptions to trade, construction delays in supply chains, or direct financial losses caused by bank office shut downs, etc. &nbsp,

In order to help banks assess their physical risks to climate change in the city earlier this year, XDI collaborated with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and KPMG. &nbsp,

Regulation rising

Aon’s Mortlock also noted a rise in the region’s incoming regulatory issues.

He noted that” we have a raft of climate-related regulation coming in across Asian jurisdictions where businesses will have to start making their climate related risks known to the market.” In fact, according to some analysis we conducted, over 10,000 listed companies will be required to disclose climate information by 2027 for the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Mortlock, “at the same time, regulators are beginning to conduct their own climate stress tests on the financial services sector to make sure there is enough money in the system to withstand climate shocks both now and in the future,” &nbsp,

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Islamic finance players eye Middle East growth | FinanceAsia

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The main banks and financing method used by Muslim communities is Islamic finance. The Shariah-compliant section was created in accordance with Islamic law, which forbids specific activities like the collection of interests and investments in dangerous businesses like tobacco and pornography.

Islamic finance accounts for around 3 % of the global financial markets by valued assets, with key activities in Southeast Asian ( SEA ) markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, and the Middle Eastern region. Islamic finance consists of Islamic banking, Sukuk ( fixed income ), Islamic equity funds and Islamic insurance, among other lines of business. &nbsp,

In the Middle East, the Islamic finance market is estimated to be worth$ 2 trillion in 2024 and is expected to reach$ 2.57 trillion by 2029, according to reports. Iran and Saudi Arabia are two of the world’s largest markets by Shariah-compliant assets, with over$ 400 billion in both countries.

According to S&amp, P Global Ratings, the Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC ) countries had the highest percentage of Islamic banking assets in 2023, making up 70 % of that percentage.

In this part, FinanceAsia spoke to promote players to find out where they see the most options.

Sukuk: an alternative funding cause

Data from S&amp, P Global Ratings suggested that 37 % of the Sukuk securities in 2023 came from manufacturers based in GCC places, revealing a growing Islamic money have from Arab businesses. Saudi Arabia has been the major growth drivers, especially in dollar-denominated Sukuk securities.

Some proceeds from the Sukuk issuances are channelled to activities related to energy transition and sustainability, on top of general business operations, according to Sue Lee, director and Asia Pacific ( Apac ) head of index investment strategy at S&amp, P Dow Jones Indices.

This coincides with a trend across the majority of Arab governments to cut back on oil-related economy. New technologies like natural technology and clean energy are higher on the agenda in the context of the growth travel. For instance, Saudi Arabia wants to use 50 % of alternative energy by 2030 and has a goal of going from zero to zero by 2060.

In order to accomplish these objectives, significant funding is required to support the development of the region’s facilities and engineering, which in turn increased the volume of fixed income bonds issued.

Sukuk, as a Shariah-compliant alternative to conventional ties, provides lenders with a diversified revenue resource by tapping into a unique investment pool, Lee said. For instance, markets in SEA, such as Malaysia, are long-time officials within the Islamic banking area.

In the first quarter of 2024, Sukuk items performed statistically better than its competition on the secondary marketplace.

Lee explained that this is related to a shorter Sukuk lifespan on average, which is typically less than five centuries. Short-term lending has become advantageous for the Muslim fixed income solution in a market with rising interest rates.

However, green Sukuk is growing rapidly from a small foundation, supporting the energy transition of Arab countries.

Equity money: growing buyer demand

Munirah Khairuddin, chief executive officer ( CEO ) Malaysia and managing director, strategic distribution and institutional client relations, Southeast Asia and global Shariah, at Principal Asset Management, said that the teams is seeing growing interest from Middle Eastern investors, especially those based in Saudi.

” As Middle Eastern markets grow and expand, there will be an increased need for Shariah-compliant purchase goods. Traders who are guided by Islamist beliefs will look for opportunities that are in line with their beliefs, she said.

A premium is currently relevant to other asset lessons as well as Shariah-compliant opportunities.

For example, the S&amp, P 500 Shariah, an index which covers all Shariah-compliant constituents of S&amp, P 500, offers a 1-year return at 26.77 %, slightly higher than that of S&amp, P 500 at 26.15 %. Over the past five decades, according to Lieu, Shariah-compliant global capital indices generated on average 2.5 % extra return per year compared to their regular counterparts. &nbsp, &nbsp,

The Shariah-compliant index, filtered with Shariah rules, taking out monetary stocks and high-leveraged sectors such as energy, which in turn leads to an increased conduct of other sectors such as technology stocks. Islamic indices will typically outperform financials in times of outperformance for the information technology ( IT ) sector.

Steven Larson, investment manager, world stocks, at Principal Financial Group, echoed these views, expecting boosting returns generated from IT, logistics, medical and biological sectors.

He claimed that the worldwide Islamic finance sector’s assets are just growing swiftly in a select few key markets.

Larson added:” Additionally, we see an increased appetite for private market materials, however, the market lacks shariah-compliant structures to cater to the rising demand. However, we are seeing more efforts from property managers to create more shariah-compliant strategies in real property, private financing and secret equity”.

On top of that,” Shariah rules share a lot of commonalities with environmental, social and governance ( ESG) principles. And as more buyers look to these rules while investing, results of ESG or Shariah-compliant firms may get affected”, Lee pointed out.

She said that a rise in silent property should be a potential prospect because Islamic cash ‘ percentage of quiet assets under control is much lower than that of regular ones.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur-based Khairuddine pointed out how regional initiatives and partnerships can help standardise practices, enhance liquidity and create larger markets. To make Islamic finance more accessible, improvements are also made to trading platforms, settlement systems, and regulatory frameworks.

Digitising Islamic finance

Islamic finance also faces a problem of limited products, as well as investment appetites. Saif Khan, founder of iFintechpro, a fintech player focussing on Islamic finance, said enhances in technology and digitisation would help.

Middle Easterners are increasingly using digital products, with more and more people opting for them. The landscape is shifting towards a digital-first approach”, he told FA.

These include digital Islamic banking, digital Sukuk issuances, and tokenisation of real-world assets, on which Khan’s team is working on. He claimed that the blockchain technology would lower thresholds and improve risk profiles of investment projects, thereby making Islamic investment more accessible. For example, assets like buildings, solar farms and agricultural projects can be tokenise, enabling retail investors to invest and benefit.

” Technology can reduce the wealth gap by making high-quality investment products available to everyone”, he said. &nbsp, &nbsp,

Khan claimed that some Middle Eastern markets have already established a welcoming regulatory framework despite the fact that the practice is still in its infancy. The Dubai Financial Services Authority ( DFSA ) introduced its rules over investment tokens in Dubai in 2021 as part of its digital asset regime. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also put in place the same guidance.

According to Islamic law, tokenization of Waqfs, which refers to endowments of property that are given for religious and charitable purposes, could be a useful application.

” This can lead to tremendous social impact by providing transparency, traceability and greater trust”, he explained. ” With smart contracts on chain, updates could be automated and simplified for stakeholders”.

To press ahead, more communication between regulators and different players is needed, Khan added. For example, legal structuring, investor protection, liquidity and market education are some aspects to carefully consider.

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