The ongoing wave of omicron infections in North Korea could cause tens of thousands of deaths in the unvaccinated country, according to Oh Myoung-don, who heads the South Korean National Medical Center’s committee for clinical management of emerging infectious diseases. Speaking at a virtual forum organized by Seoul National University’s Institute for Health and Unification Studies on May 16, Oh estimated that the omicron death toll in North Korea could reach around 34,000 at the end of the current wave. He said he arrived at the numbers based on his analysis of an April 15 US Centers for Disease Control…
Author: Asia News Network
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law promoting the rights of abandoned children with unknown parents and giving them more protection. Signed on May 6, Republic Act No 11767, or the Foundling Recognition and Protection Act, states that a foundling found in the country or in Philippine embassies, consulates and territories abroad is presumed a natural-born Filipino citizen “regardless of the status or circumstances of birth.” As a result, he or she “shall be accorded with rights and protections at the moment of birth equivalent to those belonging to such class of citizens whose citizenship does not need perfection…
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan met political and corporate leaders in Malaysia on May 17 – the first day of his three-day visit to the country aimed at renewing and strengthening bilateral ties. He met Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) Anthony Loke, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) lawmaker Nurul Izzah Anwar, and chairman of mobile service provider Maxis, Mokhzani Mahathir. “Good catch up with old friends in KL today. We had good discussions on political and economic developments,” Dr Balakrishnan wrote on his Facebook page. “Our leaders have worked hard to reopen…
Vietnam’s ‘One Commune – One Product’ (OCOP) programme has helped improve the value of Ca Mau Province’s agricultural products and promote its speciality products. The southernmost province enjoys advantages in agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, which enable it to offer various products and services designated as OCOP. They include food, beverages, handicrafts, and rural tourism services. The province recognised 44 more OCOP products last year, taking its total to 77 ranking from three or four star level under a five-star system. The ones recognised last year include Ngoc Tran and Mach Long fish sauce, Tu Tam biological rice, Minh Duy fermented…
Thailand and Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to set up a cooperation council to further strengthen bilateral ties. The two countries also agreed to waive visa requirements for diplomacy and government affairs, while Saudi Arabia will consider helping the 800 Thai nationals whose visa has expired. Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai revealed these developments after meeting with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Riyadh on Tuesday. “Prince Faisal said he will visit Thailand in June to prepare for Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit,” Don said. Meanwhile, he said, Thailand will appoint its ambassador to Saudi…
Vietnam’s outstanding foreign trade performance in the first quarter of this year has sparked discussions on whether the Southeast Asian country has been snatching away overseas orders from China due to the sporadic outbreaks of the novel coronavirus in the Chinese mainland that has affected economic activity. Admittedly, Vietnam has been developing since its accession into the World Trade Organisation in 2006, just like China did after joining the world trade body in 2001, though at a relatively slow pace. After the US launched the trade war against China in 2018, some overseas orders for Chinese industries, especially in the…
After a two-year slump due to Covid-19, the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) office for lease market is showing positive signs with demand increasing in all segments. A CBRE report said there was good recovery in the southern Vietnamese city’s office market with total net absorption in the first quarter of 17,000sqm, equivalent to 32 per cent in 2021. Relocation accounted for 55 per cent of the transactions, lease renewal for 25 per cent and expansion for 20 per cent, it said. There were transactions for large areas in some high-quality grade B buildings in both the central business district…
As of May 6, the bond market expected US consumer price inflation to average 2.5 per cent between five and 10 years from now. That is the rate of inflation needed to equalise returns on inflation-indexed and nonindexed US Treasury securities. And given that CPI inflation has been running higher than the rate associated with the implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures, I count that 2.5 per cent five-year, five-year-forward rate as hitting the US Federal Reserve’s two per cent price-deflator inflation target. What, then, would it take to get the economy back to the Fed’s targeted inflation rate?…
Japanese companies Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) and Sky Perfect JSAT Corp have announced they will establish in July a fifty-fifty joint venture that sets up communications networks in the stratosphere and beyond. Space Compass Corp will take on the challenge of building satellite communication networks by using optical communication technology and aims to achieve sales of about 100 billion yen ($773 million) in the future. NTT and Sky Perfect formed an alliance for space-related business in May 2021. In the new venture, NTT will provide communications technology and Sky Perfect will provide space business know-how, including communications satellites.…
International air travel is likely to return to pre-pandemic levels sooner than expected, with most of Asia opening up quickly and international passenger numbers rebounding to 42 per cent of 2019 levels in the first quarter of this year. International Air Transport Association (IATA) director-general Willie Walsh said on May 16 that the industry might even hit 2019 levels by 2023, sooner than its previous forecast of 2024. He said international travel has nearly doubled from the 24.5 per cent last year, and that figures in the first four to five months of this year have exceeded predictions – including…