The Indonesian government has announced a ban on the export of cooking oil and cooking oil ingredients starting April 28 to ensure adequate supplies of the staple product at home. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said in a video statement on April 22 that the ban would last for an “unspecified time” but be continuously evaluated. “This policy is to ensure abundant and affordable domestic cooking oil supplies,” he explained. The ban is the latest development in a four-month-long domestic crises over the staple product amid soaring crude palm oil (CPO) prices and a global shortage of cooking oil. The announcement…
Author: Asia News Network
The average daily trading value on Vietnam’s stock market has reached more than 30.84 trillion dong ($1.34 billion) per session so far this year, up 15.9 per cent from last year’s figure and now the second largest in ASEAN, only after Thailand, according to the Ministry of Finance. By the end of March, the market size had risen by 3.37 per cent from last year to close to 1.8 trillion dong, equivalent to 21.4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). There are 768 securities and fund certificates listed on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) and the Ho…
South Korea’s KB Financial Group outperformed its local rivals, posting a record net profit for the first three months of the year as the banking industry’s overall performance was bolstered by a surge in interest and fee revenue, regulatory filings showed on April 22. KB’s net income gained 14.4 per cent year-on-year to 1.45 trillion won ($1.17 billion) in the January-March period. Operating income gained 8.9 per cent year-on-year to 1.9 trillion won in the cited period. Interest income increased 18.6 per cent year-on-year to 2.64 trillion won, backed by solid loans extended to households and businesses. KB plans to…
The incoming government to be led by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is at a crossroads over how its policy support to nurture the South Korean chip industry will take shape, as the global chip arms race and state-led support intensifies. On April 21, presidential transition committee deputy spokesperson Kim Gi-heung told reporters that the committee was briefed about a proposal to establish a state-run research hub, tentatively named Nano Semiconductor Research Institute. Kim, however, said the committee’s feasibility review about the research hub has yet to start. The new research hub, proposed by the academic community in January, is meant to…
The Philippines is among emerging markets likely to suffer the most from expensive oil, according to UK-based think tank Oxford Economics. “Higher fuel import prices will translate into elevated inflation in Asian and European emerging markets where subsidies are low. Inflation via this channel will be most apparent in the Philippines, Thailand, Poland, India, Hungary and Romania,” Oxford Economics head of global strategy and emerging market research Gabriel Sterne and emerging market economist Lucila Bonilla said in a report. The Philippines is a net oil importer. Mainly on the back of surging global prices spilling over locally, Bangko Sentral ng…
Vietnam can become the second largest digital economy in Southeast Asia in 2025, while the country’s e-commerce market will draw more large-scale businesses, forecast experts at an online seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on April 20. They also said that online businesses would involve more economic sectors and more big players in the time to come. AccessTrade director-general Do Huu Hung held that e-commerce should be the first step, followed by logistics and delivery services to win stronger confidence among consumers and improve their shopping experience. Hung said that with better logistics and delivery services, the digital economy could…
Thailand’s hospitals are making special preparations for the start of the school year next month, as data shows more than half of children killed by Covid-19 in the country were under five years old. The Omicron variant has caused the number of childhood Covid-19 infections to surge, government spokesman Ratchada Thanadirek said on April 23. In January, more than half of children who died from Covid-19 were under five years old – too young to be vaccinated. The government is urging parents to get vaccinated while instructing public hospitals to launch a special treatment system for children infected after the…
Malaysian Court of Appeal judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is being investigated over allegations of unexplained money in his account. Confirming this, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Azam Baki said an investigation paper had been opened after reports were lodged. “Yes, we have started our investigation. The procedure is to investigate when a report has been officially lodged. “We opened an investigation paper because there were reports lodged, not because claims were made on portals or social media,” he told The Star. Judge Mohd Nazlan was the judge who convicted former prime minister Najib Razak over the misappropriation of 42…
The rainy season has arrived early in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and its neighbouring provinces, helping breed mosquitoes and causing a high risk of dengue fever outbreaks, doctors said. In the first three months of this year the number of people hospitalised with dengue had nearly doubled from the same period last year, Assoc Prof Pham Van Quang, head of the department of intensive care and poisoning control at Children’s Hospital No.1, said. Nguyen Minh Tien, deputy director of the HCMC Children’s Hospital, said 100-150 dengue patients had been coming to the hospital every day since February, with 10…
People who become infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and recover still have a two-threefold risk of reinfection compared to other Covid variants. Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, Director General of Laos’ Communicable Disease Control Department, Rattanaxay Phetsouvanh, said that although the number of new Covid cases and deaths worldwide is declining, it is essential that everyone continues to take precautions and protect themselves against the virus. His advice came after the World Health Organisation confirmed that people who have been infected with Omicron are still at risk of reinfection, especially with the Omicron variant. “In the…