Drones and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras could one day join seawalls and mangroves in the arsenal of tools Singapore uses to deal with rising sea levels. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu announced on Monday (April 18) that national water agency PUB is calling for proposals on the use of emerging sensor technologies, such as satellite imagery and radar, to collect and analyse coastal and inland flood data sets. “This will support PUB in the formulation of robust coastal protection strategies,” said Fu, at the joint opening of two environmental conferences – CleanEnviro Summit Singapore and the Singapore…
Author: Asia News Network
Skyrocketing fuel prices and the continuing depreciation of the kip are ramping up pressure on Lao producers due to soaring production costs, according to a recently unveiled study. Conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the research paper stated that the Russia-Ukraine conflict had interrupted the global supply chain, leading to a rise in the price of fuel, gas and animal feed. Rising production costs have in turn led to higher prices in markets, especially for beef, pork, fish and vegetables, creating further hardship for the general public. The paper stated that the price of fuel jumped by 28…
Nepal’s private sector power developers have asked the government to introduce an ordinance to allow them to buy and sell electricity domestically and abroad, as the country currently lacks a law for the same. The Ministry of Energy is reportedly prepared to allow the private sector to engage in power trading, including export of electricity, by introducing an electricity transmission directive and a working procedure, but the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs poured cold water on the plan, arguing that the existing law does not have any provision to allow the private sector to trade in electricity. A…
The Vietnam Logistics Business Association (VLA) has proposed establishing a container fleet with a total investment of $1.5 billion to build new ships, purchase old ones, and rent and buy containers. This aims to serve import and export goods to limit the interference from foreign shipping lines and reduce costs. According to the VLA, the transportation of import and export goods by sea is facing many difficulties, especially due to congestion at ports and supply chain disruptions, which cause a shortage of ships and containers, which has made container freight rates skyrocket, heavily impacting competitiveness. Vu Ngoc Son, chairman of…
Over the years the demand for durian has been exceptionally high, especially in China where Thai durians are always in demand. But the Covid outbreak led to many restrictions on import of goods into mainland China, and durian farmers are facing the heat of these policies. The Nation Thailand spoke to Sanchai Puranachaikere, president of the Thai Fresh Fruit Traders and Exporters Association, on the problems arising from China’s zero-Covid policy. “We still have no clue in which direction we should go because China has a zero-Covid policy. Which means, there can be no traces of Covid infection on the…
It was 2003, with South Korea still clinging to the euphoria of the 2002 World Cup, when the official road map to making Seoul Asia’s financial centre was first announced. Hope was in the air and it quickly became a key task for current Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who previously served as the city’s mayor from 2006 to 2011. But the hurdles were too high. Global financial institutions were put off by Korea’s rigid labour market and tight, yet somewhat vague regulations, despite the geopolitical advantage Seoul could offer. They quickly turned their eyes to Singapore, which lured them with lucrative…
Hyundai Motor is issuing community-based non-fungible tokens as part of efforts to enhance its brand experience and customer community, becoming the first carmaker to enter the community NFT marketplace, the South Korean auto giant said on April 18. Hyundai released a short film introducing the “Metamobility Universe”, the carmaker’s NFT universe concept that was first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The film, featuring Meta Kongz, a popular NFT gorilla character, visualised how mobility solutions can transcend time and space. There are other global carmakers such as Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, and McLaren that have issued NFTs already. These carmakers‘…
South Korea and the US on Monday kicked off their annual combined military exercise, while North Korea has begun its preparation for a massive military parade likely to be held during the training period “in earnest,” South Korean military officials said. Seoul and Washington decided to conduct the nine-day, springtime Combined Command Post Training in light of the overall circumstances, including the Covid-19 pandemic and maintaining a combined defense posture. “The training aims to enhance the combined operational capabilities of South Korean and US soldiers and will serve as an opportunity to further strengthen our combined defense posture,” South Korea’s…
“It’s a game of chicken and we’re losing,” maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said on Monday after the Department of Energy (DOE) ordered the suspension of oil exploration activities in the West Philippine Sea on April 6. The order came a month after President Rodrigo Duterte, during a public address, said the country had no choice but to abide by a supposed joint exploration deal with Beijing to avoid conflict, and that someone “from China” had reminded him of this upon learning of other companies’ planned activities in the area. Duterte added that the same person also warned him that Beijing…
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, when he took the oath of office in 2019 to start his second term as Indonesian president, vowed that the average income of Indonesians would more than triple by the middle of the century, pushing the country into the ranks of modestly high income economies such as Poland and Chile. Indonesia’s neighbours set similar goals in recent years too. In October 2019, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha set 2036 as the target for the kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to reach at least $12,700, the amount the World Bank fixed for joining the ranks of…