The Vietnamese economy expanded at 5.03 per cent in the first quarter of this year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on March 29. This is higher than the growth rate of the first quarter of last year at 4.72 per cent and the rate of the same quarter in 2020 at 3.66 per cent, but still lower than the rate recorded in 2019 at 6.85 per cent. Vietnam’s economy in the first three months of 2022 had seen many positive changes compared to the previous year, GSO director-general Nguyen Thi Huong told a press conference to announce socio-economic statistics…
Author: Asia News Network
Chinese internet companies, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd and JD, are reportedly downsizing, amid economic downward pressure and a complex external environment, but they are still stepping up recruitment efforts for skilled talent in research and development (R&D). Industry experts said tech heavyweights are adjusting development strategies, optimising organisational structure and shifting their focus to operational efficiency-oriented business model, with an emphasis on long-term, sustainable growth. Jingxi, a social e-commerce platform under Chinese e-commerce giant JD, plans to lay off 10 to 15 per cent of its workforce, according to JD. Launched in 2019, Jingxi focuses on…
The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) says property developers’ margins are shrinking, and are now at around 15 per cent. Rehda Institute chairman Jeffrey Ng said this has been the case in recent years because of rising costs especially compliance costs with regards to property projects which are seeing profit margins being squeezed. “It is idealistic to talk about house prices coming down. If property developers’ profit margins are very high then the developers can absorb some of these costs for house prices to be contained. “But in reality this is not the case,” Ng said in…
A recent survey by the Government Housing Bank’s Real-Estate Information Centre (REIC) shows that though fewer new property units are being released in Thailand’s South, the property market in the Northeast is recovering fast. “This year, the Isaan market has 3,928 new properties, up by 60.3 per cent from 2,450 units during the same period last year,” REIC acting director-general Wichai Viratakaphan said on March 25. REIC estimates that Nakhon Ratchasima and Khon Kaen have seen the highest number of new properties added to the market this year at 1,917 and 1,195 units, marking a 106 per cent and 66.4…
Immigration services at Malaysia’s entry points will be back to their pre-pandemic strength in anticipation of large crowds of travellers as the country reopens its borders on April 1. Aside from having to handle travellers entering and leaving the country, the Immigration Department is also gearing up for the expected influx of applications for foreign workers. Its director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said that counters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, KLIA2, and the Causeway and Second Link in Johor, will operate on a 24-hour basis beginning April 1. “While we will see to it that all immigration protocols are adhered…
North Korea has been restoring access to a yet unused tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in a potential attempt to expedite a seventh nuclear weapons test, said Open Nuclear Network, a Vienna-based research institute. Commercial satellite images have shown “signs of increasing activities” since last December especially at the South Portal and the main administrative area within North Korea’s only known underground nuclear test site, according to the institute’s research report released on Monday. “These developments clearly show that the DPRK has reactivated, or is in the process of reactivating, some parts of the Punggye-ri nuclear weapon test…
Humankind’s quest to develop technology is creating the kind of artificial intelligence that can transform itself into a much-needed companion, in this case “communication robots,” which have become a magnet for people as opportunities for face-to-face contact become increasingly scarce amid the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, some owners become so attached to the items, they consider them pets or family members. ‘Adorable’ additions About 50 robot owners had a rare get-together at a cafe in Tokyo’s Shibuya district one day early in March. Each of them brought a Lovot, a technology developed by the robot start-up company Groove X, Inc.…
There are several items that most women would consider to be daily essentials that they need to have in their purses at all times. Few would consider a pair of scissors to be among these items. But for Shi Qinling, this tool has been with her everywhere she goes for the past decade – not as a means of self-protection but artistic expression. To this paper-cutting artist, scissors are like what brushes are to painters, or what pens are to writers. Always having a pair of scissors on her also allows her to create art whenever inspiration hits. Most of…
SK Square, an investment arm of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, on March 28 said it plans to spend at least two trillion won ($1.6 billion) over the next three years in the field of semiconductor chips and blockchain technology. It is the first time SK Square unveiled its investment roadmap since November, when it spun off from telecommunication affiliate SK Telecom. Under the plan, announced during its shareholder meeting held on March 28, SK Square will target chip companies in the US and in Japan across the global semiconductor value chain. Prior to the carve-out, SK Square has already been…
The Laos-China railway has been used for the first time to carry Thai fruit to China, according to a report in Thailand’s The Nation on March 28. Two containers carrying 40 tonnes of durian and one container filled with 20 tonnes of coconuts from Rayong made their way to Thanaleng Station in Laos and entered China on a train on March 27. Somkiat Mansiripibul, the manager of Kaocharoen Train Transport which operates the Laos-China railway, was quoted in The Nation as saying that rail appears to be the fastest mode of transport, adding that it takes just four or five…