Oil and gas company Saudi Aramco has invited banks to pitch for an advisory position on what is expected to be the world’s biggest initial public offering, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley and HSBC are among banks that have received the request for proposals, one of the sources told Reuters, with the other adding that the invitation was to evaluate Aramco’s […]
Via GEFIRA, US-centric media are reporting that Japan has become the biggest holder of the US treasuries, surpassing China last month. However, this is true only in regard to single countries. If we consider the European Union member states collectively, then they appear to be the biggest holder of the US treasuries. It has been so almost one year long. Unfortunately, the EU’s holdings are artificially overstated […]
DUBAI // Pupils from across the country listened as satellite engineers from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre shared their experiences and discussed the obstacles they had to overcome to develop the nation’s first satellites. Speaking at the Project Space Forum on Tuesday, Salem Al Marri, assistant director-general for scientific and technical affairs, explained how in 2006, a group of young Emirati engineers went to South Korea […]
A wave of about 25 African, European and South American countries is set to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank this year, reinforcing Beijing’s determination to push a global agenda even as US President Donald Trump rails against the ills of economic globalisation. Jin Liqun, president of the AIIB, said on Monday that an expanded membership would help boost lending by the $100bn multilateral organisation, which […]
SINGAPORE – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is opposed to the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR), a project for which China is among the contenders. Citing financial constraints, the former prime minister, who is chairman of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, said the HSR contract signed between Malaysia and Singapore may not be a done deal if the Opposition comes to power. “We need to do a study […]
SYDNEY The dollar was under pressure in Asia on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s focus on trade protectionism fueled suspicions his administration might seek a competitive advantage through a weaker currency. The talk of trade wars favored safe-haven Treasuries and the Japanese yen while leaving equities mixed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent but Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 0.3 percent. Sentiment […]
“It’s really, really hard for me to look at myself in the context of the people that are in the Hall of Fame; I feel like they are Michael and I’m Tito,” Roddick said, referring to the singer Michael Jackson and one of his older brothers. “Tito got to play some pretty cool venues, too, but it’s weird for me.” Continue reading the main story At a […]
The 2019 Asian Cup will begin on Jan. 5 and will be played over 28 days across eight stadiums in the United Arab Emirates, the continent’s soccer governing body said on Monday. The Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi will play host to the opening game and the final on Feb. 1 in the region’s premier tournament for the member nations, the Asian Football Confederation said in […]
By Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland U.S. President Donald Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal on Monday, distancing America from its Asian allies as China’s influence in the region rises. Fulfilling a campaign pledge to end American involvement in the 2015 pact, Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office pulling the United States from the 12-nation TPP. “Great thing […]
President Donald Trump addresses business and trade issues on Monday. Highlights of the day follow: BUSINESS Trump meets with a dozen prominent American manufacturers at the White House, promising to cut regulations and corporate taxes but warning them of penalties if they move production outside the country. TRADE Trump could sign an executive order on Monday intended to renegotiate the free trade agreement between the United States, […]
McDonald’s Corp’s (MCD.N) U.S. comparable restaurant sales fell less than analysts had expected in the fourth quarter as strong demand for its all-day breakfast brought more people to its restaurants. The operator of the world’s largest fast-food chain posted overall quarterly revenue that beat analysts’ expectations. The company’s stock initially rose in premarket trading on Monday, before reversing course to trade down 0.38 percent at $121.95. Sales […]
TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he believed U.S. President Donald Trump understood the value of free trade and that he would keep pitching a multinational trade pact that Trump’s administration has vowed to exit. “I believe President Trump understands the importance of free and fair trade, so I’d like to pursue his understanding on the strategic and economic importance of the TPP (Trans-Pacific […]
By Tetsushi Kajimoto | TOKYO TOKYO Japanese companies believe that neither U.S. President Donald Trump nor Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe want to see the yen weaken significantly, a Reuters poll showed, a development they worry could spark an unwelcome political backlash. The Reuters Corporate Survey, conducted Jan. 4-17, also found that Japanese firms want Abe to push Trump hard on trade issues, while nearly a third […]
A ship capable of breaking through thick Arctic ice to deliver Russian liquefied natural gas to Asia is due to begin trials, marking an important step towards completion of a $27bn LNG project championed by president Vladimir Putin. The tanker is the first of a new class of icebreaking LNG carriers that will open an export route from Siberia to the Pacific — reducing Russia’s dependence on […]
The world’s largest pension fund, Japan’s GPIF, is under intensifying pressure to draw a “line in the sand” on corporate governance standards in the country as other investors rail against a controversial takeover deal. The imbroglio centres around Panasonic’s proposed purchase of PanaHome. Investors say it represents one of the sternest tests to date of Japan’s stewardship and governance codes, guidelines introduced in 2014 as part of the “Abenomics” drive to […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is sending a cabinet-level delegation to Beijing this week to meet with China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang and other top Chinese officials to discuss investment deals and his country’s chairmanship of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year. The January 23-24 trip by Philippine officials includes Duterte’s finance, budget, economic, public works and transport secretaries, according to a […]
For some living in Singapore soon to be banned 2G phones are the only affordable or practical option When Singapore pulls the plug on its 2G mobile phone network this year, thousands of people could be stuck without a signal—digital have-nots left behind by the relentless march of technology. From technophobic pensioners to cash-strapped migrant workers, some 140,000 people in highly-wired Singapore still use the city-state’s second […]
China’s ruling Communist party has closed the website of a prestigious economist as it launches a campaign against “nihilist” interpretations of former leader Mao Zedong that is stirring up ghosts of the Cultural Revolution. Chairman Mao’s legacy has became a battleground for “leftists” and “rightists” over the past year, fifty years after he launched the chaotic and violent Cultural Revolution. The rancorous debates come as current president […]
TOKYO, A day after Donald Trump became U.S. President and vowed to put “America First”, Asian media decried his isolationist policies, fearing they will chill the global economy and sow widespread international discord. In a defiant inaugural address, Trump said U.S. workers have been devastated by an outflow of jobs overseas, one of the main themes of a divisive campaign that emphasized making America strong again. In […]
Almost 40 years ago, German audio specialist Sennheiser set its engineers an ambitious task: to create the world’s best headphones, irrespective of cost. By 1991, the task was complete and the legendary Orpheus HE90 launched for sale with a price tag of $16,000 – about $28,000 in today’s currency. Fast-forward two decades, and Sennheiser has done it again. Its updated version of the HE90, the Orpheus HE1, […]
When it comes to gourmet food, you can find all manner of creations in Dubai – from camel stir fry to truffle ice cream. Yet there is one thing missing – a Michelin star. That may be about to change, if recent rumours are to be believed. The prestigious 126-year-old French ratings guide recently expanded to Singapore, another expatriate-dominated hotspot. Last April, the international director of Michelin […]
There is no doubt that 2016 was a milestone year for utility-scale solar in the Middle East. The UAE set – and then reset – the benchmark for low-cost solar electricity; Saudi Arabia made its highest level commitment to investing in solar; and Jordan commissioned its largest utility-scale solar power plant and announced plans to tender a new round of projects. In fact, these three countries alone […]
Donald Trump launched a promised assault on “burdens” imposed by government within hours of becoming US president on Friday by moving to loosen rules tied to Obamacare and halting the introduction of any new regulations. Between the end of the daytime inaugural parade and the start of evening balls, the Trump administration took its first major policy moves by ordering government agencies to do all they could […]
Donald Trump’s November victory ignited the steepest rally from election day to inauguration for a first-term president since John F. Kennedy won the White House in 1960. The charts below tell the tale of the vigorous, and in many ways unexpected, reaction to the rise of the billionaire property developer to the pinnacle of American politics. The S&P 500 index, a broad measure of the performance of […]
