Economic Information Daily that the wide use of AI cannot happen without cloud computing, which helps improve efficiency hardware usage and avoid idleness and waste of the resources.

In July, China’s State Council issued guidelines on AI development, and AI projects and other areas related to AI, such as big data, cloud computing, quantum computing, and brain science, have also been proposed.

The guideline set three stages for AI development by 2030: catch up with the advanced global levels in AI technology and application by 2020, make major breakthroughs in basic theories by 2025, and become a global innovation center in this field by 2030. The total output value of AI industry is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) in the Philippines announced on Monday that the visa-free initiative would undergo a nine-month trial period from Nov. 1, 2017, to July 31, 2018, as part of the country’s “New Southbound Policy.”

According to Teco, Filipinos may enter Taiwan without the need for a visa if they have an ordinary/regular passport with at least six months validity from the date of entry; a return ticket or a ticket and visa for the visitor’s next destination; and a proof of booked accommodation, the host’s contact information, or tour or travel arrangements.

Filipino visitors must also have no criminal record in Taiwan.

However, those who intend to stay for more than 14 days for study, work, business or employment are required to obtain appropriate visa before entering the country.

The New Southbound Policy is part of the Taiwanese government’s effort to forge “people-to-people exchange” between Taiwan and several other countries, including the Philippines, its closest neighbor.

In a statement, Dr Gary Song-Huann Lin, Taiwanese representative to the Philippines, also urged the Philippine government and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei to also grant the same visa-free treatment to Taiwanese nationals wishing to visit the Philippines.

His People’s Party (OeVP), revamped by the 31-year-old as a more hardline “movement”, was projected to have come first in Sunday’s election with some 31.5 per cent of the vote.

“Many people have placed great hopes in our movement,” the fresh-faced wonder boy told a sea of supporters in Vienna on Sunday evening.

“It’s time to establish a new political style… I accept this responsibility with great humility.”

But his possible next move — entering a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) of Heinz-Christian Strache — could see some of his shine removed.

The takeover of the OeVP in May by “Emperor Kurz” was as swift as it was radical.

First he ended the decade-long unhappy coalition with the Social Democrats (SPOe). Then he rebranded the OeVP and its black party colour as a turquoise “movement” tough on migrants and easy on taxes.

The strategy of “putting Austrians first” propelled the sluggish OeVP to pole position in opinion polls and Kurz to near-rock star status.

Wherever he goes, fans sporting turquoise T-shirts chant his name and women ask if they can hug him.

Selfie sessions with Kurz, always in slim-cut suits and tieless white shirts, last over two hours.

Haider comparison

Observers say there hasn’t been this much euphoria over an Austrian politician since Joerg Haider, the magnetic but controversial FPOe leader who died in a drink-driving car crash in 2008.

“His phenomenon isn’t all that new and resembles the… expectations placed in Joerg Haider,” journalist Christa Zoechling wrote in current affairs magazine Profil ahead of the ballot.

In slick campaign adverts of him scaling the Alps, Kurz promised — echoing the FPOe — to slash taxes and red tape and “return this beautiful country to the peak”.

“The time is now,” read election posters with Kurz pensively staring into the distance.

“The republic gets a fresh start with Kurz,” jubilant supporter Werner Schwab, 64, told AFP Sunday.

‘Black makes you hot’

His appeal as an agent of change is remarkable given that he has been a key cog in the political machine he now seeks to overhaul.

The only child of a secretary and a teacher, Kurz joined the OeVP’s youth wing in 2003.

As its chief, he drew ridicule with a 2010 council election campaign featuring the slogan “Schwarz macht geil”, or “Black makes you hot”.

Kurz posed with skimpily clad girls on top of a black Hummer, the so-called “hot-o-mobile”, and distributed black condoms.

This blunder notwithstanding, the former law student enjoyed a meteoric rise, becoming secretary of integration in 2011 and foreign minister two years later, aged just 27.

Full of praise for Hungary’s populist premier Viktor Orban, Kurz claims credit for closing the Balkan migrant trail in 2016.

The move saw the Austrian named one of the most influential Europeans by news website Politico.

‘One-man show’

The notoriously private politician — he’s seldom seen in public with long-term girlfriend Susanne — ran a campaign as immaculate as his trademark gelled-back hair.

Even his OeVP takeover had apparently been months in the planning, according to a leaked document.

But critics have accused Kurz of being a “mini-dictator” running a “one-man show”.

Some analysts warn that Kurz’s election will be an “earthquake” for the EU, despite his pro-European pledge.

“He’s a ‘Haider light’ version,” said Paris-based Austria expert Patrick Moreau.

Kurz’s ideas on everything from immigration to economic policy represent a “complete rupture” with the EU, Moreau added.//AFP

Changi Airport has set up a more than US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) kitty – partly funded by external investors – to fuel ambitious plans to export its technical and operational expertise.

With airports around the world embarking on aggressive expansion and development plans, the fund will help Changi invest in this growth and establish a strong foothold in other markets, Changi Airport Group (CAG) chairman Liew Mun Leong told The Straits Times.

The potential is huge, he said. “We see a lot of airports that need not just funding, but expertise. It’s an infrastructure business that is very promising given the growth of the aviation industry.”

In the last decade, Changi’s foreign investment and consultancy arm, Changi Airports International (CAI), has snared many airport consultancy and development projects in growing aviation markets including China, India, Russia, Brazil, Latin America and the Middle East. From King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia to Italy’s Rome Fiumicino Airport to China’s Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, CAI has left its mark on over 50 airports in more than 20 countries.

But the returns have not been significant, industry analysts said.

While revenue grew from S$18.5 million in the 2012/2013 financial year to S$41 million in the 2015/2016 financial year, high operating costs, including taxes, in an already capital-intensive industry, as well as foreign exchange losses, have put pressure on profits, which fell to just S$6 million during the same period.

By comparison, CAG reported after-tax profits of more than S$780 million in the same year.

But with the new fund, things should start to pick up for CAI, Liew said. “Now that we have more (funds) we can do more,” he said, adding that before this, there were constraints on how funds should be spent. “The Government said ‘we give you money to build Changi Airport, why are you building in Saudi Arabia and Brazil?’ Now we have external funding,” Liew added.

Besides Changi Airport, Malaysia Airports, Germany’s Fraport, Schiphol in the Netherlands and Turkey’s TAV are among the airports that are also keen to spread their wings overseas.

In an annual roundup, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last week that total passenger traffic grew by 7 per cent last year compared with 2015.

The Asia-Pacific accounted for 35 per cent of the total market, growing 11.3 per cent year on year, while traffic in the Middle East was 9.1 per cent higher. Both are key target regions for CAI, which has a 75 per cent stake in King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia – its biggest investment to date.

On whether there are concerns that CAI’s efforts to help other airports build and operate better could eventually impact Changi’s competitiveness, Liew said: “People ask me this and I tell them that it’s not a zero-sum game.”

Working with airports globally gives the Changi team a better understanding of industry dynamics and challenges, he said.

“We know (first-hand) what’s happening in Brazil, Abu Dhabi, China, India, because we are there, working with them. We see how they operate, how they are growing, the challenges they face,” Liew said, adding that such experiences provide invaluable lessons for the Singapore team.

Such ventures also provide a good opportunity for Changi to work directly with airlines based in overseas markets to promote air links and services to and from Singapore, Liew said.

“At the end of the day, if we can mobilise the competency and expertise of Changi Airport – the best airport in the world – we can make a lot of money,” he said.

The boat was carrying an estimated 50 people when it went down in the estuary of the Naf river that divides the two countries, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) area commander Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Ariful Islam told AFP.

Nearly 200 Rohingya have drowned over the last six weeks making the perilous crossing into Bangladesh, many in small wooden fishing boats that are dangerously overloaded.

They are fleeing violence in Myanmar’s sectarian-plagued Rakhine state where the United Nations has accused troops of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Islam said the bodies of the eight confirmed victims had washed up on the river banks, while 21 survivors had swum to safety.

“Eight people were killed. The majority were children,” he said, adding the small fishing trawler was overloaded with refugees desperate to escape.

Coast and border guards were conducting a search and rescue operation in the Naf river, he said.

More than half a million Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh over the last seven weeks to escape a military crackdown that the the UN has said amounts to ethnic cleansing.

The stateless Muslim minority has faced decades of persecution in mainly Buddhist Myanmar.

The latest influx began in late August after attacks by Rohingya militants on police posts in Myanmar.

Another border guard told AFP the boat sank was just 200 yards (metres) from the Bangladesh coast when it sank in rough waters.

Fazlul Haq, a local official, said the boat was owned by a Bangladeshi villager who had made large amounts of money ferrying Rohingya into the country.

He said the small fishing trawlers were highly vulnerable to accidents as they approached the shore, where they are often battered by large waves.

Refugees are often charged exorbitant fees for the trip.

The latest accident came a week after another boat packed with Rohingya refugees capsized in the area, killing at least 34 people.