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HK$6.4b in fresh aid for HK businesses hit hard by virus curbs (nationthailand.com)

HK$6.4b in fresh aid for HK businesses hit hard by virus curbs

Dec 18. 2020Acting Chief Executive Matthew Cheung Kin-chung meets the press ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting at the Central Government Offices, Hong Kong, Nov 10, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY) 

By ​Wang Zhan
China Daily/ANN

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government will roll out a fresh tranche of financial aid worth HK$6.4 billion (US$826 million) for businesses heavily impacted by the government’s COVID-19 curbs.  

The government’s proposal will be deliberated during a special meeting of the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee next Monday, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said at a press conference on Thursday evening.

HK$5.5 billion will go toward implementing 19 measures to bail out affected sectors, particularly leisure venues forced to close because of the government’s precautionary measures as well as similarly affected restaurants that have been prohibited from providing dine-in service after 6 pm. The rest of HK$900 million will be set aside for emergency use.

Cheung said the latest round of aid is about double that of the previous round, and emphasized a balance should be struck between helping affected industries and maintaining a prudent spending policy.

“We are facing a very difficult, tough fiscal position that we’ve got to be prudent but at the same time we’ve got to be compassionate, responsive and strike the right balance. I think we’ve got the right balance struck here by this package,” Cheung said.

Previously, three rounds of anti-pandemic subsidies totaling more than HK$300 billion had been disbursed by the HK government. The government had earlier cited a deficit pressure on the treasury as a reason to not adopt new relief measures but eventually changed its stance as the pain of the ongoing fourth wave deepened.

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Vietnam may become upper-middle-income country in 2023: Japanese centre (nationthailand.com)

Vietnam may become upper-middle-income country in 2023: Japanese centre

Dec 17. 2020A tra catfish processing line for export. Việt Nam is seen sustaining a growth rate of about 6 per cent in 2035 thanks to strong exports. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh 

By Viet Nam News/ANN

HÀ NỘI — The Japan Centre for Economic Research (JCER) has predicted that Việt Nam will become an upper-middle-income country in 2023, and its GDP will surpass that of China’s Taiwan in 2035.

The JCER recently released a medium-term forecast of Asian economies entitled “Asia in the coronavirus disaster: Which countries are emerging?”, which addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and looks at how Asian economies are faring compared with others around the world.

In the standard scenario, JCER assumes that the pandemic is a transient event that will not affect economic structures over the medium term.

Under this assumption, only China, Việt Nam, and Taiwan are on track to maintain positive year-on-year growth rates in 2020. 

Việt Nam is seen sustaining a growth rate of about 6 per cent in 2035 thanks to strong exports. This would propel the Vietnamese economy past Taiwan’s in 2035 in terms of scale, and make it the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

Việt Nam is poised to achieve upper-middle-income status in 2023, with per capita income headed for US$11,000 in 2035, according to JCER.

The report also included a severe scenario that describes an outcome in which the coronavirus not only damages today’s economy but also affects urbanisation, trade openness, research and development (R&D) spending, and a host of other factors, undermining countries’ potential growth rates over the medium term.

In this scenario, the growth of the US, Việt Nam, Singapore, and others in 2035 would be significantly lower than those under the standard scenario, largely due to trade blockages. Việt Nam’s economic scale at that time is projected to still be smaller than that of Taiwan, JCER said. — VNS

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Zoom to set up R&D centre in Singapore, hire hundreds of engineering staff (nationthailand.com)

Zoom to set up R&D centre in Singapore, hire hundreds of engineering staff

Dec 17. 2020

By Prisca Ang
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – Zoom Video Communications, which owns the ubiquitous video-conferencing platform Zoom, is expanding its footprint in Singapore by opening a new research and development (R&D) centre and doubling the size of its data centre here. 

The US tech giant will also hire hundreds of staff for the R&D centre in key engineering roles, it said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 16). 

“This commitment represents a growing strategic investment in the country, where Zoom has already had a presence for two years,” it said. 

A Zoom spokesman told The Straits Times that the firm aims to open the R&D centre by the third quarter of next year “or when it’s safe for all our employees to go back into the office”. 

He declined to say how much Zoom invested in the new facility and expanded data centre.

The firm added that the expansion in Singapore will supplement its existing R&D centres in the United States, India and China, and support Zoom’s engineering leadership team, which is based at its headquarters in San Jose, California. 

“Zoom selected Singapore for its exceptional engineering talent. The company has already begun recruiting engineers in the area and looks forward to selecting office space as pandemic-related remote work subsides,” it said. 

Zoom will also double the capacity of its data centre in Singapore, to better serve users in the Asia-Pacific. 

Mr Velchamy Sankarlingam, Zoom’s president of product and engineering, said the new R&D facility and expanded data centre in Singapore will play a critical role in Zoom’s continued international growth. 

“Singapore is pro-business, ranks as one of the friendliest countries to set up a company, and continues to be a favourite for regional headquarters as it boasts exceptional talent, strong infrastructure, and is a perfect gateway for engaging the wider Asia-Pacific region,” he said. 

Mr Chng Kai Fong, managing director of the Economic Development Board, said Zoom has transformed the way people work, learn and socialise. 

He added: “In some ways, we are more productive and fulfilled. And this is only the beginning in re-inventing how we work, live and play. So I am thrilled that Zoom will be partnering Singapore to set up an R&D centre to explore possibilities.”

Zoom is not the only tech giant that has strengthened its presence in Singapore. 

In February, social media platform Twitter said it will set up its first Asia-Pacific engineering centre here and create 65 technical jobs. The centre will be set up at the company’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in the CapitaGreen building in Shenton Way.

WeChat owner Tencent Holdings has chosen a co-working space for its first office in Singapore, reported Bloomberg in October. 

Chinese tech giant ByteDance, which owns popular video app TikTok, is also moving to a bigger office in the financial district. It reportedly signed an agreement to lease three floors measuring over 60,000 square feet at One Raffles Quay. 

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S. Korea extends advisory against overseas travel amid pandemic (nationthailand.com)

S. Korea extends advisory against overseas travel amid pandemic

Dec 17. 2020Incheon International Airport (Yonhap) 

By The Korea Herald/ANN

The foreign ministry on Thursday extended the special advisory recommending against traveling overseas for another month amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic.

The advisory calls for South Koreans not to go abroad unless the trip is essential and for those staying outside of the country to take extra precaution. The measure will be effective until Jan. 16 and can be extended again.

The extension came as foreign countries maintain their entry restrictions and the majority of international flights remain suspended over COVID-19 concerns, the ministry said. (Yonhap)

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[China] Strong recovery ready to bolster global economy (nationthailand.com)

[China] Strong recovery ready to bolster global economy

Dec 17. 2020Two new models of the Fuxing high-speed train are parked at China State Railway Group Co’s branch in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, on Tuesday. The trains will operate on the Yinchuan-Xi’an High-Speed Railway, which is scheduled to open on Dec 26. [Photo by Yuan Jingzhi/For China Daily] 

By XU WEI
China Daily/ANN

Effective measures to control COVID-19 and policy support set stage for rebound

China is expected to lead the global economic recovery next year, with major economic organizations and economists projecting a robust performance by China’s economy and foreign businesses remaining committed to the Chinese market.

With the country having adopted effective measures to put the COVID-19 pandemic under control and its economy continuing to bounce back in recent months, the organizations and economists have expressed confidence in a stronger economic performance from China, which will inject key momentum into the global recovery and growth next year.

On Friday, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Party’s core leadership, underlined the need to maintain economic growth within a reasonable range, adhere to the strategy of expanding domestic demand and pursue a higher level of opening-up.

“China, which started recovering earlier, is projected to grow strongly, accounting for over one-third of world economic growth in 2021,” said Laurence Boone, chief economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, at the release of the organization’s Economic Outlook earlier this month.

“A solid recovery is expected to continue in China, with GDP growth projected to be around 8 percent in 2021 and 5 percent in 2022,” the organization said in the report.

It added that China’s strong recovery will help global GDP return to pre-crisis levels by the end of next year. “The recovery in industrial production in China has also boosted demand for many raw materials in commodity exporting economies, particularly metals.”

It said that China’s policymakers are now withdrawing its monetary stimulus, which was needed during the outbreak, as the economic recovery has gained momentum in recent months.

The National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday that China’s growth in industrial value added increased by 7 percent year-on-year in November, from 6.9 percent in October. Retail sales, a key gauge of consumption, was up by 5 percent year-on-year, the fastest level of the year, the bureau said.

The inflow of foreign investment to China grew by 6.3 percent year-on-year to 899.38 billion yuan ($137.7 billion) between January and November, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The OECD projected that China’s fiscal policy will remain supportive, with a number of tax cuts and extensions of social benefits promoting consumption amid weak consumer confidence.

However, the organization said that more ambitious structural reforms in social protection, and a more equitable provision of public services, are needed for consumption to rebound.

Lu Ting, chief China economist at Japanese brokerage Nomura Securities, said a rebound of global demand will enable China’s exports to maintain a high rate of growth, underpinning the growth of the economy.

“There is a great chance that vaccines will be used on a large scale globally, which will greatly ease the impact of the pandemic. During this process, we believe a global economic recovery is on the horizon,” he said.

Well-balanced recovery

Fitch Ratings, a global credit rating agency, forecast in a research document early this month that China’s economic recovery will be increasingly well-balanced in 2021, after successful containment of the coronavirus, and with many activity indicators now at pre-pandemic levels.

Fitch also predicted improved growth outlooks in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan, saying that economic activity in these markets will be supported by stronger growth on the Chinese mainland, which will provide a boost to exports and, potentially, a partial recovery in tourism through restricted travel bubbles.

Louis Kuijs, head of Asia Economics at Oxford Economics, a British think tank, said that he expects spending by China’s private sector to step up in 2021, while policy support retreats as the country’s economic recovery matures.

“We expect China’s growth to rotate in 2021, with momentum picking up in household consumption and corporate investment, while investment in infrastructure and, to a lesser extent, real estate, slows down,” he said.

Meanwhile, foreign businesses in the Chinese market have remained resilient, optimistic and committed to that market despite disruptions from the pandemic in 2020.

A survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai in November, which polled 124 United States companies, said about 82 percent of respondents had no plans to move their manufacturing facilities offshore over the next three years.

A survey of British businesses in China, conducted by the British Chamber of Commerce in China, found that 82 percent of the companies cited market potential as a reason to increase investment in China in 2021.

China was the No 1 priority for 39 percent of the chamber’s surveyed businesses, and a second or third priority for a further 18 percent, the chamber said in the report, which was released this month.

“Given its size and importance to the global economy, China remains a top investment destination for British businesses already in-market,” it said.

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Cases in Malaysia exceed China’s (nationthailand.com)

Cases in Malaysia exceed China’s

Dec 17. 2020

By JOSEPH KAOS Jr
The Star/ANN
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s 1,295 new Covid-19 infections meant that its cumulative number of cases has now exceeded that of China’s.

At a press conference yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the country now has 87,913 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

The figure has surpassed the 86,770 cumulative cases reported yesterday by China.

The world figures are led by the United States, which has recorded about 17 million cases.

Yesterday, Malaysia saw seven more Covid-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 429 in the country so far.

Dr Noor Hisham said of the deaths, five were in Sabah and one each in Selangor and Kelantan.

However, 1,204 Covid-19 patients have been discharged, which means 72,733 people or 82.7% have recovered.

The number of people with active Covid-19 infections in Malaysia is now 14,751. Some 113 patients are in intensive care, with 62 requiring ventilator support.

In yesterday’s cases, Dr Noor Hisham said 10 cases are imported infections, while the rest are local transmissions.

Selangor continued to record the highest increase of the day, with 481 confirmed cases, or 37.1% of yesterday’s total.

This is followed by Sabah with 268 cases (20.7%) and Kuala Lumpur with 232 (17.9%).

The Teratai cluster recorded the highest increase of the day out of all 196 active clusters, with 143 new cases.

Linked to workers of glove manufacturer Top Glove, the Teratai cluster is currently the largest cluster in the country with 5,683 confirmed cases so far.

Dr Noor Hisham said eight new Covid-19 clusters have been detected in the country, four of them linked to workplaces.

The Tapak Bina Permai cluster in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur has 48 cases so far, after 1,087 workers underwent targeted screening.

The Tapak Bina Laut cluster involves the districts of Lembah Pantai, Cheras and Kepong in Kuala Lumpur.

Dr Noor Hisham said 542 individuals have been screened, in which eight people have tested positive so far.

Another construction site cluster, the Tapak Bina Matahari cluster, is based in the Titiwangsa district in Kuala Lumpur, and has a total of 15 cases with 778 people tested.

Dr Noor Hisham said the Puncak Galaksi cluster is related to a targeted screening conducted among workers of a warehouse in Selangor.

“Until today, 541 individuals have been tested and 56 positive cases have been found, ” he said.

Outside of the Klang Valley, new clusters were found in Sabah (Bukit Punai cluster, seven cases), Pahang (Inten cluster, eight cases), Johor (Cahaya Mahsuri cluster, 32 cases) and Perak (Seri Tasik cluster, seven cases).

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India will grow to be among top 3 economies in world in 20 years, says Mukesh Ambani (nationthailand.com)

India will grow to be among top 3 economies in world in 20 years, says Mukesh Ambani

Dec 16. 2020Left: Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani. Right: Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook 

By The Statesman/ANN

The oil-to-telecom chief also talked about the partnership between Jio and Facebook and how it has helped small Indian businesses.

Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday said India will grow to be among the top three economies in the world in the next two decades and per capita income would more than double.

Ambani was in conversation with Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook at the first ever Facebook Fuel event in India. He said India’s middle-class, which is about 50 per cent of the nation’s total number of households, will grow three to four per cent per year.

“I firmly believe that in the next two decades, India will grow to be among the top three economies in the world,” said Ambani.

He further said that it will become a premier digital society, with young people driving it. “And our per capita income will go from $1,800-2,000 per capita to $5,000 per capita.”

Facebook and a lot of other companies and entrepreneurs in the world have a golden opportunity to be in India, to be part of this economic and social transformation that will accelerate in the coming decades, he added.

The oil-to-telecom chief also talked about the partnership between Jio and Facebook and how it has helped small Indian businesses.

“I have no hesitation in going on record, that it is your investment that set the ball rolling. Not only for Jio, but for the Indian FDI which has been the largest-ever in its history. And our partnership between Jio and Facebook, will actually demonstrate that it is great for India, Indians, and small Indian businesses,” he said.

“And let me point out a very unique feature about our partnership. Perhaps not many people have understood this. Because, before this partnership I believe that each one of us was mainly a communication platform. Together, we now have become a value creation platform for our customers and small businesses,” Ambani said during the virtual event.

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Korea to quadruple renewable power by 2034, downsize nuclear, coal (nationthailand.com)

Korea to quadruple renewable power by 2034, downsize nuclear, coal

Dec 16. 2020President Moon Jae-in speaks at a meeting on South Korea’s aim of going carbon neutral by 2050, at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Nov. 27. (Yonhap) 

By Kim Byung-wook
The Korea Herald/ANN

Renewable energy will take up nearly 42 percent of South Korea’s power generation capacity by 2034, according to a blueprint for the national energy mix unveiled Tuesday.

The final draft of the Ninth Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand for the years 2020-2034, drawn up and released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, reaffirms President Moon Jae-in’s commitment to move away from nuclear power and toward renewables.

While the country’s electricity generation capacity is projected to surge to 185.3 gigawatts by 2034, from 120.5 gigawatts this year, renewables will account for 41.9 percent followed by liquefied natural gas at 31.8 percent and coal at 15.6 percent. Nuclear power is projected to provide 10.4 percent.

That represents a major change in the energy mix, which currently depends on coal.

Last year, coal, LNG and nuclear power were the mainstay of electricity generation in Korea, contributing 40.4 percent, 25.9 percent and 25.6 percent respectively. Renewables made up just 6.5 percent of total electricity production.

The plan will be finalized after a public hearing Dec. 24 and a policy review Dec. 28.

In detail, the plan envisions the shutdown of 30 coal-fired power plants by 2034, which will have reached their operational lifetime limit of 30 years by then. To ensure a stable electricity supply, 24 of the facilities will be turned into liquefied natural gas power plants.

However, the seven coal-fired power plants currently under construction will be built as planned. As a result, the generation capacity of coal-fired plants, which stood at 35.8 gigawatts this year, will shrink to 29 gigawatts by 2034, while that of LNG power plants will increase 59.1 gigawatts from 41.3 gigawatts in the same period.

Meanwhile, the number of nuclear power plants will reach its peak of 26 in 2024 and diminish to 17, as the Moon administration banned the construction of new nuclear plants and the lifetime extension of existing ones.

As a result, the generation capacity of nuclear power plants will be reduced to 19.4 gigawatts by 2034 from this year’s 23.3 gigawatts. The Shin Hanul plants No. 3 and No. 4, whose construction is on hold due to the administration’s nuclear phaseout policy, have been excluded from the plan.

To compensate for the smaller numbers of coal-fired plants and nuclear plants, the government will roll out renewable energy generation facilities with a combined capacity of 77.8 gigawatts by 2034, almost quadruple the current 20.1 gigawatts.

Though the government’s midterm goal was to increase Korea’s capacity for solar and wind power to 29.9 gigawatts by 2025, the target has been adjusted to 42.7 gigawatts, as President Moon Jae-in’s Green New Deal initiative is expected to add an additional 12.8 gigawatts.

In total, Korea’s power generation capacity will surge from 120.5 gigawatts this year to 185.3 gigawatts by 2034. Renewables, LNG, coal and nuclear power will account for 41.9 percent, 31.8 percent, 15.6 percent and 10.4 percent of the total, respectively.

Despite the significant role of renewables, they are expected to account for only 20.8 percent of electricity supply in 2030. Korea will still be dependent on coal, nuclear power and LNG, which will respectively generate 29.9 percent, 23.3 percent and 25 percent of all electricity in the same year.

With total electricity demand expected to rise to 102.5 gigawatts by 2034 from this year’s 89.1 gigawatts, Korea’s transition to green energy will cut 193 million tons of greenhouse gases from projected levels.

To further boost clean energy, the government aims to install more power grids in regions where renewable energy facilities are concentrated, such as Sinan and Yeonggwang counties in South Jeolla Province, and lay out immediate plans to support solar farms that are currently unable to access power grids due to grid shortages.

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Singapore to launch segregated lane for business travellers who will not need to be quarantined (nationthailand.com)

Singapore to launch segregated lane for business travellers who will not need to be quarantined

Dec 16. 2020Those using the lane will be transported from the airport to dedicated facilities where they will stay and work. PHOTO: ST FILE 

By Clement Yong
The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE – From the second half of January 2021, short-term business travellers from all countries arriving in Singapore will no longer need to be quarantined, under new segregated travel lane arrangements.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday (Dec 15) that those who opt to use the lane will be transported from the airport to dedicated facilities where they will stay and work.

There, they can have meetings through floor-to-ceiling air-tight glass panels with local businessmen, as well as with other foreign businessmen with safe distancing measures in place.

Regular testing will be conducted throughout the duration of their stay – for instance on alternate days – in addition to tests before departure from their home countries and upon arrival here.

They will also have to move within their pre-declared travel group of up to five people to reduce the risk of mass transmission.

The segregated travel lane is distinct from existing reciprocal green lane arrangements, which apply only to selected countries but allow those on essential business here to move about around Singapore more freely.

The segregated travel lane restricts movement, but lets in business, official and high economic value travellers from all countries, as long as their stay is 14 days or shorter.

The lane is expected to increase traffic at Changi Airport, where about 15 per cent of travellers pre-Covid-19 entered the country for business-related reasons.

It should also have knock-on effects on the hospitality sector, which could cater food and provide accommodation for the travellers once they are given approval.

Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, on a tour of Connect @ Changi, one of the facilities that will be used to house travellers in the segregated travel lane, said the new measures will make Singapore more relevant as a business hub amid the unpredictability of Covid-19.

“Global business travel has been severely affected by the need for quarantine measures… Different countries will continue to have different risk profiles and we should not let this hinder business meetings,” he said.

“Dedicated facilities can allow Singaporeans to meet (business) travellers from elsewhere. They can also allow (business) travellers from elsewhere to meet each other.”

Based on patterns established last year, roughly nine in 10 of business travellers to Singapore stayed in the country for five days or fewer, hinting at the demand for such expedited, business-specific travel arrangements.

A huge chunk of these travellers are currently not covered by reciprocal green lane arrangements, and have to undergo quarantine before being able to meet their local partners face to face.

Temasek senior managing director Alan Thompson, who was among those helming the Connect @ Changi project, said local employees of multinational companies might not have had a chance to meet their regional heads in person for more than year.

Facilities like Connect @ Changi, which will take in its first guests in February next year, provide businessmen with that opportunity while minimising physical contact.

Connect @ Changi is a four-star facility currently being built at Singapore Expo and Max Atria, about a five-minute drive from Changi Airport.

When fully constructed in mid-2021, more than 1,300 guest rooms and about 340 meeting rooms will be available for booking, with each night costing travellers between $390 and $430 if they are staying for a duration shorter than three days.

Meeting rooms can fit between four and 22 people, and are meant for meetings rather than larger-scale conferences or events.

Mr Wong Heang Fine, group chief executive officer of Surbana Jurong, which built Connect @ Changi, said the facility can be quickly repurposed within weeks for other uses post-Covid-19, as it is constructed from pre-fabricated modules.

Connect @ Changi said the facility will create 800 jobs in Singapore in construction and the maintenance and provision of services within the facility.

Mr Chan said MTI will study the demand for the segregated travel lane to assess the number of dedicated facilities needed, and could broaden the use of the lane for medical or family-visiting uses.

Facility operators interested in serving as a segregated facility can submit their proposals through the Singapore Tourism Board by the end of the year.

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Hong Kong CE warns fourth wave could well take a serious turn (nationthailand.com)

Hong Kong CE warns fourth wave could well take a serious turn

Dec 16. 2020Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets the press at Central Government Offices in Hong Kong on Dec 15, 2020. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY) 

By Wang Zhan
China Daily/ANN

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned that the city’s “still-serious” fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreak could yet take a turn for the worse although daily infection numbers hadn’t risen exponentially in recent days. 

Speaking to reporters ahead of a customary meeting of her Executive Council on Tuesday, Lam appealed to residents not to drop their guards and stay at home as much as they could during the upcoming holiday season.

Lam said her government planned to apply to the Legislative Council for a fourth tranche of anti-epidemic funding before the Christmas holidays in order to help businesses affected by the COVID-19 curbs. 

The city recorded more than 600 cases during each of the past three weeks, although the number has slightly dropped recently. Hong Kong logged 82 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, including 37 untraceable local cases, second only to 41 cases of an unknown origin recorded on Sunday.

The Hong Kong government announced on Friday that the first batch comprising 1 million shots of coronavirus vaccines, developed by Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech, will be shipped to Hong Kong next month at the earliest. 

Lam criticized people who were trying to stigmatize or politicize the purchase and eventual use of vaccines, iterating that vaccine procurement had been done scientifically and that the process had been vetted by medical experts.