In a short message to reporters on Wednesday, Lorenzana said that he planned to travel to France, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal.

Exploratory trip

“For the time being, I would just window shop if they have equipment that we want that are within our budget,” he said after French Ambassador Nicolas Galey said Paris was open to defense cooperation.

France eyes defense pact

“We are obviously 100 percent available to have the same kind of cooperation with the Philippines like the one we have with … Malaysia and Australia,” Galey said during the Bastille Day celebration in Makati City on Sunday.

Galey said France was motivated to improve its military cooperation with the Philippines because of their territorial interests in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

“I will not answer a Caucasian asking questions, or [any] white man there. You must be stupid. Who are you? I am a Filipino, we have our courts here. Why would you have to bring me somewhere else? I would not like that,” the President said in a television interview with a celebrity pastor.

“Look, as I have told you before, ladies and gentlemen of the world, including all the governments there, I will only be tried or face a trial in a Philippine court presided [over] by a Filipino judge, prosecuted by a Filipino,” he said.

“And maybe they can reimpose [the] death penalty then [I can] die in Filipino hands,” he added.

His critics, however, say that with an approval rating of about 80 percent, a supermajority in Congress and presidential appointees heading courts, commissions and investigative bodies, there is little chance of the President being impeached or prosecuted at home.

The President’s latest show of defiance came days after the UN Human Rights Council adopted Iceland’s resolution that sought an international probe into the human rights situation in the Philippines, specifically the thousands of killings in his war on drugs.

“The evaluations in the Asia-Pacific are cheaper, and earnings growth in the region is better. So, from a very mechanical perspective, investors should be reallocating resources toward Asia,” said Jim McCafferty — joint head of Asia-Pacific equity research at Nomura in Hong Kong — adding that Asia’s dividend growth is also among the best globally.

With the US economy seemingly fundamentally rosy as nearly 80 percent of US companies have reported financial results that beat earnings expectations, he noted that quite a number of them have lived up to expectations with strong buyback moves.

As for tech giant Apple and financial services provider Wells Fargo, McCafferty said their share prices are being “kept alive by huge amounts of buyback activity”.

US companies might have to borrow for potential upcoming rounds of repurchases as they’ve already used up a certain portion of their balance sheets for previous buybacks, according to McCafferty, indicating that further similar purchases could hurt their financial capabilities to some extent.

Meanwhile, the strength of the balance sheets of countries Nomura covered in the Asia-Pacific has turned out to be relatively more robust than those in the US.

China seems to be among the beneficiaries as the rebalancing of Morgan Stanley Capital International is expected to stimulate greater interest in the Chinese market, with extra money to be injected into it, McCafferty said.

“The MSCI changes — one in August and another in November — will bring more money into China’s market,” he said, noting that inbound capital would start flowing by the second half of the year should MSCI expand its A-shares inclusion quota according to plan — to 15 percent and subsequently 20 percent.

The meeting will discuss work priorities and suggestions related to promoting Hong Kong’s participation in and contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative. It is expected to discuss the setting up of a Belt and Road-related dispute avoidance and resolution mechanism as well as fostering collaborations on policy exchanges between the SAR government and relevant mainland authorities.

The conference is jointly held by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s government and other relevant mainland authorities.

Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and Hong Kong-side Convener of the Joint Conference Edward Yau Tang-wah will attend the meeting.

Yau will also meet with representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and state-owned enterprises during his visit to Beijing.

Introduced by Ted Yoho, Republican representative for Florida, on January 11, the act purportedly aims to “promote free and fair elections, political freedoms and human rights in Cambodia, and other purposes”.

The bill cited seven findings including “the undemocratic rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the enactment of the NGO law, restrictions on the media, the arrest of Kem Sokha and the dissolution of the CNRP [Cambodia National Rescue Party], six unfair and unfree elections since 1991 and non-genuine 2018 elections”.

It is still unclear who in the Cambodian government or military will be targeted if the bill becomes law. Once it is approved, President Donald Trump will have 180 days to take action against senior officials of the Cambodian government, military or security forces that he “determines has directly and substantially undermined democracy in Cambodia; or has committed or directed serious human rights violations associated with undermining democracy in Cambodia”.

Trump will also be able to apply sanctions on “entities owned or controlled by senior officials of the government, military or security forces of Cambodia”.

The bill lists two sanctions – asset blocking, which prohibits all transactions in property and interests in property if they are in the US, and visa sanctions restricting entry into the US.

“The ‘Cambodia Democracy Act’ expresses the very real concerns lawmakers in Washington have about eroding human rights and the weakening of democratic institutions in Cambodia,” US Embassy spokesperson Emily Zeeberg, told The Post via email on Tuesday.

She said the bill still required Senate approval before it can become law.

‘Against the political will’

Cambodian government spokesperson Phay Siphan said the news comes as a surprise and he is regretful that the US House of Representatives has passed the bill.

“I think the bill is political in nature and has the intention to go against the political will of Cambodians who legitimately elected their leaders through peaceful and democratic elections,” Siphan said.

He added that Cambodia cannot accept the bill because it is based on unfounded accusations and shows “political ambition” against the Cambodian government and people.

“The bill goes against the peace, stability and prosperity of Cambodia. In this context, I appeal to the US legislative and executive branches to think twice regarding their position on Cambodia in the interests of a good relationship and mutual interests of the people and governments of both countries,” Siphan stressed.

He said he expects the US Senate and president to focus on the good ties and cooperation the two nations have been fostering.

Political analyst Lao Mong Hay said should the bill become law, it would have far more dangerous consequences for the country and the targeted individuals than they could imagine.

“If fully implemented, it will suck Cambodia into the quagmire of the current Sino-US conflict. Cambodia was sucked into such quagmires in the 1970s and 1980s, and couldn’t get out of them as a sovereign and independent state until the Paris Peace Agreements [were signed in 1991].

“It would be wishful thinking to imagine that in the present day, a divided Cambodia would fare any better and get out of this new quagmire with its sovereignty and independence intact,” he said.

Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) performed worse than expected, slumping 17.3 per cent year on year, following a downwardly revised 16.3 per cent fall in May, said Enterprise Singapore in a report today.

This is the biggest year-on-year drop since shipments sank 33.2 per cent in February 2013.

It is also sharply below analysts’ expectations of a 9.6 per cent plunge, according to a consensus of forecasts in a Bloomberg poll.

CIMB Private Banking economist Song Seng Wun noted that last week’s flash figures for Singapore’s second-quarter growth – which came in almost flat at 0.1 per cent – gave a signal that both trade and manufacturing numbers were going to be markedly worse than expected in June.

DBS senior economist Irvin Seah said: “It’s that familiar sinking feeling again.”

“The recent set of bad data has dashed any hope of a recovery in the second half of this year,” he said, adding that typically, figures would stabilise by the middle of the year.

“But instead we see further decline, and the pace of decline has also accelerated,” he added.

“What we can hope for in a best-case scenario is for the numbers to start to stabilise towards the fourth quarter.”

While he expects the economic slowdown this time to be more severe than in the period from 2013 to 2015, he noted that the current situation is not yet near what was seen in the global financial crisis around a decade ago.

He foresees a challenging outlook for workers, with retrenchments likely to rise and job vacancies to decline.

Companies will also need to consider new sources of growth and it is time for the government’s monetary and fiscal policies to turn accommodative, he said.

The dismal export figures and second-quarter growth data raise the prospect of a monetary policy easing later this year, said analysts.

Maybank Kim Eng economists Chua Hak Bin and Lee Ju Ye said in a report that given the current recession risk and softer core inflation, they expect the Monetary Authority of Singapore to ease the appreciation slope of the Singapore dollar in October, to a neutral bias or zero appreciation. Currently, it is on a modest and gradual appreciation stance.

Wednesday’s (July17) report on exports showed electronic shipments plunging by 31.9 per cent last month, extending a 31.6 per cent drop the month before – dragged down by shipments of integrated circuits, personal computers and disk media products.

Song added: “Within the chip segment, we have already seen many downbeat assessments from chipmakers, equipment makers, cutting their sales forecast for the first time in four years.”

“The ongoing squabble between South Korea and Japan does not help matters either,” he added, referring to Japan restricting exports of critical materials used by South Korean chip manufacturers.

ING economist for Asia Prakash Sakpal noted that semiconductors are a key segment for Singapore. Electronic products form about 25 per cent of Nodx, almost half of which are made up of semiconductors, he said.

But he added that Singapore was not alone in posting poor export performance. “South Korea and Taiwan are suffering from this as well, although Singapore seems to be hit a bit harder than other economies.”

For non-electronic products, Nodx dropped 12.4 per cent, down from 11.1 per cent the month before, mainly due to lower shipments in non-monetary gold, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Overall, Nodx saw a month-on-month of 7.6 per cent in June, after a 5.8 per cent increase in May.

Weighing on the export outlook are trade tensions between the United States and China, weaker external demand and a fading semiconductor cycle.

Although trade talks have resumed behind the scenes after US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit last month, simmering tensions remain.

The US has continued to apply pressure on China, with President Trump looking to increase the US domestic content threshold for iron and steel in federal procurement.

Meanwhile, China’s economic growth slowed to 6.2 per cent in the second quarter, its weakest pace in at least 27 years.

Singapore’s exports to its top 10 markets fell in June, except to the US. Leading the decline were falling shipments to Hong Kong, China and Europe.

Sakpal of ING said: “Despite the trade war, shipments to the US continue to be very strong… Perhaps it is the underlying strength of the US economy. We have already seen from overnight data that retail sales in the US were surprisingly strong.”

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien made the comments at a workshop held to launch the project “Network for agriculture and rural development think tanks for countries in Mekong subregion” (NARDT) in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Agriculture had played an important role in the economic development and social stability of regional countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, he said.

Despite the fact that agricultural production of countries in Mekong sub-region had improved in recent years, it still faced difficulties due to limited resources and low productivity. The decline in agricultural growth and large income and living standard gaps between urban and rural areas were also a challenge, Tien said.

To deal with these, countries in the subregion had reformed their policies. The official noted that Cambodia was a good example of a country developing high quality rice brands and building value chains to enter high-end markets. Laos was experienced in developing clean and sustainable agriculture while Myanmar had a lot of experience in rural development through the role of the community.

“With the help of IFAD (International Fund for Agriculture Development) and active co-ordination between Mekong subregion countries, this project will help improve the effectiveness of policies in the Mekong sub-region while strengthening partnerships and promoting the development of effective and responsible trade and investment between the countries in agricultural and rural development,” he said.

Thomas Rath, IFAD’s sub-regional director, said the project would promote co-operation and facilitate involved parties to actively take part in the research and development process for agriculture.

They would share knowledge through information exchanges and advocacy activities as well as capacity building for organisations and individuals that do policy research. Joint research and policy dialogues would be held to address development issues in the region, he said.

The workshop later saw the signing of a co-operation agreement to develop the NARDT network in the region and in each country. Signatories included the IFAD and the founding members of the NARDT network including the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), Myanmar’s Centre for Economic and Social Development (CESD), Laos’s National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) and the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI).

The project is funded by the IFAD and implemented by the IPSARD.

“Five years might have passed but our resolve for accountability and justice will not wane.

“The Malaysian government will continue to pursue those who were responsible for this heinous crime and secure justice for the victims,” the Ministry of Transport said in a statement on Wednesday (July 17).

It said Malaysia would continue to work with the other members of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and other grieving nations, as well as the international community, in informing the families of the progress being made in the search for accountability and justice.

“We sincerely hope that this will bring some measure of comfort and solace to the families and the next of kin of those who were lost in this tragedy.

“We hope and pray that the families and loved ones of those on board will be given strength to resume normal lives, or as normal a life as may be possible without their loved ones.

“We will remain resolute in our pursuit, and we will leave no stone unturned until justice is served,” the statement said.

On July 17, 2014, the Malaysia Airlines flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down as it was flying over pro-Russian separatists territory in Ukraine, killing all 298 people including 43 Malaysians on board.

Last June, the JIT, consisting of Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine, announced that four individuals – three Russians and one Ukrainian – would be charged with the downing of MH17.

However, on June 20, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad described the decision to charge the four individuals with murder over flight MH17 as a political plot against Russia.

He said Malaysia was not convinced by the JIT’s findings and demanded that the investigators provide proof that the Russians were behind the shooting.

The four were Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

The AirAsia Group Bhd group executive chief officer said this in a series of tweets after bumping into former Tourism Minister Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir on a flight from Johor.

“He (Abdul Kadir) really understood what is needed. Malaysia desperately needs an integrated tourism plan.

“No exit tax, lower or no visa fees… (and) an airport that understands low-cost airlines,” he tweeted on Tuesday (July 16).

Describing the Malaysian tourism industry as “low hanging fruits” for jobs in the country, Fernandes said taxing would not help.

He said the hotel industry was struggling with their finances due to the taxes they face, on top of several other fees.

“Tourism is the third biggest foreign exchange earner and number two GDP (Gross domestic product) earner.

“Invest and grow and get more jobs and GDP,” he said.

Locally known as murai batu or kurcica hutan, the songbirds will be released at Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) in September.

Agency head Rahmad Saleh acknowledged that the release of the birds was a response to the decline of the species in the wild due to widespread hunting.

Even though the population of the singing bird is reported to be threatened, the white-rumped shama is not listed as a protected bird in Indonesia.

“We have so many singing birds right now. However, the population will continue to decline,” Rahmad said.

The birds, to be released in September, come from breeding facilities in Bogor, West Java. Each breeding facility in the country is obliged to release 10 percent of the animals it breeds into the wild.