Economy

SINGAPORE: Fish and seafood prices jumped 5.6 percent year over year in April, up from 5.2 percent in March, according to the latest statistics from the consumer price index, which tracks inflation. Sea bass prices also increased, rising from S$11.26/kg in March to S$11.40/kg in April. Singapore imported 134,000 tonnes of fish worth S$760 million in 2020, the majority of …

BANGKOK: Thailand’s cassava exports increased from January to April last year as importers sought grain alternatives, according to a senior official on Monday (Jun 20), amid a food crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the Commerce Ministry, the world’s top cassava exporter transported 4.6 million tonnes of cassava and related products such as tapioca, cassava starch, and …

PHILIPPINES: Groups campaigning for energy sector changes urged President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to pick the country’s next energy secretary with prudence. The Institute for Power Sector Economics (IPSEC), based in Mindanao, said on Thursday, June 16, that the next Secretary of Energy should be able to steer the country toward renewable energy dependency in the future years. IPSEC director Dave …

PAKISTAN: As the world’s top tea importer grapples with surging inflation and a rapidly declining currency, Pakistanis have been advised to consume less tea to keep the economy afloat. Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, told reporters on Tuesday that Pakistanis might cut their tea consumption by “one or two cups” each day because imports are straining …

SRI LANKA: Shorter work weeks are becoming popular in places like Iceland and the United Kingdom, with the goal of increasing worker productivity and happiness. However, in crisis-stricken Sri Lanka, the notion is to deal with crippling food and fuel shortages. The South Asian country, which is grappling with shortages in the midst of its worst economic crisis in decades, …

Beijing – On Wednesday, June 15, President Xi Jinping assured Vladimir Putin of China’s support for Russian “sovereignty and security.” This prompted Washington to warn Beijing that they risked ending up “on the wrong side of history.” China has declined to denounce Russia’s unprecedented military assault on Ukraine and has been accused of providing diplomatic cover for Moscow by criticizing …

Thailand – Thailand was one of the first Asian nations to reopen to international visitors, and the country is slowly recovering, with new hotels offering longer stays for individual travelers. Thailand had 106,117 international tourists in the first ten months of 2021, down from 6.7 million in 2020. Thailand received roughly 40 million visitors every year prior to the outbreak. …

Datuk Seri Panglima Jeffrey Kitingan, president of Sabah STAR, stated that the absence of a party representative in the federal cabinet was due to miscommunication. According to him, it was a simple misunderstanding. He stated that STAR is a division of Perikatan Nasional (PN). “Because we are members of the Perikatan Nasional (PN), they assumed the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri …

Surprisingly, Koh Samui opened to inoculated unfamiliar travelers on Thursday notwithstanding a cross country flood in Covid-19 cases moved by the Delta variation. The islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao are inviting guests as a feature of the realm’s push to restore the battered the travel industry. The nation dispatched the “sandbox” plot on July 1, permitting …

Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs says the major underlying cause among the other reasons for the recent drastic increase on chicken prices is the increase in the cost of imported chicken feed. In order to resolve the issue of the continued hike on chicken prices, the minister had set up a meeting …