Stellantis construction still stalled as industry urges haste on 'once in a generation' investment
CBC
23-05-18 00:35
The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association has said that Canada must not hesitate if the country wants to secure foreign investment as the automotive industry moves towards electrification. CEO Brian Kingston highlighted Canada's natural advantages, such as access to critical minerals, and called for a "straightforward" deal to be struck with Stellantis over investment in the country, with a dollar-for-dollar match to what is being offered in the US. Negotiations on the future of the Stellantis EV battery plant in Windsor, Ontario are ongoing while construction remains paused.
Hong Kong's World Number 1 female fencer, Vivian Kong Man-wai, will lead Hong Kong's women’s epeeist team as they compete in the World Cup in United Arab Emirates. The women’s epeeist team have the chance to earn points towards their Olympic bid as a team, not just through the individual event. The Hong Kong squad will compete with South Korea and China, ranking first and fifth respectively for the chance to compete in the Paris Olympics in 2024. Kaylin Hsieh Sin-yan, Chan Wai-ling and Coco Lin Yik-hei also compete for Hong Kong in the women’s epeeist team.
The Group of Seven countries and the European Union will meet in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima next week. As well as the Ukraine war and the growing dominance of China and the threat to Taiwan, issues surrounding supply chains, economic and energy security are set to be discussed. Several Asia-Pacific countries, including India, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam and Australia, will be joining the group. Additionally, the attendance of India is likely to highlight developing nations.
Emerging market (EM) stocks are trading at a discount in comparison to developed world equities, with the spread of price/book multiples indicating EM is cheaper compared to developed markets than at any other point this century. Indications are that it is time to rethink how investors approach EM investing, particularly in respect of indexing which looks at market cap.
Indexing can be a challenge in many emerging markets since the larger companies are often formerly state-controlled, monopolies, in utilities or banking–and while they may be the largest companies, their growth prospects aren’t thought to be exciting, so it makes little sense to direct investment there.
In China, it seems that after a four-year rally in consumer tech stocks, Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have led the markets following a government clampdown. The crackdown has created the opportunity to buy non-SOE companies while they are cheap.
Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet privately to discuss a range of issues, including strengthening cooperation between their countries, at the G7 summit cycle, a gathering of major industrialised nations, with Kishida keen to discuss deterrence and response capability for China’s Indo-Pacific assertiveness. With China claiming Taiwan should be under its rule, discussing efforts to respond to nuclear threats from North Korea may pose a diplomatically difficult path of discussion for the Japanese prime minister, who comes from Hiroshima, where the US dropped the first nuclear bomb in 1945.
The East Asia Cup in Hangzhou next week will act as a test event for the Multisport Games, with Hong Kong sending a 14-strong cricketing women's squad. South Korea is unable to participate, meaning the tournament will only feature China, Japan and Hong Kong, with Hong Kong hoping to gain valuable experience for the Games, held in September. Although the side will miss some notable players, Mark Farmer, the general manager of high performance for the Cricket Hong Kong (CHK) said: "There are several new faces in the squad who we have every confidence can make the step up to international cricket."
With China's once plentiful supply of young workers now decreasing due to aging, the global economy needs a new source of growth. Many have pointed to India as the "next China," but India is facing similar demographic issues, and within a few decades, its prime-age workforce will start to decline along with China's. Therefore, there is a growing need to look towards Africa. Africa's population, at present, is increasing due to its high fertility rate. In the coming decades, African youth will account for 98% of the net labor-force growth in the world, proving that Africa's youth is central to the future of the global economy.
Since the West is often afraid of uncontrolled immigration, they often see the African population’s growth entirely differently. However, their youthfulness isn’t a problem but an opportunity upon which the prosperity of the entire world depends. By 2050, Africa’s prime-age working population will be five times as large as that of Europe and larger than China and India’s combined. Moreover, it’s essential to recall that China was once considered desperately poor, much less developed than Africa is currently. In the next 20 years, African countries will increase their prime-age working population by 400 million workers, which is inarguably a remarkable opportunity for global growth.
However, since China’s economic growth was an environmental disaster, Africa needs to follow a different path to avoid similar consequences. Africa’s growth must be clean in terms of power generation and not damage the continent’s natural resources and landscape. Fortunately, Africa has plentiful sources of renewable energy, including hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal power. Africa can also benefit from technological advancements that have resulted in the decrease in the price of clean energy over the past decade, making renewable power cheaper than burning coal in most places.
Leaders from seven of the world's wealthiest democracies and the EU are meeting at this year's Group of Seven (G7) summit, which kicked off on Friday in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The talks are expected to cover tensions in the Asia-Pacific following the exclusion of China from the summit, with much of the early attention focused on growing fears over North Korea's nuclear programme. The situation in Ukraine and Britain's EU referendum will also feature on the summit’s agenda.
Singapore Airlines is set to share a large proportion of its record annual profits with staff. Eligible employees will receive an equivalent of 6.65 months' pay as a profit-sharing bonus, as well as up to 1.5 months' salary as a recognition of the hard work done during the pandemic. The bonus for other staff member will be larger however, with senior management not receiving the additional ex gratia bonus. The airline recently reported net income of S$2.16bn ($1.62bn) for the year ending March 31, after steady losses since the 2017-18 financial period. The airline, which saw passenger numbers rise from 12 million to over 26 million, also reported strong forward booking across all cabin classes to China, Japan and South Korea. Despite the optimism from these numbers, the airline has also warned that economic conditions, expected demand for cargo, and supply chain shifts may cause challenges in the future.
Shadow of war hangs over G7 summit as Trudeau arrives in Hiroshima
CBC
23-05-18 08:28
Japan's atomic bombings will have particular relevance in the G7 Summit, held in Hiroshima, following Russia's repeated threats to use nuclear weapons during the Ukraine conflict as well as China's rise in importance in the nuclear field. Japan's Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida chose the city as the meeting venue to draw attention to the world's potential confrontation with nuclear arms. The Summit could result in the renegotiation of the nuclear arms control agreements that have recently become increasingly unstable.
South Korean authorities are taking measures to stem "tech leakage" to rival China, with Seoul creating a database of chip engineers working for South Korean companies to monitor their travel in and out of the country. Seoul has set up several investigatory bodies to combat leaks spontaneously hiring foreign staff, often through patents. Illegal hiring practices, patent infringements and the theft of intellectual property is being tackled with tougher punishments and easier ways to report suspected violations. The same edition of Nikkei Asia details increased South Korean-Chinese competition for technology experts and top-level executives. According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the number of confirmed National Core Technology leaks has risen steadily over the past five years. In terms of technology investment, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company recently pledged $100bn to expand over the next three years as part of a strategy to diversify its manufacturing base away from Taiwan.
Group of Seven (G7) leaders, including those from the EU, are meeting for two days in Hiroshima, Japan and will be joined by representatives from India, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam. Possible topics of discussion are Ukraine and China's growing power and its threat to Taiwan, all of which could impact on global economic and energy security and supply chains. India is currently chairing the G20 with the G7 summit likely to ensure that developmental issues concerning the Group of 77 developing countries are given more prominence.
South Korea is the costliest country in the world in which to raise a child - from birth to the age of 18 - according to YuWa Population Research Institute’s annual study. South Korea’s high costs can be attributed to extra lessons offered at cram schools: extra tuition lessons that cost KRW26tn ($17.9bn) in 2022 - the equivalent of KRW524,000 ($360) per child per month. The country also has a very low fertility rate at 0.78 among 100 women, part of a wider population challenge, with experts warning that Korea needs to maintain a fertility rate of 2.1 in order to maintain a stable population without resorting to immigration.
New polling commissioned by pro-growth campaign Britain Remade has revealed more than half (53 per cent) of Scots believe nuclear power has a role to play in Scotland’s energy mix and less than a third (28 per cent) oppose it. In five years, Scotland’s only remaining operating nuclear power station, Torness, will close for good, and energy from renewable sources may not always be available. Nuclear costs are not fixed and a new wave of small modular reactors could unlock renewable-like cost savings. Rolls-Royce SMR could play a leading role, but planning red tape is preventing progress.
US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have praised the progress of their countries' bilateral relations after discussions in Hiroshima ahead of the G7 summit. The two leaders spoke of the strength of their alliance in the face of challenges posed by Russia, Ukraine, and China, with Biden praising Japan's robust response to the increasingly complicated regional security situation. They discussed a range of issues, including the joint response to the conflict in Ukraine, bilateral ties with South Korea, and the importance of a solution regarding cross-Strait issues with Taiwan. Both parties expressed their commitment to building broader economic ties. Cooperation was pledged on sectors such as quantum computing, biotech, and energy. However, the senior Japanese official reporting on the talks stated they did not single out China, Tokyo's largest trading partner, in discussions surrounding supply chain resilience and the restriction of advanced technology exports to Beijing.
Nusantara, a sustainable metropolis set to become the new capital city of Indonesia, is part of a growing trend globally – governments are increasingly constructing new cities to mitigate problems in existing ones. Nusantara is touted as an eco-city and pitch as a sustainable smart city built for civil servants, comprising electric buses and plant covered homes powered by renewable energy. The capital is being constructed in the province of East Kalimantan. Other significant examples include Naypyidaw, the political capital of Myanmar, Songdo, South Korea and Putrajaya. While new cities have limited potential to offer assistance to the vast majority of their respective nations in addressing climate change, this trend is set to intensify with climate change exacerbating existing problems, according to Dr. Sarah Moser, Director of the Urban Studies Program at Montreal’s McGill University. Environmentalists fear deforestation will threaten endangered species such as the orangutan, as well as displacing indigenous communities and risk of emerging infectious diseases have also been highlighted. Indications of widespread corruption and “greenwashing of the highest order” have also been highlighted.
A survey conducted by Jiji Press shows that the approval rate for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet increased by 4.7 percentage points from the previous month to 38.2% in May, the fourth consecutive month of growth. The disapproval rate dropped by 4.5 points to 31.8%, its lowest level in nine months, with respondents citing the government’s downgrading of COVID-19 to a lower-risk category and Kishida’s visit to South Korea as key reasons for their support. The poll also found that 52.2% of respondents were in favour of the government’s COVID-19 response.
Global chip companies from the US, Europe, South Korea, and Taiwan are investing more than ¥2tn ($14bn) in Japan in 2021 across a range of projects. The investment comes in the wake of the Japanese government’s efforts to establish chip supply chains built around shared values, while minimising reliance on Chinese business partners. The aim is to establish more stable and secure supply chains for critical components, and to help strengthen the economic position of the region as a whole.
From Renaissance ideals to Ebenezer Howard's Garden City, architects and urban planners have created some of the most famous cities with specific ideals in mind. The author mentions an 8th century Kyoto, which had a grid system modeled from China's Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an), long before Manhattan existed; a scaled-down version was made of Nara, the capital before it; the city had temples, shrines, and delicate gardens to the city's backdrop of mountains. 15-minute cities were polarizing in the UK due to their association with low-traffic neighborhoods; Blooming with parks, temples and huge statues, Ramesses II's Pi-Ramesses, was built on the banks of a now-dry branch of the Nile, but was little more than a lost city buried under Egyptian fields for 3,000 years. In the wake of Europe's Black Death, Renaissance idealists harked back to Roman and Greek settlements, developing the concept of the Ideal City. Architects such as Maverick Filarete named his pioneering, star-shaped prototype the Sforzinda. Lastly, urban planner Ebenezer Howard sought a way for normal working-class families to escape the city, leading to garden cities such as Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City that influenced the capital cities of New Delhi and Canberra.
World Leaders Land in Hiroshima for G7 Meeting, With Ukraine War High on Agenda
Diplomat
23-05-18 16:50
Leaders from the G7 countries have arrived in Hiroshima for a meeting where Russia's war in Ukraine is expected to be high on the agenda. Ahead of talks with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Thursday, US President Joe Biden remarked: "When our countries stand together, we stand stronger, and I believe the whole world is safer when we do.” Discussions regarding the battlefield in Ukraine and the state of play on sanctions are expected. Meanwhile, G7 leaders and guests from countries are also expected to discuss how to deal with the military buildup and growing assertiveness of China.
