Showing 1 - 10 of 28
We need new weapons against packaging waste
Asia focus, Simon Baldwin, Published on 16/05/2022
» Last month, researchers found microplastics -- small, microscopic pieces of plastic fragments -- within human lungs for the first time. This comes on the heels of news that microplastics were found in human blood, which may travel around the body and enter organs.
Ancient brew has retro appeal in South Korea
Asia focus, Chang W Lee and Mike Ives of the New York Times, Published on 07/02/2022
» SEOUL: Jeong Mi-hee used to buy a lot of whisky in airports. When the coronavirus pandemic brought her business travel to halt, she started paying more attention to local drinks she had overlooked.
Year of Turbulence
Asia focus, Asia Focus Team, Published on 27/12/2021
» Pandemic drags on recovery: In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, many Asian countries had enviable success, avoiding large-scale outbreaks and mass deaths. But the arrival of the more transmissible Delta variant this year and sluggish vaccine rollouts compounded by low availability sent cases surging. Combined with poor monitoring and easy movement among countries, often unofficially, Southeast Asia became a virus hotspot. The ballooning health crisis collided with churning political discontent in the case of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. Economically, the new wave of infections, and attendant restrictions imposed to curb the spread, stalled recoveries. After nearly two years of strict border controls, many countries started to loosen up and live with Covid. But the rise of the Omicron variant now threatens to scuttle those tentative reopening plans and usher in a third year of economic anxiety.
Payment transformed
Asia focus, Paritta Wangkiat, Published on 02/08/2021
» The protracted Covid-19 pandemic has wrought havoc across many business sectors worldwide, and Southeast Asia has been no exception. But that is not the case for the digital payment industry. It has been thriving even during lockdowns, as more people make daily transitions on online marketplaces, food delivery and entertainment platforms.
Practical recovery strategy needed
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 05/07/2021
» The arrival of about 400 vaccinated international travellers in Phuket on Thursday was something to celebrate for people on the hard-hit resort island. They were the first visitors from abroad in 15 months.
Shall we spend?
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 24/05/2021
» Covid-19 has upended the life we know. The protracted global pandemic has stripped income and jobs from millions, forcing consumers to change their behaviours amid health concerns, and to reconsider how to spend their money amid an uncertain economic outlook.
Hands-on for success
Asia focus, Nareerat Wiriyapong, Published on 24/05/2021
» As the top executive in charge of the fast-growing Asean, India and Australia-New Zealand markets of Delta Electronics, Jackie Chang is entirely occupied with work on weekdays.
An EU-China deal for a bygone era
Asia focus, Wendy Cutler, Published on 08/03/2021
» The European Union and China in late January released new details about the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) that they concluded in December. On paper, EU negotiators made some progress in important areas including market access, investment liberalisation and sustainable development. But can an incremental bilateral agreement like the CAI really govern economic relations with today's China?
Permanent shift
Asia focus, Ismira Lutfia Tisnadibrata, Published on 10/08/2020
» Indonesia's culinary and tourism sectors are changing the way they do business as they cope with the ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic has has drastically transformed customer behaviour and battered the economy.
Wellness, the new luxury
Asia focus, Pattama Kuentak, Published on 29/06/2020
» The prolonged Covid-19 outbreak has been leaving its mark on nearly every decision we make every day, from how we work and study to what we put in our bodies.