PANAMA
China trade talks announced
Panama and China will in June next year begin negotiations to sign a free-trade deal, the two countries’ trade ministers said on Thursday, consolidating a relationship that has strengthened after the Central American nation ditched ties with Taiwan. Panamanian Minister of Commerce and Industry Augusto Arosemena on Thursday made the remarks in Panama City alongside Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan (鍾山).
UNITED STATES
Consumer debt accelerates
US consumers increased their borrowing by US$20.5 billion in October, the biggest gain in 11 months and following a US$19.2 billion gain in September, the US Federal Reserve reported on Thursday. The category that covers auto loans and student loans was up US$12.2 billion, slightly slower than the US$13.2 billion rise in September. Borrowing in the category that covers credit cards rose by US$8.3 billion, up from a US$6 billion increase in September and the strongest showing since November last year.
HEAVY INDUSTRY
GE to cut 12,000 jobs
Embattled industrial giant General Electric Co (GE) on Thursday announced it will cut more than 12,000 blue and white-collar jobs in its GE Power unit, part of a turnaround plan launched by the new company leadership. The layoffs will primarily hit facilities outside the US, as part of an effort to reduce overall structural costs by US$3.5 billion this year and next year, the company said. The job cuts are to affect about 18 percent of the energy unit’s global workforce.
BLOCKCHAIN
Bitcoin breach reported
The Slovenian-based bitcoin miner NiceHash said on Thursday it is investigating a security breach and the possible theft of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoins, as meanwhile the value of the virtual currency has soared to a new record high. NiceHash said in a statement that it had stopped operations for 24 hours and was working to verify how many bitcoins were taken. Unconfirmed reports said that more than 4,000 bitcoins were missing, valued at more than US$70 million.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford and Alibaba team up
Ford Motor Co is collaborating with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) to further expand into the world’s largest auto market. The carmaker on Thursday said that it has signed a three-year agreement to explore technology for marketing, sales, cloud computing and distribution strategies. It hopes to better incorporate digital technologies and platforms into its vehicles. Ford recently promised to roll out more than 50 new models in China over the next eight years.
RETAIL
Walmart to change name
Wal-Mart Stores Inc is changing its legal name effective on Feb. 1 next year as it shifts away from physical stores in the age of Amazon.com Inc’s increasing dominance. The world’s largest retailer on Wednesday said that it will change its legal name to Walmart Inc from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. It said the move underscores its growing emphasis on serving shoppers in different ways beyond just physical stores: online, on their mobile devices and through pickup and delivery. Walmart operates more than 11,600 stores and clubs under 60 different banners worldwide.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained