SINGAPORE
Visitors set new record
A year after the movie Crazy Rich Asians helped drive a record number of visitors to the city-state, tourists are back again in full force, pushing arrivals to a new high in the third quarter. About 5 million travelers came to the island from July to September, led by visitors from greater China, which jumped 22 percent, data from the Singapore Tourism Board’s Web site showed. The previous quarterly record was 4.83 million set in the same period a year earlier. The surge in tourists also coincided with the reopening of the city’s grand dame, Raffles Hotel. The 132-year-old iconic hotel — the birthplace of the “Singapore Sling” cocktail — opened after an extensive renovation.
TURKEY
Economy grows 0.9 percent
The economy grew 0.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, in line with expectations, breaking three consecutive quarters of contraction as it shook off the effects of recession following last year’s currency crisis. Compared with the second quarter, GDP expanded by a seasonally and calendar-adjusted 0.4 percent, its third positive quarter-on-quarter reading in a row, Turkish Statistical Institute data showed. A Reuters poll forecast the economy would expand 1 percent year-on-year in the third quarter. It also predicted that the economy would grow 0.5 percent this year.
BANKING
Yes Bank boosts target
Yes Bank Ltd, an Indian lender caught in the country’s deepening shadow banking crisis, boosted its target for a capital raising to US$2 billion after receiving commitments from new investors. The nation’s fourth-largest private lender said its board signed off on the capital increase, which is higher than the previous figure of US$1.2 billion, at a meeting on Friday last week. Investors included Canada’s Erwin Singh Braich, SPGP Holdings and Citax Holdings Ltd, according to a stock exchange filing. The board is to meet again on Tuesday next week approve a preferential allotment of shares to investors, none of whom can receive more than a 25 percent stake in the bank.
AUTOMAKERS
Nissan CEO reaffirms ties
Nissan Motor Co’s new chief executive officer Makoto Uchida has reaffirmed the importance of the Japanese automaker’s alliance with Renault SA as it strives to puts its financial scandals behind it. A day after he took office, Uchida told reporters yesterday that he would emphasize transparency and work to restore Nissan’s credibility. Analysts say hopes are high that Uchida and his new team will lead a revival at Nissan. However, uncertainties remain, and the effort is likely to take time. Uchida was appointed after his predecessor, Hiroto Saikawa, resigned.
TECHNOLOGY
Lynch faces US extradition
The US has formally requested the extradition of Michael Lynch, the British tech billionaire who sold his data company Autonomy Corp to Hewlett Packard Co in an ill-fated US$11.1 billion deal, to face charges including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. The US embassy in London submitted the extradition request on Nov. 21 for Lynch to stand trial in the US, according to a court filing dated on Sunday. Lynch is battling the US information technology giant in London’s High Court. He has denied the accusations, saying Hewlett Packard mismanaged the acquisition. He is counter-suing for loss and damages.
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