Japan should consider setting up a special economic zone for global banking businesses now that Hong Kong is losing its appeal as a financial hub amid China’s crackdown, Japanese Minister of Finance Taro Aso said yesterday.
Hong Kong’s ability to function as an international finance hub is being eroded, Aso told reporters in Tokyo.
“We need to think about a lot of things, including setting up something like a special zone” for the industry, Aso said.
Photo: Bloomberg
His comments came after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Monday said that he wants to build an international financial center in the country.
If Japan is going to win more business in global finance, it needs to encourage more use of English, end the tradition of requiring documents to be physically stamped, and adjust various rules for foreign workers, Aso said.
“Doing this will of course help revitalize the Japanese market. We’ve received orders to take action with a sense of speed,” he said.
Past efforts to create special economic zones to boost growth were not focused enough, but the idea could work now with Hong Kong losing its attractiveness, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc economist Koya Miyamae said.
“The situation in Hong Kong isn’t going back to the way it was,” he said, adding that Japan would still need to offer measures such as tax breaks to lure businesses away.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) have repeatedly hit new highs, but an equity analyst said the stock’s valuation remains within a reasonable range and any pullback would likely be technical. The contract chipmaker’s historical price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has ranged between 20 and 30, Cathay Futures Consultant Co (國泰證期) analyst Tsai Ming-han (蔡明翰) told Central News Agency. With market consensus projecting that TSMC would post earnings per share of about NT$100 (US$3.17) this year, supported by strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and the stock currently trading at a P/E ratio of below 25, Tsai said the valuation
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
RSS