China asean free trade agreement

Reuters Sydney, Australia   ● Thu, May 26, 2022 2022-05-26 13:05 0 53ea05b5fe2e13733519dbf4e314dcd2 2 Asia and Pacific China,US,Australia,Penny-Wong,Anthony-Albanese,diplomacy,geopolitics,foreign-policy Free Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Canberra needs to "step up, not step back" in supporting the Pacific islands as China's foreign minister arrived in the region seeking a sweeping regional deal on security and trade. After Reuters reported a leaked draft communique showing China will seek an agreement with 10 Pacific island countries covering policing, security, trade, marine and data communication, Albanese said Australia "need(s) to respond to this". Albanese said his new Labor government had pledged to take more action to support islands nations on maritime security, climate change, boosting aid and allowing Pacific island citizens to migrate to Australia. "We need to step up, not step back, which is what occurred under the … [Read more...] about China, Australia foreign ministers vie for influence with Pacific visits

To this end, the government is considering extending the foreign exchange market operating hours and permitting foreign financial institutions to directly take part in the interbank currency market. It is also mulling easing regulations on offshore transactions of the Korean won. “The government will take into account ways to enhance foreign investors’ market access and stabilize the foreign exchange market,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said at a meeting on external economic policy. MSCI has categorized the  Korean stock market for years as an emerging market, saying the absence of an offshore currency market for the Korean won is one of the main reasons for its decision. In November last year, the government said it will push again to win the MSCI developed market status, with the aim of getting its stock market first placed on the watch list during the agency’s upcoming June review. The government conducted a survey on global investment banks and foreign financial … [Read more...] about Currency liberalizations planned as MSCI inclusion targeted

Tesla Company (Thailand) Ltd is now a registered company in Thailand, according to information found on the Department of Business Development’s website. The company registered today, on May 25, with an initial registration capital of 3 million baht. The primary purpose of Tesla in Thailand is to sell electric vehicles, or EVs. The company will also install and sell energy storage systems and energy production systems. It appears that Tesla will simply sell cars in Thailand rather than produce or assemble cars in the kingdom. The company’s registered board members include… David Jon Feinstein who holds the position of Global Senior Director – Trade Market Access, who was appointed the director of Tesla India in January 2021. Vaibhav Taneja who holds the position of Chief Accounting Officer and was also a director of Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Ltd in January 2021. Yaron Klein who holds the position of Tesla Asset Manager and is also the Chief Financial Officer of … [Read more...] about Tesla registers as a company in Thailand

The ascent of the S&P 500 Index (SPX) to one record high after another might look, on the surface, as a breakout of irrational exuberance among investors. But the opposite is occurring as investment managers become increasingly bearish. Only 49% of the 148 professional money managers recently surveyed have a bullish view of the market over the next 12 months, down from 56% in a fall 2018 survey. This is the first time that the bulls have been in the minority since the fall of 2016, according to the spring 2019 release of Barron's Big Money Poll . It's also notable that 70% of respondents believe that stocks are fairly valued today, the highest percentage in nearly five years. “It’s difficult to get excited about the sustainability of a market rally that consists of expanding valuations in a slowing or declining earnings environment,” as Marc Dion, chief investment officer (CIO) at Wisconsin-based Morgan Dempsey Capital Management, told Barron's. Ingrid Hendershot, … [Read more...] about Bulls’ Ranks Fall to Lowest in 3 Years as Stocks Hover Near Highs

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Elon Musk appears to have gotten cold feet about buying Twitter TWTR , and is now serving up the excuse that they are putting forth false statistics on user numbers, while offering up that 20% of their accounts are fake or spam versus the company’s claim they are under 5% despite Musk having no proof of the 20% number. In fact, this is likely a guess and comes out of left field as he fires off tweets like “My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate,” sending a turd emoji to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and suggesting the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conduct an investigation into Twitter. This could backfire, as the SEC filed charges in 2019 against Mus k for falsely tweeting, “considering taking Tesla TSLA private at $420/share. Funding secured. Mr. Musk settled with the SEC, paying $20 million personally and $20 million from Tesla and agreeing to run certain Twitter posts by … [Read more...] about Is Twitter Really Worth $46.5 Billion Dollars?

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on May 23, 2022 - May 29, 2022. - A + A Until not too long ago, those of us who subscribed wholeheartedly to a dominant Western narrative lived in the illusion of a unipolar world. Democracy, the rule of law, neoliberalism, globalisation, human rights, diversity, climate change and the internet were considered good, correct or incontrovertible. We wanted to believe that we had arrived at the “end of history” where, with just a bit more time and innovation, we would enjoy peace and prosperity forever. War, terrorism, discrimination, autocracy, nationalism, intolerance as well as other forms of social, economic and political divides were the unfortunate legacies of an undesirable past, a small bump on our road towards global enlightenment, and unthinkable on a larger scale. As a result, we became self-righteous and closed our minds. We believed that the world was moving towards a single … [Read more...] about My Say: What it means to lead in a multipolar world

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin With Willson Contreras, the big question is where will he be in August? But Contreras’ plight in his sixth season with the Cubs is even more confusing. Memorial Day approaches and Contreras doesn’t even know what he will be paid in 2022. As a result of Major League Baseball’s lockout, Contreras’ arbitration case hasn’t yet been heard. He’s asking for $10.25 million, the Cubs have offered $9 million and the hearing is set for June. This is the third year in a row that Contreras has filed for arbitration. The sides were able to reach an agreement the previous two years — the two-time All-Star catcher was paid $4.5 million in 2020 and $6.65 million last season — all bets seem off between the Cubs and their players as the team de-constructs the team that went to the postseason five years in a run of six seasons. Contreras, Jason Heyward and Kyle Hendricks are the last holdover players from the team that beat … [Read more...] about Chicago Cubs’ Contreras Faces Lots Of Questions, Including 2022 Salary

New York (CNN Business) Twitter on Wednesday held what could be its last annual shareholder meeting as a public company for a long time after Elon Musk agreed to take it private in a $44 billion deal . But the meeting took place against the backdrop of ongoing drama over Musk's attempts to pause the deal, and his publicly pushing back at the company's executives on issues including the prevalence of spam accounts and content moderation decisions. Twitter ( TWTR ) now operates under a cloud of uncertainty about the fate of the transaction, and how Musk could upend the business , whether the acquisition goes through or not. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal joined Wednesday's meeting alongside a handful of other executives to answer shareholder questions. He started by saying they wouldn't address the acquisition, but he suggested the deal is moving forward. "We are working through the transaction process," Agrawal said. "For regulatory and other … [Read more...] about Twitter holds annual shareholder meeting amid uncertainty with Elon Musk deal

Representative image Building up behind the scenes for decades, the climate crisis is now clearly upon us. Emission of greenhouse gases continues to increase. As per the State of Global Climate Report (2021) , the last seven years have been the warmest on record. Extreme events such as excessive heatwaves, floods, cyclones, severe storms are increasing, leading to humanitarian crises propelled by population displacement and food insecurity. Several regions around the globe, especially in food-deficient countries in Africa and West Asia, are feeling the brunt of high food prices. The poor in these regions will be highly-vulnerable to food inflation. As if COVID-19 pandemic and lower production of food due to climatic events was not enough, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has taken away almost 28 percent of global supply of wheat, 70 percent of sunflower oil, and 40 percent of potash. As a result, the catastrophic effect of Russia’s war will be felt much after the actual war … [Read more...] about A climate crisis is upon us, and it’s threatening India’s food security