Nikkei Asian Review
Japanese life insurers take hit from BOJ's negative rate policy
The Bank of Japan’s negative interest rate policy dealt a blow to Japanese life insurance companies last fiscal year, with premium income shrinking at 11 out of 15 major players. Basic profit — a measure of profitability from core operations — decreased at seven groups for ...
Day care wait lists still growing in much of Japan
Day care waiting lists have declined slightly overall but still grew on the year in 16 of 34 major Japanese municipalities, suggesting that the government remains far from its goal of clearing the chronic backlog. The Nikkei surveyed 20 cities and Tokyo’s 23 wards, with ...
Geely underlines global ambitions in wake of Proton deal
Top management of the listed arm of Zhejiang Geely Holding said they hope to turn the carmaker into a global player, just a day after its parent company announced a deal to acquire a 49.9% stake in Malaysia’s struggling Proton Holdings. Gui Shengyue, chief executive ...
Investors shrug off terror attacks in Southeast Asia, for now
Investors in Asia have shrugged off terror attacks in Indonesia and the Philippines this week, but authorities are struggling to prevent further attacks and protect soft targets. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1% on Thursday, and the Philippine Stock Exchange index ...
Services the next frontier in Asian energy revolution
Modern life is characterized by a constant quest for energy. Every day, we refill our gas tanks, charge our phones or replace the batteries in our devices. This need for energy can provoke anxiety when we cannot find power plugs to charge our laptops in ...
Free speech takes a hit ahead of the Thai vote
An explosion at a military hospital in Bangkok on the third anniversary of the ruling junta underscored Thailand’s delicate political situation ahead of the first full-fledged election in seven years. The kingdom’s two largest political forces have remained deeply split since the coup that brought ...
Booming Southeast Asian vehicle sales drive urban congestion
Vehicle sales in Southeast Asia are set to outpace all other regions of the world during 2017, according to industry research, highlighting surging economic expansion in some parts of the region. But the growing number of new cars and trucks in urban centers is likely ...
'TPP 11' are working to save the trade deal, but members remain far apart
The remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal showed at least some level of unity in a statement May 21, but the outlook for a “TPP 11” version of the trade pact after the U.S. bailed on the deal looks hazy as gaps remain ...
Why Vietnam is all in for TPP11
Trade ministers from the 11 remaining countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, after the U.S. withdrew, agreed in Hanoi on Sunday to promote the so-called TPP 11 trade liberalization deal. Vietnamese Trade and Industry Minister Tran Tuan Anh, who chaired the meeting, declared that the 11 ...
William Klausner: Thailand must keep up its progress on gender equality
Thailand has undergone a dramatic social, cultural, economic and political transformation during the past half century. In particular, educated Thai women have reconfigured traditional conceptions of their private and public roles — to the point where Thailand now has one of the highest proportions of ...
