Nikkei Asian Review
Myanmar designates 20 fields to promote investment
Myanmar’s efforts to promote investment will target 20 newly designated fields covering 192 types of businesses and services, using a law enacted in October that makes it easier for foreign companies to receive tax benefits. The industries covered include manufacturing, agriculture, urban development, communications and medicine, while fields ...
Monetary tightening emerges as risk to Chinese economy
China economists increasingly see tighter monetary policy by the People’s Bank of China as a downside risk, voicing concerns that efforts to curb capital outflows and a real estate bubble will weigh on the economy. Tighter monetary policy has surged to second place on a ...
ADB economist looks to PPP for infrastructure needs
Yasuyuki Sawada is the first Japanese national appointed as chief economist at the Asian Development Bank. In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, he called for private-sector funding to meet the huge demand for infrastructure in Asia. This could be achieved through public-private partnerships ...
ASEAN finds free trade a tougher sell in today's environment
As the U.S. pulls back and China expands, Southeast Asia tries to adjust. People become aware of the divine power of a mantra only when they no longer hear it. People have been hearing world leaders inveigh against protectionism after official meetings for so long ...
Microinsurance closes gaps in social safety nets
“I was very worried [about the hospital bill] because my father was in [intensive care] for a long time,” said Sheryl Tan, recalling the two painful months leading up to her father’s death last year. “So I was relieved when I heard that MediShield Life ...
Insurers help to pay for Asia's infrastructure needs
A recent $150 million refurbishment of two decades-old geothermal power plants on the Philippine island of Luzon may sound like just another project aimed at overcoming the country’s severe electricity shortages. But, for Asia’s insurance companies, there is more to it. Bonds issued to pay ...
Myanmar braces for 30% drop in foreign investment
Foreign investment in Myanmar appears poised to plunge roughly 30% for the year ending March 31 amid the absence of new oil and gas projects, highlighting the need for the government to lure other industries with deregulation and firm economic policy plans. Myanmar received about $6 billion ...
Asia dominates rankings of most expensive cities
Asian cities such as Singapore and Tokyo were the most expensive worldwide for residents in 2016, as currency appreciation drove an increase in the general cost of living. The Worldwide Cost of Living research, conducted semiannually by The Economist Intelligence Unit, found that half of ...
Indonesia's Siloam plans to double number of hospitals
Indonesia’s Siloam International Hospitals aims to double the number of its hospitals to 50 by 2019. The country’s largest hospital operator expects to expand into remote areas, including the island of New Guinea, now that a universal health care system has been introduced, allowing low-income ...
International donors must call Cambodia out on corruption
Cambodia’s economy has grown rapidly in the last two decades, with gross domestic product increasing almost sixfold from 1998 to 2015, according to the World Bank. But for most of that period, headline economic growth failed to generate commensurate development outcomes or increases in government ...