Economy

Flowers at the monument during the eighth anniversary of the Rana Plaza building disaster, pictured in Savar, Bangladesh, on Apr. 24: it is unacceptable that large multinationals profit from inadequacies in human rights and labor standards.
Opinion

Germany's supply chain law will further complicate China relations

Business leaders should brace for a serious backlash

15 July 2021
Telenor’s disastrous experience in Myanmar is likely to cloud foreign investor perceptions for decades. 
Myanmar Crisis

Telenor quits Myanmar as regime pressures telco operators

Fire sale highlights dilemmas for companies seeking to operate ethically

8 July 2021
BlackRock is leading a public-private 55 billion yen ($500 million) fund aimed at developing infrastructure for the transportation of green energy in emerging markets. (Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
Climate Change

BlackRock to launch green infrastructure fund in Asia

The public-private partnership also eyes projects in Africa and Latin America

5 July 2021
Among Conservatives, British International Trade Secretary Liz Truss enjoys one of the highest approval ratings in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet.
Interview

UK aims to gain TPP entry in 2022: trade secretary

Liz Truss says China still far from qualifying for Pacific trade pact

29 June 2021
Many countries around the world are stepping up efforts to tax Big Tech, including Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.com. (Photos by Shinya Sawai, Kosaku Mimura and Wataru Ito)
Economy

Global digital tax plan targets companies with $23bn-plus in sales

Pressure builds on Google, Amazon and other tech giants to pay up

29 June 2021
People walk along Jingu Gaien Ginkgo Avenue in Tokyo's Minato Ward in November 2020: the affluent central district has been one of the city's heaviest COVID-hit areas.
Opinion

How Asia shamed the West and protected its urban poor from COVID

Europe can no longer claim to be the most fervent champion of equality worldwide

25 June 2021
Britain and the European Union are competing for closer ties with Narendra Modi’s India. (Source photos by AP and Reuters)
22 June 2021
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Britain's Queen Elizabeth attend a drinks reception on the sidelines of the G7 summit at the Eden Project in Cornwall, Britain, on June 11.
Economy

G-7's infrastructure investment plan vies to rival Belt and Road

Experts say initiative needs to harness private finance and ensure high standards

20 June 2021
Skyscrapers tower over Shanghai: A senior IMD economist says China addressed the pandemic and the subsequent economic crisis in a "most effective way."
Economy

China gains on US in competitiveness ranking as Taiwan joins top 10

Singapore and Hong Kong slip on IMD's list amid pandemic strain

17 June 2021
Boris Johnson sees a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 25: our most pressing task is to use vaccines to protect humanity as swiftly as possible.
Opinion

G-7 nations should donate 1bn vaccine doses to developing countries

We must vaccinate the world by the end of next year

11 June 2021
A freight train bound for Duisburg, Germany, departs from Wuhan, China. More companies are looking to use the China Express Railway to ship goods from China to Europe.
Belt and Road

Pandemic turns 'Iron Silk Road' into China-Europe trade artery

China Railway Express sees a cargoboom, but future cloudy as tensions rise

11 June 2021
Two women walk on an unusually empty street in Kyoto on Jan. 13: we must have the courage to recognize that old-fashioned tourism is over.
Opinion

Old-fashioned tourism will never return

All countries must start taking this into account

9 June 2021
Group of Seven finance ministers reached an agreement to reform the global tax system at their meeting in London.
6 June 2021
G-7 nations are worried that China's digital yuan could be used to track people and suppress political opposition.
Cryptocurrencies

China's bid for digital-yuan sphere raises red flags at G-7

Beijing-led economic zone would be immune to Western sanctions

5 June 2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reviews the Brexit trade deal with the EU that he signed at number 10 Downing Street in London, on Dec. 30.
Trade

UK knocks on TPP door harder after EU exports fall 16%

Britain also nearing trade deals with India and Australia

4 June 2021
A foreman works at a container terminal of Qingdao port. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
Trade

China begins TPP groundwork as UK moves closer to entry

Beijing reportedly reaches out to New Zealand and Singapore on trade bloc membership

3 June 2021
Port of Felixstowe, U.K. TPP members and Britain are expected to set up task force groups within several months to discuss tariffs as well as trade and investment rules.
Trade

11 TPP members to start talks concerning Britain's entry

The UK filed a request in February following last year's EU departure

2 June 2021
Vietnamese authorities blame a more infectious strain of COVID-19 first detected in India for recent outbreaks that threaten the country's key manufacturing centers in the north. (Source photo by AP) 
Coronavirus

Vietnam faces 'risk to fall behind' without vaccination: EuroCham

Hanoi sets up vaccine fund to secure doses worth $1.1 billion

28 May 2021
The euro logo in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt: ECB policymakers will meet again in June.
Interview

ECB tapering talk 'premature' without solid recovery: board member

Digital euro not due out until at least 2026 to ensure stability, Fabio Panetta says

26 May 2021
Countries and regions negotiating on how to levy a digital services tax are coordinating to ensure that it would apply to Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple.
Economy

OECD to agree on basing digital tax on profit margin and revenue

Apple, Amazon and about 100 other large companies would meet the threshold

22 May 2021
Narendra Modi participates in an online summit with EU leaders in New Delhi on May 8: resuming talks with the EU marks a major shift in policy. (Handout photo from India's Press Information Bureau)
Opinion

In Modi's India self-reliance means you are on your own

Resumption of EU trade talks an admission that isolationism has failed

20 May 2021
A waitress carries food to diners seated outside in Chapel Hill, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, on April 16.
Economy

World's economic winners and losers reflected in COVID policy

Japan trails major economies as it struggles to contain infections

20 May 2021
A steel plant in Salzgitter, Germany: Germany was the fifth-largest exporter of steel to the U.S. in 2020.
Trade

US and EU reach metals tariff truce to focus on mutual rival China

Biden looks to mend ties with Brussels but faces tricky political landscape at home

19 May 2021
Logos of apps on a mobile phone screen: some governments have created regulations that are poorly defined, overly broad, unduly restrictive, or simply unworkable.
Opinion

Incoherent regulations will devastate Asia's digital economy

Two newly released documents highlight the challenges facing the region

13 May 2021
The virtual meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi yielded a key pact on migration and mobility. (Photo by Andrew Parsons/ No. 10 Downing Street)
Indo-Pacific

India and UK unveil 10-year road map to stronger ties at virtual summit

Modi and Johnson eye more trade and defense cooperation in light of assertive China

5 May 2021