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July 4th, 2019

Jokowi’s second chance

Indonesia’s president has one last term to unite his country and reform its economy

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The Big Story

Jokowi vows to invest in tech skills for an Indonesian 'Golden Age'

Second-term success hinges on company tax breaks and uneasy alliances

Newly reelected, President Joko Widodo is now tasked with overseeing Indonesia’s next stage of economic growth. “We are optimistic,” he said in an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
Indonesia’s presidents have long hoped that spinning out the bureaucratic capital would jump-start the country’s struggling east: Jakarta generates 17% of the country's GDP. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)
The Big Story

Indonesia chases a game-changer: moving the capital

Jokowi aims to do what predecessors couldn't as Jakarta overflows

RedDoorz, which brings cheap hotels together under one brand, lets customers book rooms through its app. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
Startups in Asia

Budget hotel chain RedDoorz challenges SoftBank-backed Oyo

Big data puts Southeast Asian hospitality disruptor on the map

Cargo wagons sit at a rail yard in Munich. The freight unit of Germany's state rail group is boosting capacity for shipments to China.
Belt and Road

German rail group bets on Belt and Road with more trains to China

Beijing subsidies seen fueling growth in overland Eurasian trade

Delta Air Lines' investment in Hanjin-KAL could help the Korean Air parent fend off calls for reform by an activist fund. (Photo by Takaki Kashiwabara)
Business

Korean Air restructuring at risk after Delta takes stake: analysts

US carrier's investment bolsters Cho family against activist fund

Chinese financial technology companies are betting big on the Philippines' e-payments potential.
Finance

China's fintechs see rural bank gateway to Philippine e-payments

Central bank head Diokno says he welcomes new entrants

Freee, which provides cloud-based accounting software, is making inroads into financial services that have been the domain of major banks. (Photo by Tsubasa Suruga)
Business trends

Fintech newcomers reshape Japan's lending landscape

New technology gives smaller businesses quicker and easier access to loans

Hong Kong market watchers expect a strong run of IPOs in the second half of 2019. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Markets

Hong Kong IPOs surge 40% in first half despite political turmoil

Analysts expect looser rules on biotech companies to maintain momentum

AirAsia deputy group CEO Aireen Omar said the airline is ready to take on industry giants Expedia and Booking.com with its own online travel business.
Companies

AirAsia opens RedBeat digital arm to investors ahead of possible IPO

Private equity shows interest as carrier takes on Expedia and Booking.com

Pegatron Chairman Tung Tzu-hsien models new AR glasses to journalists in May as he looks forward to a future less dependent on the whims of the smartphone market.
Companies

Pegatron looks to cure its Apple smartphone dependency

Taiwan contract maker explores AR and robots as US-China trade war takes toll

A ZTE booth at a Guangzhou expo: The Chinese company has sharply expanded its 5G business since the U.S. lifted crippling sanctions last July. (Photo by Takashi Kawakami)
5G networks

ZTE chief touts 200 global partners for 5G at Shanghai expo

Chinese telecom equipment maker jumps on opening left by rival Huawei's troubles

Prayuth Chan-ocha, left, remains Thailand's prime minister, but Gen. Apirat Kongsompong has been tasked with reshaping the military. (© Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters)
Asia Insight

All the king's men: Thai military power shifts away from Prayuth

Monarch's faith in rival faction sends clear message to coup leaders

Chinese President Xi Jinping during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka on June 29.
Trade war

US-China trade truce puts Beijing in the driver's seat

With Trump tariffs on hold indefinitely, Xi looks to the 2020 American election

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attends a news conference on the final day of the the G-20 summit on June 29 in Osaka. (Photo by Tomoki Mera)
G-20 summit Osaka

G-20 leaders agree to speed up WTO reforms

Summit in Japan dominated by the US-China trade spat

China accounts for around 70% to 80% of the world's production of rare-earth ores.
Trade war

History offers lessons in escaping China's rare-earth dominance

Industry response to earlier export cutoff can show policymakers how to react

Nikkei and the Japan Center for Economic Research have tried to pin down the appropriate dollar exchange rates of eight Asian currencies by analyzing an array of economic data.
Datawatch

Most Asian currencies weaker than they should be against dollar

Nikkei analysis shows yuan and yen at an equilibrium as Trump threatens action

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas on June 30.
Trump-Kim Summit

Trump and Kim make history but leave hard work for negotiators

Both sides seized opportunity to grab attention with DMZ encounter

The Solomon Islands has become the principal target in the region of Beijing's diplomatic effort to win away Taiwan's remaining allies. (Reuters/AP)
Interview

Solomon Islands PM 'aware' of risks of Chinese debt

Government still considering merit of switching ties from Taipei to Beijing

While some call centers have opened outside Manila in cities like Davao, the outsourcing remains concentrated in the capital.
Politics

Philippine call centers sound alarm over Duterte's Manila zone cap

Ban on creation of new low-tax areas intended to push outsourcers into provinces

An oil tanker is on fire in the sea of Oman on June 13: Asian governments must quickly assess the threat and respond.
Opinion

Asia has most to lose if Middle East turmoil hits oil supplies

As US-Iran tensions, can crude importers defend their interests?

Modi's government has no time to lose.
Opinion

India's economic hangover

Fresh from his poll triumph, Modi must press ahead with reforms or see growth stagnate

Serious damage will arise only if the government fails to learn its lesson. 
Opinion

Business will go on in Hong Kong but the city will not be the same

City's youth to feel impact of political discord more than foreign investors

Protesters gather near a statue of a wartime laborer in Busan on July 1.
The Nikkei View

Japan and South Korea must avoid tit for tat over wartime row

Borrowing Trump's playbook hurts Tokyo's reputation as free trade champion

Stefano Bacchelli, resident executive chef at Da Vittorio Shanghai, prepares a dish. (Courtesy of Cliff Yu)
Life

The rich taste of Shanghai's new Italian cuisine

Celebrity chefs open restaurants to tempt the most discerning diners

When Bao Pu began publishing books in 2005, the market was still crowded with competitors. Now he is a lonely holdout with dwindling revenues.
Life

The slow death of the independent Hong Kong bookseller

For Bao Pu, revealing the last secrets of Tiananmen could be a final flourish

Members of K-Pop band BTS perform on ABC's 'Good Morning America' show in Central Park in New York on May 15.
Tea Leaves

K-pop sings a universal tune, even in Korean

Slick product shows how to conquer world music -- with government help