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January 27th, 2022

Asia's coffee revolution

From Indonesia to Vietnam, brewers are craving homegrown beans

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The Big Story

Asia's coffee revolution: From Indonesia to Vietnam, homegrown beans are back

More disposable income and TikTok trends push coffee ahead of tea

A barista serves coffee in one of Seoul's many trendy cafes, the demand for which is growing throughout Asia due to the emergence of a new breed of pandemic era coffee connoisseurs. (Photo by Jean Chung)
Joko Widodo is confident investments will flow into Indonesia if "we stop [exports of] bauxite, we stop copper, we stop tin, we stop gold, everything stops, stops, stops."
Asia Insight

Indonesia's drive to lift resource curse shakes global producers

Jokowi sees export ban on tin, gold, copper as invitation to foreign investors

Garment workers sew clothes at a factory outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2020. (Photo by Vann Soben)
Business Spotlight

Rising exports mask skills gap in Cambodia's garment industry

Experts say long-term prospects rest on training management talent

 (Source photos by Tsuyoshi Tamehiro, Karina Nooka, Wataru Ito and Reuters)
Market Spotlight

Weak yen complicates life for Kuroda and Kishida

Traders predict further tests for Japanese currency

A port in the Kaliningrad region of Russia in October: China accounts for a significantly larger portion of Russia's trade than vice versa.
International relations

Ukraine crisis looms large as China-Russia trade tops record $140bn

Moscow relies more heavily on Beijing as it girds for new Western sanctions

U.S. President Joe Biden holds a virtual summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Indo-Pacific

Biden and Kishida plan Quad summit in Japan in late spring

Leaders agree to launch 'economic 2-plus-2' at 1st full meeting

Ahmed Mazhari, president of Microsoft Asia, speaking at the Nikkei Forum Innovative Asia 2022. (Photo by Weixiang Lim)
Technology

Asia is a tech innovation game changer: Microsoft regional head

Singapore's DBS 'quite confident' competing on fintech with Grab, Sea

A container ship sails through New York Harbor. 
Climate Change

Decarbonizing shipping will cost '$1.5tn over 20-30 years'

'We need sustainable profitability,' Ocean Network Express chief says

From left, IHH Healthcare Group CIO Linus Tham and Siloam International Hospitals Deputy President Director Caroline Riady 
Health Care

Southeast Asian hospitals look to high-tech future in metaverse

Malaysia's IHH, Indonesia's Siloam see big opportunities in VR, other tech

The Osaka area's Kansai International Airport looks deserted as Japan maintains a de facto ban on foreign travelers. (Photo by Rie Ishii) 
Coronavirus

Japan's tough entry restrictions stand out as WHO urges easing

Business community criticizes the measures as 'national isolation' policy

From February, Thailand's quarantine-free entry program is open to all vaccinated visitors, a move that will likely boost its tourist-dependent economy.
Coronavirus

Thailand to resume no-quarantine entry from February

Low omicron risk gives nation hope to restart tourism via vaccinated visitors

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed their cooperation in dealing with China and Russia in their online meeting. (Photo courtesy of Japan's Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
The Nikkei View

Japan, U.S. should strengthen cooperation on global challenges

They must address China concerns while not neglecting trade, development

Tech giants are like developing countries that lack the governing institutions to match their political power.
Immigration inspection officers march near a container ship at a port in Qingdao in November 2021: Beijing's zero-COVID approach will continue to suppress economic activity.
Opinion

The steps Xi must take to revive China's economy

Shifting priorities in Beijing have devastated confidence of private entrepreneurs

Ai Weiwei's wonderfully comprehensive memoir -- written in compelling, straightforward prose -- is as searing as any of his celebrated art. The photo on the right shows the artist in New York City's Lower East Side in 1985. (Source photos courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio)
Books

Books: Ai Weiwei's memoir is a mesmerizing portrait of an iconoclast

In '1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows,' exiled Chinese artist brings his story full circle

The author at Kartarpur Sahib, a gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) in the Pakistani state of Punjab on the site where the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, lived for 18 years until his death in 1539. (All photos by Sonia Sarkar)
Tea Leaves

Making friends with the 'enemy'

An Indian writer takes a brief but meaningful day trip to Pakistan