Five new business deals signed as more Singapore firms respond to call of Africa - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Five agreements to boost business ties were signed between Singaporean and African companies at the seventh edition of the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) on Tuesday.

The new deals add to a lengthening list of recently concluded agreements between Singapore brand owners and their African counterparts who are seeking opportunities in manufacturing, digitalisation and technology, sustainable development, transport, and logistics.

First launched in 2010 on a biennial basis, the ASBF serves as a key platform for Singapore and African business leaders and government officials to discuss trade and investment opportunities. The forum has brought together more than 5,000 thought leaders from 40 countries.

The event comes on the heels of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official visits in the past year to Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya – aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, including business linkages.

According to Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the Republic’s bilateral trade in goods with the continent has grown by about 15 per cent every year between 2019 and 2022, reaching $19.4 billion in 2022. Singapore companies’ investments in the African continent had cumulatively reached $32.1 billion as at 2021.

Mr Tan Soon Kim, EnterpriseSG’s deputy chief executive officer for global markets, said: “Singapore companies are recognising the value of diversifying their businesses to markets farther afield and have been responding to our call to explore Africa.”

In his keynote address, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said: “Today, there are about 100 Singapore companies present in 40 countries in Africa.”

Africa comprises 54 countries, with a total population of 1.4 billion people.

Companies have invested in various sectors, such as manufacturing, logistics, agri-commodities and urban solutions, as well as exploring potential in digitalisation and sustainability.

“I encourage more Singapore companies to seek out business and investment opportunities in Africa,” said Mr Gan.

Singapore is also in the process of negotiating new pacts to improve connectivity with African nations – both on a bilateral basis and with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

On Aug 20, the Kenya-Singapore Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement entered into force.

Mr Gan said such agreements provide certainty to companies from both Africa and Singapore that operate in each other’s markets, thus boosting trade and investment flows between both sides.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry will also offer a capacity-building course in trade negotiations as part of the Singapore Cooperation Programme’s Singapore-Africa Partnership Package.

Mr Gan said the course will start in January 2024 and is designed to meet the needs of African trade negotiators, even as it helps to foster stronger relations between the governments as well as officials.

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2023-08-29 06:54:10Z
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Japan says may take China to WTO over Fukushima-driven seafood import ban - CNA

TOKYO: Japan threatened on Tuesday (Aug 29) to take China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to seek a reversal of Beijing's ban on all of its seafood imports after the release of treated radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Japan's foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan will take "necessary action (on China's aquatic product ban) under various routes including the WTO framework".

Filing a WTO complaint might become an option if protesting to China through diplomatic routes is ineffective, economic security minister Sanae Takaichi said separately.

The comments came as Japanese businesses and public facilities continued to receive harassment calls from phone numbers with the +86 Chinese country code, with many reporting callers complaining of the Fukushima water release.

Japan's National Policy Agency has received 225 reports of harassment calls to date, Jiji news reported, and the government said it was seeking help from telecommunications companies to block the calls.

An increasing number of landline phone users are requesting to block foreign numbers, said a spokesperson at NTT Communications, a Nippon Telegraph and Telephone unit. NTT and other phone companies including KDDI and SoftBank Corp are discussing measures following the government’s request.

"It is extremely regrettable and concerning about the large number of harassment calls that have likely come from China," Trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said during a news conference. He said that according to the people of Fukushima some calls were even going to hospitals, .

"Human life is at stake now. Please stop the calls immediately,” Nishimura said.

The minister said the government is gathering information on the reports of movements to boycott Japanese products in China and would work with business leaders to address the situation.

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2023-08-29 06:53:52Z
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China, US set to hold fresh talks on trade disputes - CNA

But Wang warned they "run counter to market rules and the principle of fair competition, and will only harm the security and stability of the global industrial and supply chains".

Raimondo is set to meet with vice premier He Lifeng and culture minister Hu Heping on Tuesday, and pay a courtesy visit to Premier Li Qiang.

She will then head to China's economic powerhouse Shanghai, before leaving the country on Wednesday.

HEALTHY COMPETITION

Raimondo is one of a number of senior US officials to visit China in recent months - part of an effort by Washington to improve its working relationship with its largest strategic rival.

Relations between the two countries have plummeted to some of their lowest levels in decades, with US trade curbs near the top of the list of disagreements.

This month, Biden issued an executive order aimed at restricting certain US investments in sensitive high-tech areas in China - a move Beijing blasted as being "anti-globalisation".

The long-anticipated rules, expected to be implemented next year, target sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sought to reassure Chinese officials about the expected curbs during a visit to Beijing last month.

And Raimondo on Monday told Chinese officials that while there was "no room to compromise or negotiate" on US national security, "the vast majority of our trade and investment relationship does not involve national security concerns".

"We seek healthy competition with China. A growing Chinese economy that plays by the rules is in both of our interests," she said.

In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Beijing, where he met President Xi Jinping and said progress had been made on a number of key sources of contention. US climate envoy John Kerry also visited China in July.

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2023-08-29 04:32:38Z
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Brick thrown at Japan embassy in China in Fukushima spat - CNA

"We would like to urge the Chinese government again to take appropriate measures immediately, such as calling on its citizens to act calmly to prevent the situation from escalating, and to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Japanese residents and our diplomatic missions in China," he said.

He added that China should "provide accurate information" about the Fukushima water release "rather than unnecessarily raising people's concerns by providing information without any scientific basis".

In Beijing, a spokesperson at the Japanese embassy told AFP that staff were "extremely worried".

"Some individuals have come to our (embassy) entrance," the spokesperson said.

"They took these kinds of actions then were led away by armed police."

Asked what action Beijing would take over the stone-throwing, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday that China "always protects the safety and legitimate rights and interests of foreigners in China, in accordance with law".

"We strongly urge the Japanese side to face up to the legitimate concerns of all parties, immediately stop the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, fully consult with its neighbours and other stakeholders, and earnestly dispose of nuclear-contaminated water in a responsible manner," Wang told a regular briefing.

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2023-08-29 03:59:00Z
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Chinese county offers 'cash reward' for couples if bride is aged 25 or younger - CNA

HONG KONG: A county in eastern China is offering couples a "reward" of 1,000 yuan (US$137) if the bride is aged 25 or younger, the latest measure to incentivise young people to get married amid rising concern over a declining birth rate.

The notice, which was published on Changshan county's official WeChat account last week, said the reward was to promote "age-appropriate marriage and childbearing" for first marriages. It also included a series of childcare, fertility and education subsidies for couples who have children.

Concerned about China's first population drop in six decades and its rapidly ageing population, authorities are urgently trying an array of measures to lift the birth rate including financial incentives and improved childcare facilities.

China's legal age limit for marriage is 22 for males and 20 for females, but the number of couples getting married has been falling. That has driven down birth rates due to official policies which make it harder for single women to have children.

Marriage rates hit a record low in 2022 at 6.8 million, the lowest since 1986, according to government data released in June. There were 800,000 fewer marriages last year than in 2021.

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2023-08-29 02:39:42Z
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Rubiales' mother goes on hunger strike in church over FA row - ESPN - ESPN

• 

  Alex Kirkland, ESPN FCAug 28, 2023, 07:17 PM

The mother of embattled Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales has locked herself in a church and said she is on hunger strike in protest at her son's treatment, Rubiales' cousin confirmed on Monday.

Ángeles Béjar shut herself inside the church of the Divine Shepherdess in Rubiales' hometown of Motril, Andalusia, on Monday, EFE reported.

She said her protest would continue until the "inhuman, bloodthirsty witch hunt which my son is being subjected to" came to an end.

- Charting Spain FA president's five controversial years in charge

Rubiales was handed a provisional 90-day suspension from all football-related activities by FIFA on Friday -- while Spain's Supreme Sports Council is also seeking to have him removed from office -- over his behaviour after Spain's Women's World Cup final win, including his unsolicited kiss on Spain player Jenni Hermoso.

Rubiales has refused to resign over the issue, insisting that the kiss was consensual -- a claim denied by the player -- and threatening legal action against Hermoso and her union, Futpro.

Spain prosecutors said they have opened a preliminary sexual abuse investigation into the incident.

Béjar told EFE her protest would continue "indefinitely, day and night" until Rubiales was vindicated.

She added: "There is no sexual abuse since there is consent on both sides, as the images prove. ... My son is incapable of hurting anyone."

Luis Rubiales has been suspended by FIFA for an unsolicited kiss to Spain player Jenni Hermoso. GABRIEL MONNET/AFP via Getty Images

The news agency reported that she had locked herself inside the church in Motril -- a town with a population of around 60,000, in the province of Granada -- with her sister, after its priest had left.

Rubiales' cousin, Vanessa Ruiz Béjar, confirmed to Teledeporte that his mother was on hunger strike, saying: "This is very hard. To say that there is a harassment is not fair.

"That his mom, who is a person of great faith, has taken refuge in God and is on a hunger strike and does not want to leave the church. That his family is suffering very much on his behalf. It is not fair what is happening.

"He has been judged ahead of time and he should be left in peace. We want Jenni to tell the truth. Why has she changed her story three times? Our family has been harassed. This woman should tell the truth. Jenni, you should tell the truth. We want Jenni to tell the truth.

"The way they are treating with him, the aggression, the feminists, the television, it seems to me shameful. All the people who are taking advantage of the situation, it is shameful."

A friendly football match dubbed the "Friends of Rubiales" that was supposed to take place in Motril and feature the RFEF president was canceled on Saturday, with the local town hall citing fears over public order.

Rubiales' conduct and subsequent refusal to accept responsibility for his actions have drawn widespread condemnation -- both within Spain and internationally from football clubs, players and politicians.

Spain's Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz said on Monday that male chauvinism was "systemic" in the country and had been shown in its worst form.

Díaz, who is also deputy prime minister and head of the far-left Sumar coalition, called for social attitudes to change more generally in Spain and for victims of sexual harassment and violence to be better protected.

On Monday, the RFEF asked UEFA to suspend it from international competitions because of government interference over demands to remove Rubiales.

Football governing bodies have long-standing rules barring national governments from interfering with the running of the domestic federations. However, UEFA will not comply with the Spanish federation's request for a sanction, a person familiar with the issue told The Associated Press on Monday.

The move was widely seen as an attempt to silence some of Rubiales' critics, including government ministers who have asked for his removal, as such a suspension would ban Spanish teams from competitions like the Champions League and could sway public opinion in favor of letting him keep his job.

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2023-08-28 16:07:30Z
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China's Fukushima Backlash Is Starting to Weigh on Japan Stocks - Bloomberg

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1. China's Fukushima Backlash Is Starting to Weigh on Japan Stocks  Bloomberg
2. Japan hopes to win the world's trust over Fukushima with hard science, objective facts  The Straits Times
3. Thai consumer council calls for thorough checks of seafood imported from Japan  New Straits Times
4. Speak quietly in China, Japan warns citizens as Fukushima backlash grows  South China Morning Post
5. Japanese restaurants in Hong Kong expect dip in business with import ban on seafood from Japan  CNA
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-08-28 07:23:29Z
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