Asia - South China Morning Post

Indonesia is pushing ahead to transform the holiday island of Bali into an international financial centre, with its parliament set to debate new laws this week while a key conference set out targets and cited models such as Hong Kong as an example.

Minister of Investment and Downstream Industry Rosan Roeslani, who heads state-owned sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia, said the financial centre was part of Jakarta’s efforts to establish itself as a trusted destination for investors seeking...

What if Wall Street stock prices were to collapse from their current pinnacles under the sheer weight of excessive investment in artificial intelligence (AI)? Would markets in Tokyo and other Asian centres – not to mention Europe and beyond – follow suit?

These are questions that are likely to be put to the test before long if US stock prices continue their strong upward trajectory, interest rates and inflation keep rising and, as seems likely, the US-Israel war against Iran drags on.

What a...

Not so long ago, the Philippines was bedevilled by warning signs to investors, from its corruption to its groaning infrastructure and a fuel crisis born of a war fought thousands of miles away.

Those problems have not simply disappeared, but a flurry of business-friendly reforms – paired with ambitious plans to upgrade the nation’s railways, ports and power grid – now puts it in a stronger position to capture some of the billions of dollars seeking a home outside the region’s recent supply chain...

Homeplus was once a retail haven for millions of South Korean families who shopped for groceries and household goods regularly at its cavernous hypermarkets.

But that ritual over almost three decades ended this week when the company closed all its remaining 67 operating outlets nationwide after suspending 37 others earlier as part of its restructuring.

The sudden closure of South Korea’s second-largest hypermarket chain reflects not only its financial distress, but also a decline of the shopping...

Officials in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka are facing growing scrutiny over a series of overseas “research trips” that included stays in Paris and London and millions of yen in hotel upgrades, as public frustration builds over political spending during a period of rising household costs.

The controversies have put pressure on Governor Seitaro Hattori and the local chapter of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Fukuoka, one of Japan’s most important regional governments and the...

Asia sits atop vast amounts of coal, nearly three-fifths of the world’s known reserves by some estimates.

Cheaper and more reliable than imported oil and gas, and far less vulnerable to disruptions caused by foreign wars, coal is also dirty, polluting – and the region’s No 1 “stopgap source” to power the AI infrastructure roll-out.

“AI demand is materialising faster than clean energy generation can be commissioned,” said Alexander Kheder, a market research analyst at BMI who tracks global AI...

Negeri Sembilan’s bid to turn itself into Malaysia’s next hi-tech industrial hub is heading into an unusual political stress test, as a royal dispute spills into a snap election on August 1.

The vote matters not because existing semiconductor and aerospace projects are expected to flee but because it could slow future commitments, reshape the state’s policy environment and sharpen wider uncertainty over the prospect of a snap national poll, analysts say.

Long regarded as an affordable base for...

Malaysia’s government could not interfere in the management of companies and only regulates ⁠shareholding structures, its transport ⁠minister said on Friday, following the appointment ⁠of former DP World chief Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem to lead the country’s largest port operator.

Sultan Ahmed, who in February quit his top post at Dubai-based logistics giant DP World amid scrutiny over his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein, has taken ‌charge of Malaysian firm MMC Port Holdings.

“We regulate only in...

A controversy in Malaysia over a foreign tech community in Johor state has raised questions on whether immigration scrutiny and political sensitivities could slow the country’s push to attract digital nomads and other global talent.

Johor authorities are investigating Network School, a private co-living and co-working community based in Forest City and founded by American tech investor and former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan, following online allegations that Israelis were...

A Philippine coastal defence project in Palawan province could complicate Chinese operations near the Spratly Islands, but is unlikely to close Manila’s military gap with Beijing and could turn one of the country’s most important naval hubs into a more prominent target in a crisis, analysts have said.

On Monday, the Puerto Princesa City Council approved a Department of National Defence proposal allowing the Armed Forces of the Philippines to establish Coastal Defence Regiment assets and...