JAPAN
Exports hint at slowdown
Exports declined for the third straight month last month, while imports also fell, government data showed yesterday, indicating a possible slowdown in the world’s third-biggest economy. Exports slipped 1.2 percent from a year earlier to ¥6.38 trillion (US$57 billion) and imports declined even more sharply — by 6.7 percent to ¥6.05 trillion. Overall, the country logged a ¥339 billion trade surplus last month, the first surplus for five months.
SINGAPORE
Non-oil exports rise
The city-state yesterday said that overall non-oil exports last month rose 4.9 percent compared with a year earlier, after three months of retreat. However, a government report pointed to broader challenges: Electronics exports fell 8 percent from a year earlier after a 15.9 percent fall in January. Compared with the previous month, exports jumped 16 percent in seasonally adjusted terms, reversing a 5.7 percent on month decline in January, government data showed.
TECHNOLOGY
Web site eyes IPO
Chinese Web site 36Kr, which tracks start-up fundraisings in the country, is planning an overseas initial public offering (IPO), people with knowledge of the matter said. The Beijing-based company is considering selling shares of its flagship media business in the US as soon as this year, the people said. 36Kr, whose Web site is similar to the TechCrunch portal that chronicles Silicon Valley, is targeting to raise at least US$100 million, the people said.
TELECOM
Huawei revenue up 36%
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) has withstood criminal charges and international scrutiny to post rising growth in the first two months of the year. Revenue climbed 36 percent in January and last month compared with a year earlier, founder Ren Zhengfei (任正非) said in a speech to a group of Russian scientists. The pace is an acceleration from last year’s sales increase of 21 percent and its projection for growth this year of about 15 percent. “The company is more united, working harder and our energy intensity is increasing,” Ren said.
UNITED STATES
Tax refunds issued twice
Taxpayers in Louisiana got an unexpected windfall when a computer error issued their tax refunds a second time. The state’s Department of Revenue cautioned recipients of the wrongly paid windfall: “Do not spend it.” If they have, they must pay the money back in 30 days. The duplicate refunds totaled more than US$26 million, the department said, adding that the state is working with financial institutions to recover the overpayments directly from recipients’ bank accounts.
UNITED KINGDOM
London home prices down
Asking prices for London homes fell this month as buyers hesitated on closing deals amid political turmoil over Brexit. Average values declined 1.1 percent from last month to £607,557 (US$806,000), property Web site Rightmove said in a report yesterday. Asking prices in the capital dropped 3.8 percent from a year earlier with the number of sales agreed by real-estate agents 9.6 percent below the same period last year. A separate report by Acadata, which incorporates all housing transactions, showed that home prices nationwide slid 0.5 percent in the 12 months to last month.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day