Asia First - Wed 30 Jul 2025
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CNA
27 minutes ago
- CNA
India accuses EU, US of double standard over Russian trade
NEW DELHI: India has sharply criticised the United States and the European Union, saying it is being unfairly singled out by them over its Russian oil purchases when they both trade extensively with Moscow despite the war in Ukraine. India's criticism followed a renewed threat by US President Donald Trump on Monday (Aug 4) to raise tariffs on goods from India over its Russian oil purchases, deepening the trade rift between the two countries. In a rare show of unity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress on Tuesday condemned Trump's repeated criticism of New Delhi. India's Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued late on Monday that "it is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia". "It is unjustified to single out India," the ministry said. It said the EU conducted €67.5 billion (US$78.02 billion) in trade with Russia in 2024, including record imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reaching 16.5 million metric tonnes. The US, the statement said, continues to import Russian uranium hexafluoride for use in its nuclear power industry, palladium, fertilisers and chemicals. It did not give a source for the export information. The US embassy and the EU's delegation in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the US and EU have sharply scaled back their trade ties with Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In 2021, Russia was the EU's fifth-largest trading partner, with goods exchanged worth €258 billion, according to the EU executive European Commission. SUDDEN RIFT The sudden rift between India and the US has been deepening since Jul 31, when Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods being shipped to the US and for the first time threatened unspecified penalties for buying Russian oil. India is one of the biggest buyers of crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day from January to June this year, up 1 per cent from a year ago. Indian refiner Nayara Energy, a major buyer of Russian oil, which is majority owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, was subjected to EU sanctions targeting Russia's oil and energy industry in July. India has said it does not support "unilateral sanctions" by the EU. Trade experts say Trump's tariffs could badly hurt India's economy. Ajay Srivastava of the New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative said he expected Indian goods exports to the US to fall 30 per cent in the current fiscal year ending Mar 31, to US$60.6 billion from US$86.5 billion in the 2025 fiscal year. India's equity benchmarks fell after Trump's renewed threat of harsh tariffs on goods from India. Manish Tewari, a member of parliament and Congress leader, said Trump's "disparaging remarks hurt the dignity and self-respect of Indians". "The time has come to call out this constant bullying and hectoring," he added.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Indonesia arrests eFishery start-up founder over alleged fraud
JAKARTA: The founder of once-booming Indonesian aquaculture firm eFishery has been arrested with two of his associates on suspicion of fraud, police said Tuesday (Aug 5). After selling itself as a disruptive business offering fish and shrimp farmers an online platform for "feed, financing and market", it fell from grace in late 2024 when former chief executive Gibran Huzaifah was suspended over revenue irregularities. Gibran and two former executives were named as suspects and recently arrested over allegations they manipulated the company's books, said Helfi Assegaf, the national police director of special economic crime. "The three collaborated to carry out fraud and embezzlement on the investment process of eFishery by marking up the investment," he told reporters Tuesday. They were accused of inflating the tech unicorn's revenue and profit to lure investment. The police official did not say if the three had been formally charged. Helfi said nearly a million dollars had been embezzled from the firm. "The initial figure that we can already prove is 15 billion rupiah (US$915,499)," he said. "It's still under process. We also are carrying out an audit of financial reports and the use of money." In an interview with Bloomberg published in April, Gibran admitted to manipulating eFishery's financial statements, but denied stealing any money. The trio have been in custody since Jul 31, according to Indonesian police-run site Tribratanews. After Gibran's suspension, the firm laid off most employees and appointed a consulting firm as its new management team this year, according to local media reports. The company was once valued at US$1.4 billion dollars but an internal probe found it had inflated its accounts and incurred investor losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, Bloomberg reported. Earlier this year, the startup appointed business advisory firm FTI Consulting as its new management.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Hong Kong IPO boom: How sustainable is the frenzy?
CNA938 Rewind - Hong Kong IPO boom: How sustainable is the frenzy? Hong Kong is on track to be the world's top IPO venue this year. In the first half of 2025, some 44 companies went public in Hong Kong, a 47% jump from the same period last year. IPO proceeds increased sevenfold to HK$107.1 billion, catapulting HKEX to the top of global exchanges for the first half. Hairianto Diman and Susan Ng find out the possible reasons for this frenzy and if it can be sustained from Andrew Leung, Independent China Strategist, Andrew Leung International Consultants.
