Latest news with #SouthEastAsia
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Bangladesh seeks Malaysia's backing for Asean membership during meeting with Nurul Izzah
NEW DELHI, July 28 — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar called on Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus in Dhaka on Sunday. Yunus, during the meeting, sought Malaysia's support for Bangladesh to join the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean). 'We want to become a part of Asean, and we will need your support,' he told Nurul Izzah, according to a Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha report. Bangladesh applied to become an Asean sectoral dialogue partner in 2020. Yunus also invited Malaysian companies to invest in Bangladesh's growing economy. 'Asia is ageing rapidly, but Bangladesh has a lot of young people. Half of our population is under the age of 27. Set up your industries here and export from Bangladesh. It will help both our economies,' he said. The interim government's chief advisor informed the PKR deputy chief about Bangladesh's political reforms following last year's uprising, which ended Sheikh Hasina's nearly 16-year rule. Nurul Izzah spoke at Dhaka University on Sunday at a conference marking the first anniversary of the July Revolution. She also offered her condolences during the meeting with Yunus and at the conference over the loss of lives in the recent fighter jet crash at Milestone School in Dhaka. — Bernama
Malay Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Xiaomi unveils its biggest South-east Asia store at The Exchange TRX with over 500 smart devices
KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 — Xiaomi has officially launched its largest retail store in South-east Asia at The Exchange TRX here, strengthening its new retail business model presence in Malaysia. Xiaomi Malaysia country manager Eddie Huang said the new store is the brand's second flagship outlet in the country and follows the success of its first retail outlet at IPC Shopping Centre, Mutiara Damansara, Selangor. 'After the success of the IPC Shopping Centre retail outlet, we are excited to provide an even more holistic retail experience to our customers with the opening of this second outlet. 'This store reflects our mission to make the latest innovative technology accessible to everyone. It also reaffirms our commitment to enhancing customer experience through thoughtful retail design and exceptional customer service. We are proud to launch it here in Malaysia, a key market that continues to inspire our growth,' he said in a statement. Huang said the outlet at The Exchange offers the widest range of Xiaomi products in Malaysia, with more than 250 stock keeping units (SKUs) on display and over 500 SKU devices available for purchase, including smartphones, Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) devices and smart home solutions. It is also the first Xiaomi store in Malaysia to offer on-site after-sales support, allowing customers to receive direct assistance from trained Xiaomi specialists, the statement said. 'Located in one of Kuala Lumpur's premier lifestyle destinations, the store showcases the brand's innovative range of products to elevate your smart living lifestyle. 'Conceptualising Xiaomi's upgraded strategy 'Human x Car x Home', the new store promises a refined retail experience where fans and shoppers alike can explore Xiaomi's smart ecosystem that seamlessly integrates personal devices and smart home products,' it said. In conjunction with the July 26 grand opening, Xiaomi offered exclusive promotions, including limited-time product deals and giveaways like Redmi Pad Pro WiFi, Xiaomi Smart Air Purifier 4 Compact and RM500 rebates. The Xiaomi TV Max 100 2025 was also offered at a special promotional price on launch day. 'From July 26-Aug 3, Xiaomi is offering a special Mix & Match promotion on selected products with up to RM1,320 discount, limited to five sets of products each day,' the statement said. — Bernama
New Straits Times
7 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Duncan wins SEA Cup again
KUALA LUMPUR: Duncan Lee captured the South East Asia (SEA) Cup Squash Championships at Vajiravudh College in Bangkok today. The 23-year-old Sabahan overcame compatriot and fifth seed Harith Danial Jefri 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 in 22 minutes in the final. Duncan, who also won the SEA Cup in Bangkok in 2020 and Johor in 2023, said: "I played an aggressive game against Harith and it paid off. "I'm looking forward to my second title in the mixed team which begins tomorrow. Last year, I didn't play in the individual event, but helped Malaysia win the mixed team title in the Philippines." Fifth seeds Harith-Anrie Goh settled for silver in the Under-21 mixed jumbo doubles after losing 11-8, 8-11, 11-7 to top seeds Jonathan Reyes-Aerra Mae Relano of the Philippines. Defending champion and top seed Ainaa Amani gave a walkover to Jemyca Aribado of the Philippines in the women's semi-finals due to a knee injury yesterday.
Malay Mail
21-07-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Declining Western aid creates opportunity for China to expand development footprint in South-east Asia
SYDNEY, July 21 — China is set to expand its influence over South-east Asia's development as the Trump administration and other Western donors slash aid, a study by an Australian think tank said Sunday. The region is in an 'uncertain moment', facing cuts in official development finance from the West as well as 'especially punitive' US trade tariffs, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute said. 'Declining Western aid risks ceding a greater role to China, though other Asian donors will also gain in importance,' it said. Total official development finance to South-east Asia — including grants, low-rate loans and other loans — grew 'modestly' to US$29 billion (RM122.8 billion) in 2023, the annual report said. But US President Donald Trump has since halted about US$60 billion in development assistance — most of the United States' overseas aid programme. Seven European countries — including France and Germany — and the European Union have announced US$17.2 billion in aid cuts to be implemented between 2025 and 2029, it said. And the United Kingdom has said it is reducing annual aid by US$7.6 billion, redirecting government money towards defence. Based on recent announcements, overall official development finance to Southeast Asia will fall by more than US$2 billion by 2026, the study projected. 'These cuts will hit South-east Asia hard,' it said. 'Poorer countries and social sector priorities such as health, education, and civil society support that rely on bilateral aid funding are likely to lose out the most.' Higher-income countries already capture most of the region's official development finance, said the institute's South-east Asia Aid Map report. Poorer countries such as East Timor, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are being left behind, creating a deepening divide that could undermine long-term stability, equity and resilience, it warned. Despite substantial economic development across most of South-east Asia, around 86 million people still live on less than US$3.65 a day, it said. 'Global concern' 'The centre of gravity in South-east Asia's development finance landscape looks set to drift East, notably to Beijing but also Tokyo and Seoul,' the study said. As trade ties with the United States have weakened, South-east Asian countries' development options could shrink, it said, leaving them with less leverage to negotiate favourable terms with Beijing. 'China's relative importance as a development actor in the region will rise as Western development support recedes,' it said. Beijing's development finance to the region rose by US$1.6 billion to US$4.9 billion in 2023 — mostly through big infrastructure projects such as rail links in Indonesia and Malaysia, the report said. At the same time, China's infrastructure commitments to Southeast Asia surged fourfold to almost US$10 billion, largely due to the revival of the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port project in Myanmar. By contrast, Western alternative infrastructure projects had failed to materialise in recent years, the study said. 'Similarly, Western promises to support the region's clean energy transition have yet to translate into more projects on the ground — of global concern given coal-dependent South-east Asia is a major source of rapidly growing carbon emissions.' — AFP
ABC News
20-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Lowy Institute South-East Asia aid map reveals retreat of US and Europe from Australia's region
China is expected to fill a gap in aid funding to South-East Asia as the Trump administration dismantles United States development programs worldwide. The Lowy Institute's latest South-East Asia aid map warns some of the region's poorest countries, including Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Timor-Leste, will suffer due to $US60 billion ($92 billion) worth of aid cuts from the US. China would "continue to play a really big role as the region's infrastructure provider," said Grace Stanhope, a research associate with the Lowy Institute's Indo-Pacific Development Centre, who co-authored the report. "Infrastructure is certainly a soft power tool that China has used not only throughout South-East Asia, but in the Pacific, South Asia, all over the world," she said. Lowy's report cited China's construction of high-speed rail between the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Bandung, as well as funding for Malaysia's East Coast Rail Link. Due to a delay in the public release of data, Lowy's report focused on the situation in 2023, since when major geopolitical shifts have occurred, not least due to the return of US President Donald Trump to the White House. After returning to office in early 2025, Mr Trump moved to abolish the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which had previously provided over 40 per cent of humanitarian funding worldwide. Major European development providers such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden — as well as the European Union — have also withdrawn some $US25 billion ($38 billion) from their aid budgets. Despite enduring poverty and reliance on external aid for its economic survival, Cambodia saw Sweden end its bilateral aid program in 2024. Lowy's analysis found that while spending for humanitarian aid responses to natural disasters in South-East Asia had increased, support for longer-term climate adaptation in the region remained inadequate. Yet, she said Western nations had not made good on financial pledges for middle and low-income countries to aid their transition to clean energy. "If that support is not being delivered, we're at political risk of being perceived as not following through on our promises," she said. The world's entire aid and development system had been "rewritten and rebuilt" over the past six months, Ms Stanhope said. The Australian Council for International Development's head of policy and advocacy, Jessica Mackenzie, recently told the ABC's Pacific Beat that the US was previously the top contributor to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, which would also have major flow-on effects. "A lot of projects are still coming down the line that are going to be cancelled from those [institutions]," she said. "The US was working on a lot of projects with DFAT [Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] … as soon as that US funding is stripped, the whole project stops. The ABC revealed last week that the US had returned $1.5 million to DFAT, which Australia had provided to USAID to deliver a clean water project in Indonesia. Still, the Lowy analysis noted that South Korea and Japan remained major aid donors to South-East Asia. Ms Stanhope said the East Asian democracies had larger development programs than Australia and were able to use public finance to lend to South-East Asian countries to develop sectors such as energy, transport, and communications. "Australia can stick to doing our more traditional, very human-based development, and we can trust that for the infrastructure and the bigger-spending, more visible [projects] … Japan and Korea are very trusted partners," she said. Australia's expenditure on overseas development assistance is among the lowest of comparable rich countries, providing 19 cents for every $100 of national income in 2024, according to Oxfam Australia. "Outside of the OECD, Australia trails behind countries like Malta and Croatia, who give more as a proportion of their economies," Oxfam Australia's acting head Chrisanta Muli said earlier this year. But Ms Stanhope said Australia continued to play an important regional role, for example by being the largest development provider to Timor-Leste and running specialist programs focused on gender, climate, and disability.
