While it has China as its main trade partner and the United States as its primary export destination, Vietnam is strengthening its economic, political and military ties with Russia. The country is carefully balancing its relations with all three powers while trying to get the most economic and strategic benefit from each.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2024 visit to Vietnam seems to have been mutually beneficial. On the one hand, it allowed the Kremlin to demonstrate to a Russian audience…
How will the Philippines use its share of US$55 million maritime aid?
The Philippines is among Asian nations to be covered by a US$55 million maritime defence funding from the United States, but Manila is not expected to buy any significant game-changing security assets with its share.
Analysts say while the funding signals Washington’s focus on pulling mid-sized states into its orbit to counter Beijing’s growing regional presence, the Philippines is likely to use its undisclosed allocation on radars, drones and coastguard purchases.
US Secretary of State Marco…
South Korea cannot pay Trump’s US$350 billion trade demand upfront: top aide
South Korea is unable to pay US$350 billion upfront in investment in the United States as President Donald Trump suggested under a deal to cut tariffs and is seeking an alternative solution, Seoul’s presidential adviser has said.
Since a handshake deal by the allies’ leaders in July to lower US tariffs to 15 per cent from 25 per cent, as Trump earlier imposed, South Korea has said the US$350 billion in investment would be in the form of loans and loan guarantees as well as equity.
Trump in…
Singapore’s drug makers may be shielded from US tariffs: Deputy PM Gan
New US levies on pharmaceuticals may not have an “immediate impact” on Singapore’s drug makers, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong has said, adding the city state may pursue a ceiling on tariff rates similar to deals that Washington has with other countries.
Gan, who is also minister for trade and industry, told reporters on Saturday that most pharmaceutical companies in Singapore had built capacity in the US or had plans to do so. That could allow them to be exempted from the coming US…
Thai PM proposes referendum to revoke Cambodia border deals
Thailand’s prime minister said on Friday that his government will propose a referendum on whether to revoke two agreements on the demarcation of its border with Cambodia as part of a plan to address a simmering dispute with its neighbour.
Thailand and Cambodia have bickered for decades over undemarcated points along their 817km (508 mile) land border.
Tensions exploded into a deadly five-day conflict in July – the worst fighting between the two countries in over a decade – that killed at least…
South Africa court finds presentation of original guarantee not always pre-requisite for payment
Employers seeking to enforce guarantees under South African law can take comfort from a recent court decision, where a claim was allowed to proceed although the beneficiary had never been issued the original embossed documentation.
UAE launches RAK Innovation City as revamped global tech hub
Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) has officially rebranded its tech-focused free zone, marking a significant step towards the emirate’s ambition to become a regional and global hub for technology and innovation.
Pension Ombudsman highlights need for full information when distributing death benefits
A recent decision by the UK Pension Ombudsman (PO) has highlighted that, in death benefit cases, the decision-making process is not to be driven by claims and counter-claims between potential beneficiaries, after rejecting a complaint about a pension provider’s decision to refuse a member’s wife a share in his death benefit lump sum.
Netherlands to return ‘Java Man’ fossils to Indonesia in historic move
The Netherlands pledged on Friday to return to Indonesia the remains of “Java Man”, the first-ever “Homo erectus” unearthed by modern scientists, in a landmark discovery for human evolution.
The Dutch plan to hand back some 28,000 fossils of the “Dubois Collection” looted by anatomist and geologist Eugene Dubois in 1891, when Indonesia was still a colony of the Netherlands.
They include Java Man’s skull cap, molar and femur that form part of evolutionary history – providing the first established…
India ramps up local arms production with US$7 billion fighter jet deal
India on Thursday signed a US$7 billion order for 97 domestically designed and built Tejas fighter jets as its air force retires its outgoing Russian MiG-21 jets after decades of use.
The first Tejas jets – meaning “brilliance” in Hindi – were commissioned into the air force in 2016, with the latest commission for the fourth-generation version of the fighter, Mk-1A.
India, one of the world’s largest arms importers, has made the modernisation of its forces a top priority, and made repeated pushes…