Asian Legal Review

By Neily Syafiqah Eusoff Malaysia’s biodegradable packaging industry is expected to see further growth as countries around the world and Malaysia boost efforts to reduce the use of plastic and polystyrene materials, said Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corp (Bioeconomy Corp). Globally, the eco-friendly packaging market is poised to reach US$177.7 billion next year, up 63.3 per cent from just US$108.8 billion in 2011, said Bioeconomy Corp chief executive officer Dr Mohd Shuhaizam…

Motorbike regulations are creating more and more bumps in the road for commuters throughout Southeast Asia, as major cities try to curb two-wheelers to reduce traffic and air pollution.
Hanoi has vowed to ban motorcycles entirely by 2030. Last year in the Philippines, regulators in Baguio City prohibited two-wheeled vehicles, including bicycles, within the city limits but the rule was later reversed after a backlash on social media.
In January, authorities in Kuala Lumpur proposed banning…

China and Japan are ramping up public lobbying efforts with Singapore and Malaysia as they gun for the multibillion-dollar contract to develop a high-speed train link between the Southeast Asian neighbours, but observers say the two rail building titans are unlikely to receive special favours. Singapore and Malaysia on Thursday said some 200 participants this week attended a London briefing on the project – a 350km bullet train line that will slash travel time from the Lion City to…

When Yuriko Koike split from the Liberal Democratic Party in May 2017, 10 months after she had been elected governor of Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could have been forgiven for assuming that she could be relied upon to support the national government in at least some policy areas.
After all, she had served with the LDP for 15 years, held three cabinet portfolios – including that of minister of defence under Abe – and is widely thought to hold conservative views similar to the…

Bali’s gently lowing cows, prized for their hardiness and doe-like temperament, will not become victims of the tropical island’s menacing Mount Agung volcano if villager Wayan Sudarma has any say in it.
A proud owner of 21 cows, Sudarma has been venturing daily into the no-go zone around the Indonesian volcano on a mission to rescue at least some of the estimated 20,000 cattle still grazing on its potentially lethal slopes.
Experts say that is highly risky. Fast moving hot clouds of…

ANALYSIS: Business sectors may find themselves out in the cold if they fail to seize the opportunity to communicate their concerns and outlines their aspirations for a post-Brexit UK to the government.

The headline corporate tax rate in the US would be cut from 35% to 20% under plans aiming to improve competitiveness and deliver “fiscally responsible” tax reform.

A German court has ruled that business to business (B2B) sellers which state on their website that they only sell to commercial customers do not have an obligation to conduct further buyer checks in order to avoid consumer protection regulation.

The deadly tsunami that struck northeast Japan in 2011 has carried almost 300 species of sea life thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the United States.
In what experts are calling the longest maritime migration ever recorded, an estimated one million creatures – including crustaceans, sea slugs and sea worms – made the 7,725km journey on a flotilla of tsunami debris.
“This has turned out to be one of the biggest unplanned natural experiments…

Throughout the morning, vulcanologists at a small monitoring post on the Indonesian island of Bali go back and forth between checking instruments to detect volcanic activity and surveying visually for signs of a possible eruption of Mount Agung.
Located in the hilly village of Rendang, about 13km southwest of the mountain, the post has seen an influx of vulcanologists after the highest eruption alert was issued September 22 by the country’s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard…