Trade and investment will be a focus area for Singapore and Thailand, as well as tourism cooperation and digital economy collaboration. In Bangkok on Tuesday and Wednesday, the sixth ministerial meeting on Enhanced Economic Relationships between Singapore and Thailand was co-chaired by Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, and Mr Jurin Laksanawisit, Thai’s Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister. As part of the agreement, Singapore and Thailand formed a Cruise Tourism Task Force to develop a comprehensive road map for promoting cruise t
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday India is talking to different countries to make RuPay acceptable in their nations. “Not just that, the UPI (Unified Payments Interface), the BHIM app, and NCPI (the National Payments Corporation of India) are all now being worked in such a way that their systems in their respective country, however, robust or otherwise can talk to our system and the inter-operability itself will give strength for Indians expertise in those countries,” the FM said. An Indian student studying at the University of Maryland told Sitharaman how pr
Sterling has fallen by 1% after the dollar wavered and British Prime Minister Liz Truss defended her government's economic plans that led to the drop in the pound. Defending the new plans laid by the British government, Truss said that the big tax cuts were the right path for the nation and refused to give a second thought to making any changes to the "mini-budget". The pound was last down 0.3% to $1.0854 after hitting a low of $1.0764. However, the euro was 0.12% lower against sterling at 89.27 pence. Not only on other currencies, the new budget has affected the UK government bond market
A new report released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on 29 September shows India has made significant progress in the global innovation index ranking, reaching the top 40 for the first time. In the report, the most innovative economies in the world are Switzerland, the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Furthermore, India jumps to 40th place, while Turkey moves up to 37th place, with emerging economies showing consistently strong performance. It has made its way into the top 40 this year after entering the top 50 earlier in 2020. In sp
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday announced plans to provide at least $14 billion in financial support for the Asia-Pacific region's worsening food crisis, which is a direct impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and global climatic conditions. The funding will be done over 2022-2025. The funding was announced by Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa during the 55th ADB annual meeting, conducted via a virtual press conference. $3.3 billion will be spent in 2022, while $10.7 billion is to be utilized between 2023-25. Mr. Asakawa highlighted global climate change
On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh urged the domestic industry to identify cost-effective products and technologies for making weapons for the world, noting that global military spending is on the rise. He said the recent rally in defence stocks indicates a growing interest in the sector, as he addressed a gathering of domestic defence manufacturers. He spoke at the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM). Singh said, “The whole world is coming forward to invest in India. India is an attractive investment destination. This shows that now is the time to move ahead much f
In August, the Japanese Finance Ministry released trade statistics showing a significant increase in LNG purchases from Russia. The data shows that Russian LNG supplies to Japan increased by 211.2% over August 2021. The value of Russian LNG imports increased by more than 380%. The quantity and value of Russian oil purchases dropped by 20.3% and 54.1%, respectively, in August. Additionally, Japan bought less Russian coal this year (a 32.6% drop), but at a higher price. The number of Japan's exports to Russia also increased last month, with shipments of computers increasing 107.1% and comput
In August, Saudi Arabia surpassed Russia to become the second-biggest supplier of oil to India, while Iraq retained the top spot, according to industry and trade sources. Saudi Arabia shipped 8,63,950 barrels of crude to India last month, up 4.8% from last month, while Russia shipped 8,55,950 barrels, down 2.4% from December 2011. In spite of Saudi Arabia's gain, India cut African imports in order to cut its share of oil from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to 59.8%. Following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in late February, India became Russia's second biggest oil bu
Foreign banks and rating agencies are increasingly becoming optimistic about India's potential to grow and as a key investment destination, while the global economy keeps fretting about intense pains caused by the biggest economies be it as front-loading of Federal Reserve rate hikes or China's deteriorating construction bubble. Moody’s yesterday proclaimed a stable outlook on India, saying its credit profile shows key strengths, including its huge and diversified economy with high growth potential, a comparatively robust external position, and a firm domestic financing base for governme
India and Japan come together to combat the ever-increasing expansionist behavior of China in the Indo-Pacific region. Both countries plan to soon carry out their first-ever air combat exercise with fighter jets, improve their reciprocal military logistics pact and augment the range of defense-industrial collaboration to make the most advanced weapon systems. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart Yasukazu Hamada met and discussed the importance of the India-Japan defense partnership and the vital role it will play in clinching a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.