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Tag: asia

  • Lotte, Hyundai, Shinsegae get duty free licenses

    Lotte, Hyundai, Shinsegae get duty free licenses

    Lotte Duty Free, Hyundai Duty Free and Shinsegae DF have snatched licenses for new duty free shops in Seoul, showing that retail specialists will have the upper hand over non-retail firms struggling in the market.

    However, the big three firms still have to brace for harsh competition in the already saturated market, as well as lingering questions about the fairness of the selection process due to possible ties to a corruption scandal engulfing President Park Geun-hye and her confidant Choi Soon-sil.

    The Korea Customs Service (KCS), Saturday, named the three firms as operators for three Seoul-based duty free outlets. Also, it said a fourth license for the city, reserved for small and medium-sized firms (SMEs), was taken by Top City Corp. Busan Duty Free and Alpensia won licenses for outlets in Busan and Gangwon Province, respectively.

    The three conglomerates are retail giants that run department stores in the country. Market watchers say their experience and expertise in attracting luxury brands as well as managing and running their stores worked favorably for them in the KCS evaluation.

    All three conglomerate-run shops will be based in southern Seoul. Hyundai, which earned the highest score in the KCS evaluation, will open an outlet near COEX in Samseong-dong. Lotte will reopen an outlet in its landmark Lotte World Tower in Jamsil. Shinsegae will have one in Central City in Seocho-gu.

    So far, most of the large duty free stores have been located north of the Han River. Top-seller Lotte Duty Free’s main store is located in Sogong-dong, while Shilla Duty Free is in Jangchung-dong and Dongwha Duty Free is in Sajik-dong. The combined earnings of the three outlets last year reached 3.85 trillion won.

    Market observers expect the fresh selection will create an opportunity to draw more tourists to southern Seoul and meet the growing demand for duty free shops in the region. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of foreign tourists in those regions grew an average 19 percent annually from 2012 to 2015.

    With the new selections, however, more competitors are added to the already saturated duty free market in Seoul. Currently, nine duty free outlets are in operation in the city and the four companies will open their new stores next year.

    Data shows that the market is displaying signs of a widening gap between firms. Five duty free outlets that began operation after the government granted licenses last year have posted billions of won in operating losses.

    In the first three quarters this year, a Shinsegae shop in Myeongdong posted an operating loss of 37.2 billion won. Galleria Duty Free 63 on Yeouido and HDC Shilla Duty Free in Yongsan each recorded 30.5 billion won and 16.7 billion won in operating loss.

    SM Duty Free in Jongno-gu, which opened as an SME shop, also suffered a 20.6 billion won operating loss in the same period. Doota Duty Free in Dongdaemun did not disclose its data, but reportedly it posted an operating loss of 27 billion won in five months after opening in May.

    Another factor casting concern is the ongoing controversy that the selection was allegedly affected by Choi Soon-sil. Lotte and SK, which were among the candidates for the fresh selection, donated money to two nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi and the prosecution is suspecting the money worked in favor of the two companies.

    With Lotte winning one of the licenses, the controversy is likely to grow.

    The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said Sunday it is “suspicious of the KCS decision to press on with the selection process even though a special inspection over the scandal is ongoing regarding the matter.”

    The KCS said last December there would be no more selection for duty free operators but suddenly decided to offer more licenses in April.

    “There have been suspicions that SK Group head and President Park met privately over the duty free shops,” said DPK spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee.

  • Indonesia, Michelin Cooperate in Tire Exports

    Indonesia, Michelin Cooperate in Tire Exports

    The Indonesian government has joined hands with French tire company Michelin to open market access to Europe and the United States. The plan was proposed in a meeting between Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Vice President Public Affairs of Michelin East-Asia and Oceania Segsarn Trai-Ukos in Jakarta last week.

    According to Airlangga, the government and Michelin will also cooperate in aircraft tire retreading. “Michelin has developed tire retreading in Thailand,” he said yesterday.

    He said that Michelin technology can help develop aircraft tire retreading in Indonesia and reduce negative perception of retreaded tires. High-tech retreaded tires can help lower airline costs and boost growth of air transport industry.

    Indonesia and Michelin will also collaborate in utilizing used tires. According to Airlangga, Michelin is expected to process used tires into raw material for asphalt. He pointed to the example of 80 million units of two-wheeled vehicles with 160 million tires. “With an average lifespan of 1.5 to 2 years, abundant supply of used tires will be available to be utilized.”

    The Minister also discussed business opportunities with French Ambassador to Indonesia Jean-Charles Berthonnet. Airlangga said that France can become Indonesia’s export gateway to the non-traditional European market.

    He sees France as an important trade partner. In 2015, Indonesia’s import value from France hit US$1.3 billion for aircraft components, vehicles, machinery, milk, and pharmaceutical. Whereas, Indonesia’s export to France worth US$972 million, which include footwear, rubber, furniture, clothing, and coffee.

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  • Bank Indonesia releases new notes, coins

    Bank Indonesia releases new notes, coins

    Bank Indonesia released on Monday seven new banknotes and four coins bearing the pictures of 12 national heroes. The launch of the new notes and coins was attended by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Bank Indonesia governor Agus Martowardojo in Jakarta, Antara news agency reported.

    The new notes are the Rp100,000, Rp50,000, Rp20,000, Rp10,000, Rp5,000, Rp2,000 and Rp1,000, while the new coins are Rp1,000, Rp500, Rp200, and Rp100.

    Indonesia’s founding fathers, Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta, will be featured on the Rp100,000 note, while Djuanda Kartawidjaja and Sam Ratulangi are on the Rp50,000 and Rp20,000 notes, respectively.

    Other national heroes featured are Frans Kaisepo, Idham Chalid, Mohammad Hoesni Thamrin, Tjut Meutia, I Gusti Ketut Pudja, TB Simatupang,  Tjiptomangunkusumo and Herman Johannes.

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  • Toyota Indonesia to see exports down by 5 percent this year

    Toyota Indonesia to see exports down by 5 percent this year

    Car manufacturer PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN) expects to see its exports fall by 5 percent this year mainly due to low demand in the Middle East.

    TMMIN vice president director Warih Andang Tjahjono said, a protracted security crisis in the Middle East and global oil price decline had impacted car demand in the region. Thus, the company will see its car exports down to 165,000 units this year from 176,000 units last year.

    Car exports to Saudi Arabia, which makes up 50 percent of the company’s exports to the Middle East, saw a 30 percent decline this year, the biggest in the region. The Middle East and Asia are the biggest markets for Toyota cars, contributing more than 50 percent to the company’s exports, Warih said.

    While demand in the export market declined, domestic demand for Toyota cars has grown above the industry’s average.
    As of November, Toyota car sales had risen by 19 percent year-on-year compared to the corresponding period last year, Toyota Astra Motor vice president director Henry Tanoto said.
    “We predict our domestic car sales will reach between 375,000 and 380,000 units by year-end,” he said

  • India to start screening of imported telecoms gear in April

    India to start screening of imported telecoms gear in April

    The Indian government is reportedly planning to start screening imported telecoms equipment used in mobile networks and handsets from April 1, 2017, following several implementation delays over the last three and a half years.

    The government has assigned labs under a state-owned quality control agency, Standardisation Testing & Quality Certification (STQC), to undertake the screening of imported mobile network gears, feature phones and smartphones in the interest of national security, the Economic Times reported.

    Initially, local screening will be conducted in phases by identifying network gear deemed most vulnerable, the Economic Times cited a senior official at Department of Telecom (DoT) as saying.

    The government’s immediate objective is to also ensure that local screening does not create supply-chain bottlenecks or disrupt mobile network rollouts or expansions, according to another source familiar with the matter.

    Accordingly, the DoT plans to invite companies from the private sector to set up more accredited labs to screen imported network gear, and develop a full-blown local testing ecosystem.

    However, the government has received a lukewarm response from the private sector due to the lack of a viable funding mechanism.

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  • Stores push deals in bid to lure holiday shoppers

    Stores push deals in bid to lure holiday shoppers

    Nearly 156 million people — or 66 percent of Americans — plan to or are considering taking advantage of Saturday sales to complete their holiday gift lists, according to a survey released Friday by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The survey found that more people said they planned to shop on Saturday than those who aimed to shop over Thanksgiving weekend in an earlier survey.

    Still, given the quirk in the calendar that makes this weekend the last full weekend before Christmas, retailers including Best Buy, Gap and J.C. Penney, have set an earlier deadline to order holiday gifts this year, according to StellaService, which tracks online services at retailers. Wal-Mart, along with others, is encouraging online shoppers to pick up their merchandise at the store.

    Target will be offering last-minute shoppers deals that are good only for a day on certain in-demand products like children’s sleepwear and fragrance sets.

    Still, plenty of shoppers plan to take their time.

    Christine Bunker Tobia of Queens says she mostly shops at Macy’s but likes to wait to get the best deals. She’s been stopping by Macy’s New York Herald Square store often to check the prices.

    “I’m looking for a special sale,” she said last weekend. “I may wait another week.”

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  • Qualcomm to support Google’s Android Thing IoT platform

    Qualcomm to support Google’s Android Thing IoT platform

    Qualcomm announced that it plans to work with Google to add support for the search giant’s new IoT operating system, Android Things, in its Snapdragon processors.

    In a statement released Wednesday, Qualcomm said the collaboration with Google will focus on developing both “consumer and industrial applications” and the initiative would help a vast number of developers participate in the IoT opportunity.

    “We anticipate Android Things running on Snapdragon processors will offer developers familiar connectivity environments, including cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth; support for a wide array of sensors; camera, graphics, multimedia, and rich UI capabilities; hardware-based security; Google services and cloud integration; test and optimization tools, and more – allowing for rapid development of scalable, cost-effective and security-focused IoT solutions,” Qualcomm said.

    Although Android Things is currently in a developer preview stage, Qualcomm noted the platform is expected to be released more broadly on Snapdragon processors next year.

    Qualcomm’s announcement came a day after Google launched a preview of the new IoT platform which it said would enable developers to quickly build smart devices using Android APIs and Google services.

    In a blog post on the Android Developers’ Blog, Google said Android Things incorporates feedback received on its Project Brillo IoT OS and will include tools such as Android Studio, the Android Software Development Kit, Google Play Services, and Google Cloud Platform.

    Google will also offer Developer Preview updates in the coming months to provide the infrastructure necessary to securely push OS patches, security fixes, a developer’s own updates, built-in Weave connectivity and more, the search giant added.

    Google is also updating its IoT communication platform Weave to help facilitate cloud connectivity for all types of devices so they can interact with services like Google’s Assistant.

    “This is just the beginning of the IoT ecosystem we want to build with you,” Google developer advocate Wayne Piekarski wrote in the blog post.

  • More Singapore Airlines flights for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane

    More Singapore Airlines flights for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane

    Singapore Airlines is ramping up flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in 2017, a year which marks the airline’s 50th anniversary in Australian skies.

    Melbourne will see a fifth flight appear on the schedule from 17 July 2017, with the new SQ247/248 operating on Monday, Friday and Saturday.

    The SQ247 Airbus A330 service will depart Singapore at 2am and arrive in Melbourne at 11.25am; SQ248 leaves Melbourne at 12.40pm to reach Singapore at 6.30pm.

    In addition, from January Melbourne’s SQ227/228 will step up to a four-class Boeing 777-300ER with the Star Alliance member’s new premium economy class.

    Brisbane will see SQ265/266 tick over to a daily frequency from 22 August 2017, up from the current four flights a week; it’ll stay on a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with a fully-flat business class bed for the overnight flight between Brisbane and Singapore.

    Sydney is also gaining extra flights. Beginning 4 June 2017, SQ251/252 will be bumped up from three times weekly to five times weekly, while SQ231/222 will continue as a four-class Airbus A380 from 18 June to 30 September 2017.

    2017 will also see Singapore Airlines boost flights to popular cities in Europe and Asia – including Rome, Moscow and Bangkok – with a new via Moscow route to Stockholm.

  • BlackBerry, TCL sign smartphone licensing agreement

    BlackBerry, TCL sign smartphone licensing agreement

    BlackBerry has agreed to license its brand to China-based handset manufacturer TCL Communications.

    The companies entered a licensing agreement last week which will allow TCL to design, manufacture and distribute BlackBerry-branded phones globally going forward. The devices made by TCL will be coupled with BlackBerry’s security software and service suite.

    “BlackBerry will continue to control and develop its security and software solutions, serve its customers and maintain trusted BlackBerry security software, while TCL will manage all sales and distribution and serve as a global distributor of new BlackBerry-branded mobile devices along with dedicated sales teams,” the company said on Thursday.

    The agreement is the struggling Canadian smartphone maker’s first licensing deal since its announcement to transition to a software company.

    BlackBerry said in September that it would stop producing its smartphone hardware and concentrate on software, a decision which followed a year-long review of the potential profitability of the company’s hardware business by CEO John Chen.

    The new agreement will give TCL, the fourth-largest handset maker in North America, the right to make and sell BlackBerry-branded smartphones in all countries except India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia, where BlackBerry has already struck local licensing deals.

    Prior to this licensing deal, BlackBerry launched two smartphones – the Android-based DTEK50 and DTEK60 – in September and November respectively, which were made under an agreement with TCL.

    Industry watchers said this deal might be a boost for BlackBerry from a short-term financial standpoint by reducing BlackBerry’s operating risk, working capital requirements and potential R&D spend which would have otherwise gone into designing new phones.

    While the deal has an upside, it also exposes BlackBerry to a different kind of a security risk that might drive security-conscious consumers away from the brand and eventually hurt sales.

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  • Luxury goods feature in UK accord for South Korea trade talks

    Luxury goods feature in UK accord for South Korea trade talks

    The pending talks with South Korea follow similar dialogues the UK has opened with Australia, China, the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, New Zealand and Norway

    London: The UK and South Korea are set to to begin regular trade talks, with luxury brands a particularly promising topic, as Britain prepares to expand its commercial reach once it has left the European Union.

    A formal working group of ministers from the two countries will meet as many as four times a year to discuss removing barriers to commerce and prospects for “future, ambitious trade opportunities” after the UK exits the EU, the British government said in an statement on Sunday.

    Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to make the UK a leader in liberalising trade around the world after Brexit. Yet Britain is unable to strike its own free-trade deals — or even being formal negotiations — while still a member of the EU.

    “We want to take advantage of all the opportunities available to us to ensure that Britain becomes a global leader in free trade,” UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said in an emailed statement. “The agreement of this latest trade dialogue shows that government is preparing for Brexit, not prevaricating.”

    The pending talks with South Korea follow similar dialogues the UK has opened with Australia, China, the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, New Zealand and Norway in the six months since voters chose in a referendum to leave the EU. Trade and investment between the UK and South Korea is worth about 10.9 billion pounds ($13.6 billion) a year, according to British estimates. The UK is the fifth-largest foreign direct investor in South Korea.

    The UK government said in its statement that South Korea is an especially promising market for luxury brands such as Burberry Group Plc, which has 70 stores in the country, and high-end automakers Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley. Other sectors with strong potential include renewable energy and nuclear decommissioning.

    “What we’re doing is putting in place plans to ensure the UK remains open for business and trade links continue to strengthen,” Fox said. “Important like-minded free trading partners like Korea and others are telling us they’ve heard that message loud and clear. Korea itself is a prime example to the world of how free and open trade can lift countries out of poverty to prosperity.”

  • Smart, Nokia conduct Philippines’ first 5G demo

    Smart, Nokia conduct Philippines’ first 5G demo

    The Philippines’ PLDT, through mobile subsidiary Smart, has completed the first showcase of 5G speeds in the nation.

    During the trial the companies achieved a peak speed of 2.5Gbps using 100 MHz of spectrum, as well as a latency of just 1ms.

    The demo was conducted at the Nokia Manila Technology Center in Quezon City, and demonstrated use cases for 5G including 3D 360-degree VR streaming and the Nokia AirFrame data center platform for distributed cloud architectures capable of supporting real-time IoT operation.

    “We are excited to work with Nokia in conducting cutting-edge research and development for 5G,” PLDT and Smart CEO Manuel Pangilinan said.

    “This is a key part of our efforts to transform the PLDT and Smart network into the country’s most future-ready data infrastructure delivering a wide range of gigabit digital solutions.”

    He said 5G will be critical to realizing Smart’s full vision for the IoT. The operator has a track record of investing in and helping drive the development of the IoT, including the founding the Philippines’ first Internet of Everything consortium in 2014.

    Nokia’s Bell Labs predicts that there will be up to 5 billion IoT devices connected through mobile networks by the year 2020.

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  • AirAsia’s New Year offer: Fly at Rs 917 onwards

    AirAsia’s New Year offer: Fly at Rs 917 onwards

    No-frills carrier AirAsia under a New Year offering is selling an all-inclusive tickets starting from Rs 917 onwards, NDTV reported on Monday.

    The Malaysia headquartered carrier’s offer is open till January 1 next year and is valid on travel from March 1 to October 31 in 2017.

    The airline presently flies to 11 destinations with its two hubs in bengaluru and New Delhi covering Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Goa, Vizag, Kochi and Hyderabad.

    GoAir is also offering tickets starting Rs 1,057 on specified sectors. The fares are applicable till December 31, GoAir said on its website. The Rs 1,057 fare is applicable on Delhi-Jaipur route.

  • Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai win 10-year licenses

    Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai win 10-year licenses

    The Korea Customs Service awarded the three biggest remaining 10-year downtown duty free licenses in Seoul to Lotte Duty Free, Shinsegae DF and the Hyundai Department Store yesterday.

    At the same time, ‘Top City’ won the one small, medium enterprise Seoul contract, while the two remaining provincial licenses were gained by Busan Duty Free and Alpensia.

    These results follow the submission of substantial business plans by all parties from last October and an unprecedented and intense effort by South Korea’s market leading duty free retailer Lotte Duty Free. This follows its deep disappointment at losing its duty free license at its Lotte World Tower store last November.

    ALL OR NOTHING BID PAYS OFF FOR LOTTE

    Lotte’s intense last-ditch campaign included a pledge to invest Won2.3 trillion ($1.97bn) on tourist-related investments in the upmarket Gangnam quarter of Seoul between 2017 to 2021.

    In addition, it promised to support small and medium-sized business partners and to attract more than 17m foreign tourists. [Financial criteria was one of the main criteria in the offer evaluations-Ed].

    The operator also gave an unprecedented undertaking to create 34,000 direct and indirect jobs, while creating substantial foreign exchange income.

    The Korean Customs Service (KCS) will now fall under both regulator and media spotlights to make sure these and all other promises by other winning retailers are kept – and especially considering KCS itself has also been the subject of investigations into its conduct recently.

    SOME BIDDERS WILL BE VERY DISAPPOINTED

    There are also some significant losers in this process, with neither SK Networks or Shilla Duty Free’s bids proving successful for any of the big Seoul downtown contracts.

    This will be particularly disappointing for SK, which has long been known for its downtown WalkerHill Duty Free operation which lost its duty free license at the same time as Lotte last November.

    Meanwhile, the ‘soap opera’ continues which has effectively cost President-Park-Geun-hye her job after so enraging the South Korean people.

    All eyes will now be on the ongoing investigation into the activities of Park’s associate Choi Soon-sil, who remains under house arrest charged with abuse of position and attempted fraud.

    Choi is alleged to have ‘persuaded’ various businesses into paying millions of dollars to supposedly government-linked foundations, in return for favours – including some allegedly linked to duty free licenses.

    SK Group head Chey Tae Won and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin were both questioned on national television at Seoul’s National Assembly earlier this month – along with several other heads of major companies – but all denied they were ‘persuaded’ to pay monies in return for any favours.

    PUBLIC RELATIONS REPAIR WORK

    Meanwhile, Lotte Duty Free has expressed its thanks for being awarded this latest concession.

    In a statement entitled ‘Adoption of patent company selection‘ which was forwarded to TRBusiness, it said: “First of all, I am most fortunate to have been able to return to my original job with about 1,300 employees who had been in deep anxiety as I waited for work at World Tower in the past six months.

    ‘HEARTFELT GRATITUDE’ EXPRESSED

    “I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the jury members for their fair and objective examination to enhance the competitiveness of the duty free industry in Korea, despite the fact that the psychological burden was not so small.

    “We are also grateful to all of our employees who have devoted themselves to the growth and development of Lotte Duty Free as a global duty-free enterprise for the past 36 years.

    “Lotte Duty Free will do its best to faithfully fulfil the contents of the business plan submitted to the KCS in the future. Through aggressive investment and development of Korean Wave content, we will be able to attract foreign tourists and create jobs, as well as coexist with small and medium-sized enterprises, thereby fulfilling our social responsibilities and becoming a more mature company contributing to the local economy and the national economy.

    “Most of all, Lotte Duty Free will do our best to open up the future of tourism in Korea by raising the global competitiveness of domestic tourism industry with greater responsibility.”

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  • Topshop to open 80 stores in mainland China

    Topshop has signed a deal with a Chinese partner that could lead to up to 80 stores being opened in mainland China with the first opening in spring/summer 2017.

    The British high street retailer has agreed a deal with Shangpin, which already sells the Topshop brand on Shangpin.com. It is anticipated that the first store will be opened in either Beijing or Shanghai in the spring or summer of next year.

    In a statement Topshop owner Sir Philip Green said: “For the first time both brands will deliver high fashion to the shop floor and beyond by opening full-scale stores in China — host to the world’s fastest-growing retail economy.”

    Green owns a 75% stake in Topshop having sold 25% to US private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners in 2012. The brand, which is the jewel in the crown of Green’s Arcadia Group, has 300 stores in the UK and 140 in international territories including 10 in the US.

  • Musgrave wins contract to export Supervalu products to China

    Musgrave wins contract to export Supervalu products to China

    Irish retailer Musgrave is to begin exporting SuperValu own brand products to China.

    It will initially supply up to 40 own brand products – including SuperValu breakfast cereals, coffee, jam, biscuits and healthy snacks amongst a range of other goods.

    Musgrave has agreed a partnership with Alibaba Group, and will use its Tmall Global ecommerce platform to sell directly to Chinese consumers.

    Tmall Global is an overseas platform and an extension of Alibaba Group’s B2C Tmall business – which enables overseas merchants to enter China’s online retail market.

    Musgrave will also open a flagship SuperValu e-commerce storefront on Tmall Global, making it the first Irish retailer with a presence there.

    Musgrave say the storefront will be offered over time “as a potential route to market” for Irish food producers seeking to access China.

    Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, Cainiao Network, will manage the distribution of products.

    Musgrave CEO Chris Martin said: “Our core business in Ireland is performing well and our grocery retail and wholesale brands occupy leadership positions in their respective markets.

    “We are exploring new opportunities to grow our business including export and we are excited by the opportunity to partner with Alibaba Group.

    “In the past five years Chinese consumers are increasingly purchasing overseas through online shopping.

    “We expect that the heritage of SuperValu and the provenance of our products will be attractive to Chinese consumers.”

    David Lloyd, director of UK and Ireland for the Alibaba Group, added: “Chinese consumers have a desire to discover high quality brands from around the world that they can trust and enjoy.

    “Because of Musgrave’s long history of providing quality food produce, we are delighted to be working with them to bring their high quality SuperValu range to Chinese consumers via our Tmall Global platform”

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