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Tag: asia

  • Hyundai Motor bets 6.7 billion dollars on hydrogen cells

    Hyundai Motor bets 6.7 billion dollars on hydrogen cells

    Hyundai Motor Group said it will invest 7.6 trillion won ($6.7 billion) in fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) by 2030, betting big on hydrogen as the energy source for the future. The group announced what it called its “FCEV Vision 2030” on Tuesday, promising to build production capacity of 500,000 FCEVs yearly by 2030 to take the lead in the fledgling industry. It added that the investment will generate some 51,000 new jobs by 2030.

    As a first step, Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts and software affiliate of Hyundai Motor, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its second fuel cell stack factory in Chungju, North Chungcheong, on Tuesday.

    If the factory is completed in 2022, Hyundai Motor Group’s production capacity for fuel cell stack will expand from its current 3,000 units per year to 40,000 units.

    “Hyundai Motor Group will become the first mover in the new hydrogen society that will arrive soon,” said Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor Group’s executive vice chairman, in a speech at the ceremony in Chungju on Tuesday.

    “The group plans to expand the fuel cell stack production capacity to 700,000 units by 2030, including for the 500,000 FCEVs we plan to make by that year.”

    The ceremony was attended by Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yung-mo, Hyundai Motor President Chung Jin-haeng and Hyundai Mobis President Lim Young-deuk.

    Hyundai Mobis’ Chungju plant is focused on producing parts for eco-friendly vehicles like hybrid and electric cars.

    Last year, it constructed a new section dedicated to making fuel cell stacks with a capacity of 3,000 units per year.

    The carmaker forecasts that hydrogen will be used as an energy source in shipbuilding, railways and forklifts in the future and said it would start a business supplying fuel cell modules to other companies. The additional 200,000 units of FCEV modules that are not used in Hyundai Motor’s own FCEVs by 2030 will be sold elsewhere, the carmaker said.

    Executive Vice Chairman Chung said the FCEV industry will become a new growth engine for Korea.

    “Ninety-nine percent of auto parts in FCEVs are made domestically,” Chung said, “which is why its growth will have big ripple effects on other companies related to the industry. Through co-investment with partner companies, [Hyundai Motor] will try to build new growth engine for Korea’s future car industry.”

    Currently, some 130 partner companies are providing parts for fuel cell stacks made by Hyundai Mobis.

    Hyundai Motor has been making hefty investments in FCEVs along with rival Toyota. It was the first carmaker in the world to make a mass-produced FCEV model in 2013 called the Tucson ix35. It launched a hydrogen-powered Nexo SUV early this year.

    Since last year, the carmaker has been chairing the Hydrogen Council, a global lobbying group. Other companies represented on the council include Daimler, BMW and Air Liquide.

    The Korean government plans to supply 16,000 FCEVs and build 310 FCEV charging stations by 2022. There are currently only around 10 stations available to the public in Korea.

    China plans to supply 1 million FCEVs by 2030 and construct 1,000 charging stations. Japan plans to supply 40,000 FCEVs by 2020 and build 160 charging stations.

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  • Lego opens its first official store in Thailand at Siam Paragon

    Lego opens its first official store in Thailand at Siam Paragon

    The first certified Lego Thailand store has opened at Siam Paragon in Bangkok. The Danish building-toy manufacturer says the move is part of the brand’s strategic plan for Asian expansion. The new 170sqm Lego Thailand store has opened in a “co-sharing” partnership with DKSH (Thailand) Ltd. It  offers more than 300 Lego toys, 32 of which are exclusive to certified, branded Lego outlets.

    Lego Singapore GM for emerging Asia Atsushi Hasegawa said Thailand is an attractive market for Lego. “The country has an established economy, a large population and an established retail industry … We expect to see faster growth in Asia, including Thailand, and sustainable growth in Europe and America.”

    Hasegawa added that Lego’s targeting of the Asian market recognises that it is home to more than half of the world’s children. While Asia still has a low base for Lego toys compared to many established markets in the West, the company is seeing an opportunity to boost its sales by five or six times in the region.

    Gallery below (6 images) :

    According to Hasegawa, the company’s initial priority is not to increase the number of Lego stores, but to deliver the right brand experience to children at the right locations.

    DKSH’s director of commercial development Arden Feschuk said the company expects the Lego Thailand store will achieve THB100 million (US$3.05 million) in sales in its first year. There is also a plan to expand the number of Lego-certified stores in Thailand later.

    “During the first year of opening, more than 400,000 people are expected to visit the store, with Thais accounting for 60 per cent and foreigners 40 per cent. Due to the company’s one-price strategy, exclusive Lego sets will cost the same here as they do in neighbouring countries.

    “Due to this, Lego fans will no longer have to go overseas to buy Lego products. Also, new collections will be launched at the same time as in the US and Europe”.

    Sixty per cent of Lego’s Thailand sales are currently brought in via distribution in department stores, while more than 15 per cent is derived from specialist toy stores.

  • Grandeur is likely to be Korea’s 2018 best-selling car

    Grandeur is likely to be Korea’s 2018 best-selling car

    As a result of its successful attempt to attract younger drivers with a new design and cost effectiveness, Hyundai Motor’s large Grandeur sedan is likely to be the best-selling car in Korea for a second consecutive year. Its hybrid engine largely contributed to the triumph.

    The Grandeur IG sold a total of 102,682 in Korea units as of the end of November, becoming the first and only model this year to surpass the 100,000 mark.

    The sales figure fell slightly, however, compared to the 123,000 units sold last year during the same period.

    Hyundai Motor said the Grandeur’s hybrid engine towed sales for the model. In November, a total of 2,302 Grandeur Hybrids have been sold, the highest monthly sales since its launch.

    Closely trailing behind in second is Hyundai Motor’s large Santa Fe SUV, which climbed up eight spots from No. 10 last year.

    Last year, the Santa Fe sold a total of 54,334 units in Korea. After launching a fully revamped version early this year and riding on a global trend to prefer SUVs, a total of 98,559 Santa Fes have been sold this year, according to the carmaker.

    With the Grandeur pulling in the younger generation, its midsize Sonata sedan is losing ground.

    The Sonata, which was either the bestseller or runner up for more than five consecutive years, tumbled to the third spot last year among all passenger cars in Korea.

    This year, the midsize sedan tumbled to sixth, selling a little more than 60,000 units.

    The top 10 spots were all taken by either Hyundai Motor or its smaller affiliate Kia Motors.

    The other three Korean carmakers – GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong Motor – struggled to sell their cars to Korean consumers. Internal issues and a lack of new vehicles has largely contributed to the automaker’s struggle.

    SsangYong Motor’s best-selling model was the small Tivoli SUV, which sold a total of 39,330 units as of the end of November. GM Korea’s best-selling car was the compact Spark, which sold a total of 34,616 units during the same period. For Renault Samsung Motors, which didn’t launch any new passenger car model this year, its best-selling model was the QM6 SUV, which sold a total of 28,180 units as of November.

    It was Mercedes-Benz’s year when it came to imports. The E300 4MATIC line topped the ranks as of the end of November, selling 8,336 units followed by the E300 trim with 7,816 units.

    In the third spot was Lexus’ hybrid ES300h, which sold 7,805 units. BMW’s 520d, which was the most popular import last year, was hurt by the burning engine crisis over the summer and fell to fourth spot with 7,668 units in sales.

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  • Google plans a representative office in Vietnam

    Google plans a representative office in Vietnam

    A senior Google official says the tech behemoth is studying the process of opening a representative office in Vietnam. Google senior vice president Kent Walker told Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue at a meeting Tuesday that the opening of a rep office in the country would follow the principle of ensuring that host country regulations do not contradict the firm’s international commitments.

    A report on the government website chinhphu.vn also quoted Walker as saying that he agreed with the Vietnamese government on the need for cyber-security to ensure a stable society. Google will cooperate with authorities in achieving this goal, he said.

    The rep office announcement came as Vietnam’s cybersecurity law is set to take effect next month. The law requires digital businesses like Facebook and Google to open a representative office in Vietnam.

    Deputy PM Hue said that he appreciated Google’s contribution to a draft decree on guidelines to implement the law and ensure cyber-safety and security.

    “Vietnam’s market advantages and the adaptability of its young workforce will be attractive factors for Google to open a representative office in Vietnam,” he said.

    Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson said on Wednesday: “We remain very excited to see how technology is being used by businesses and people in Vietnam. There are a number of different factors we look at before opening an office, but we have nothing to announce at this time.”

    Vietnam’s Cybersecurity Law, which was passed in June, requires tech businesses to store the data of Vietnamese users in Vietnam, and to provide this data to the Ministry of Public Security upon receipt of requests in writing, in cases where any infringement of the cybersecurity law is being investigated.

    Seventeen U.S. lawmakers in July urged the CEOs of tech giants Facebook and Google to resist changes stipulated by the law.

    However, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reasserted that the cybersecurity law is designed to protect rights of organizations and individuals.

  • Renault to start making Twizy cars in Korea from next year

    Renault to start making Twizy cars in Korea from next year

    Renault Samsung Motors, the Korean unit of French carmaker Renault S.A., is planning to start producing the Twizy ultra-small electric car in its sole domestic plant next year, industry sources said Monday. Renault Samsung, Busan Metropolitan City, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy are expected to sign an initial agreement this month to begin manufacturing Twizys, which are classified as heavy quadricycles in some countries, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

    He said assembly will begin “sometime during the 2019” at the carmaker’s plant in Busan, some 453 kilometers (281.5 miles) southeast of Seoul.

    This year, Renault Samsung has sold most of the 1,000 Twizys that were produced in its parent Renault’s plant in Valladolid, Spain, and shipped to Korea, a company spokesman said.

    The company plans to roll out up to 15,000 Twizys annually for domestic sales and exports to Asian markets, another person familiar with the matter said.

    Renault Samsung didn’t confirm the plan.

  • JD.com and Intel launch new research lab for smart retail

    JD.com and Intel launch new research lab for smart retail

    Chinese online retail platform JD has launched a joint lab with Intel that will explore the use of IoT in smart retail solutions. The Digitised Retail Joint Lab will develop next-generation vending machines, media and advertising solutions, and technologies to be used in the stores of the future, based on Intel architecture.

    Scientists at the new lab have so far integrated Intel’s technologies with JD’s computer vision algorithms to analyse customer traffic and in-store purchasing habits, working on solutions designed to help store owners provide a more personalised and convenient experience to their customers.

    Zhi Weng, VP of JD and head of JD Big Data Platform said: “This lab will combine our collective strengths to develop cutting-edge solutions to bring the precision of online shopping to offline players. We look forward to expanding our cooperation with Intel to deliver a best-in-class, personalised shopping experience wherever consumers shop.”

    Wei Chen, VP of Intel & GM of Intel IOTG China added: “As China’s most influential retailer and a leader in data-driven offline retail innovation, JD is an important partner for us to continue to develop a wide range of use cases for our latest technology developments. We are happy to take our partnership to the next level.”

    The new lab adds to JD’s “Retail as a Service” conceptual framework in a bid to share its technology and infrastructure with other retailers and industries. Other efforts include a suite of technology upgrades for brick-and-mortar store owners, including smart shelving, smart price tags, checkout solutions, and more.

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  • Malaysia Airlines launches business suite

    Malaysia Airlines launches business suite

    Malaysia Airlines announced the rebranding of its First Class cabin to Business Suite offering passengers new levels of luxury with ample cabin space and privacy. “The new Business Suite was introduced in response to the growing demand of our guests. Our target is to enable the frequent flyer, looking for enhanced comfort, to now be able to enjoy a premium experience at competitive prices,” Malaysia Airlines group CEO Captain Izham Ismail said in a statement.

    “We are confident that our new Business Suite will change the way people travel in business class,” Izham added.

    Starting Dec 12, 2018, the Business Suite will be available on all of the airline’s A350-900 and A380-800s.

    The suite comes with a dedicated check-in counter, access to Malaysia Airlines premium First Class Lounge, 50kg baggage allowance as well as fine-dining experience onboard.

    The Business Suite cabin will be available on the London, Tokyo, Osaka route and on the Sydney and Seoul route during the winter season.

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  • Lotteria burgers get 2.2% more expensive

    Lotteria burgers get 2.2% more expensive

    Lotteria is raising burger prices. The fast food franchise announced Wednesday that it was going to raise the price of 11 of its burgers by an average of 2.2 percent. Its Teri Burger, for example, will now cost 2,300 won ($2.04), up from the original 2,000 won. The price of the Classic Cheese Burger will rise from 4,000 won to 4,200 won.

    “We have decided to increase prices due to economic factors, but hope to offer customers higher quality and service,” read a statement from the franchise.

    Cafe franchise Angel-in-us Coffee also announced it would raise prices of 17 of its beverages by an average of 2.7 percent, or 200 won. Both Lotteria and the cafe chain are operated by Lotte GRS, the food business subsidiary of Lotte Group.

    Angel-in-us cited higher prices of ingredients – like coffee beans and milk, as well as higher labor costs – for the beverage price hike.

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  • Bo’s Coffee plans big expansion ahead

    Bo’s Coffee plans big expansion ahead

    Filipino cafe chain Bo’s Coffee plans to more than double its store network within four years and is also eyeing expansion into the Middle East. In an interview, founder Steve Benitez says the ambitious growth plan has been fuelled by strong local demand. With 103 cafes currently, Benitez is targeting between 200 and 250 by 2022.

    “Our job is to make sure that we are able to popularize coffee and be able to supply so much, not only in the Philippines but globally,” he said.

    In its home market, Bo’s Coffee, which was founded in 1996, will be targeting Luzon, especially given the brand has “only scratched the surface” there to date.

    In the Middle East, Bo’s Coffee plans to open a second store in Qatar shortly, followed by three more within two years. Other markets in the region are now in its sights.

    The expansion plans will be accelerated following an investment by Philippine-focused Navegar Fund which was attracted to Bo’s Coffee by its efforts to support local coffee-growing communities.

    “Seventy to 80 per cent of our coffee beans are sourced locally,” said Benitez. “We were trailblazers. We started featuring Philippine coffee and the other shops followed after.”

    Bo’s Coffee recently opened a 300sqm flagship store in Cebu which supports social enterprises by partnering with local micro-small entrepreneurs in their store interiors, products, and merchandise inside.

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  • South Korea’s Kookmin Bank licensed to open Vietnam branch

    South Korea’s Kookmin Bank licensed to open Vietnam branch

    The State Bank of Vietnam has licensed South Korea’s Kookmin Bank to open a branch in Hanoi, the government said on Tuesday. The branch has a chartered capital of $35 million and the contract runs for 99 years, the government said in a statement.

    South Korea is the largest source of foreign direct investment in Vietnam and the Southeast Asian country’s second largest trading partner.

  • Emart goes digital in high-tech Uiwang store

    Emart goes digital in high-tech Uiwang store

    Emart is going fully digital with its brand new Uiwang branch that will open in Gyeonggi tomorrow. Innovative features of the Uiwang branch – the first Emart store to open in 30 months – include digital displays instead of paper signs and guide robots that can escort customers to desired products. The Uiwang store will span 9,917 square meters (106,745 square feet) across two basement floors in a commercial building.

    “We will introduce a revolutionary format of offline stores that breaks away from tradition in order to meet the challenges of our fast-changing era,” read an Emart report.

    Going paper-free is a big change that Emart hopes will both appeal to customers and help management.

    Price labels will be digitalized and controlled by a central server in the Uiwang branch, allowing store managers to display and change prices with unprecedented ease and speed. The new store will also install digital signage, or electronic displays, alongside elevators, moving walkways and cashiers instead of paper posters for advertisement and notices.

    “By minimizing paper usage, we can provide consumers with a unique shopping experience while practicing green management and boosting productivity,“ read the Emart report.

    The new Uiwang store will also be home to Tro.e, an autonomous robot equipped with a 27-inch touch screen that is capable of guiding consumers to desired products and making casual conversation. Like Pepper, a robot the company employed earlier this year at its Seongsu branch in eastern Seoul, Tro.e will only be available for a limited time on a test run at Uiwang.

    Emart developed Tro.e, named after the Swedish word tro, which means trust, together with Future Robot, one of the official robot providers for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

    The grocery section of the new store will only be located on the lower floor of the store, while the upper floor will host a variety of affiliated shops including Electro Mart, Pierrot Shopping, Daiz, Boots and a Kakao Friends Store.

    Emart will open a 660-square-meter “Culture Lounge” for customers to read books and purchase beverages.

    “We will continue striving to offer consumers a unique shopping experience with our distinctive products and digital shopping environment,” said a senior manager in charge of development at Emart.

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  • Pezzo Pizza debuts in Brunei

    Pezzo Pizza debuts in Brunei

    International pizza franchise Pezzo has launched in Brunei Darussalam. The brand, operating under Satami Group of Companies, features a “Grab & Go” kiosk serving pizza by the slice for immediate purchase, and a “mix and match” pizza purchase option, whereby customers can collate their own pizza out of 12 different flavours. The brand stakes its reputation on generous toppings with shredded mozzarella cheese.

    Pezzo, best-known for its circus-themed design, is exclusively using ingredients certified under the Brunei Halal procedure in the store.

    In May of this year, Pezzo launched in Cambodia. The company now boasts more than 120 kiosk outlets, mainly in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

  • Huawei’s woes in U.S. give pause to Korea, too

    Huawei’s woes in U.S. give pause to Korea, too

    The arrest of Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada has triggered alarms in the Korean telecommunications industry, especially after LG U+ moved onto a fifth-generation (5G) network this month that uses Huawei network devices.

    The Chinese telecommunications giant has maintained a sizeable influence since it first entered the Korean market in 2002. While it was originally focused on the cable infrastructure business, Huawei moved on to offering wireless telecommunications devices in 2007 as local telecommunications companies introduced third-generation wide-band code-division multiple access services.

    In 2013, Huawei received orders for fourth-generation 4G long-term evolution (LTE) wireless base stations from LG U+ for services in Seoul, Incheon, and areas in Gyeonggi and Gangwon.

    The 5G equipment market in Korea is estimated to be worth 10 trillion won ($8.89 billion).

    While Huawei is a leading supplier to the telecommunication industry, concerns about the security of its devices has held the company back. Only LG U+ decided to use Huawei equipment for 5G. Huawei has claimed that it had no such security problems in the 170 countries that it operates in and would follow inspection requests by the Korean government.

    LG U+ signed a deal with Huawei to introduce around 30,000 base stations in the Seoul, Incheon, and the Gyeonggi and Gangwon regions by next March. The deal is reportedly worth around 300 billion won, not including maintenance fees.

    The decision by Korea’s smallest telecommunications company made business sense as it used Huawei equipment for its 4G network.

    Huawei’s equipment, however, will not be installed in areas occupied by United States Forces Korea (USFK) such as in Pyeongtaek, Dongducheon, Yongin in Gyeonggi. The U.S. government has requested that Huawei equipment not be used out of concerns about a Chinese cyberattack. USFK has been suspicious about Huawei equipment. When LG U+ chose Huawei equipment for its 4G network, around 10,000 USFK soldiers switched carriers.

    The current situation has left LG U+ in a difficult position. Its deal with Huawei is already inked, and the 5G service works in sync with the existing 4G system, so it is impossible for the company to simply not use Huawei equipment.

    The recent banning of Huawei equipment by Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan, along with growing worries in Korea, places more pressure on the telecommunications unit.

    A senior LG U+ official expressed frustration at the current situation and the Korean government’s inaction.

    “Our government is just trying to not upset either China or the United States,” said the official. “Shouldn’t the government come forward and clear things up?”

    Meanwhile, the government maintains its stance that the selection of telecommunications equipment is an issue for companies to decide.

    “Inspecting security is the responsibility of the business operator. It is not appropriate for the government to take part in an area that a company should make a decision on,” said Park Jun-guk, an official at the Cyber Security Industry Bureau in the Ministry of Science and ICT.

    “[We] will, however, strengthen security inspections in the form of a technology advisory conference.”

    While 5G has stirred controversy, Huawei has an even stronger presence in the country with its cable and optical transmission equipment businesses. In the cable business, all three telecommunications companies, SK Telecom, KT and LG U+, are customers of Huawei.

    Huawei has also won orders from Koscom, a state-run financial IT solution company, and from electric utility Kepco.

    Last month, the Chinese company won an order with KT to connect the sales network of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and the National Livestock Cooperatives Federation worth around 120 billion won.

    According to market researcher IHS Markit, Huawei is the biggest global telecommunications equipment maker, with a market share of 22 percent. While Samsung Electronics holds a strong position in the Korean market, a 45 percent market share, it commands a paltry 4 percent share of the global market.

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  • Tech, engineering to have great demand for workers in Vietnam: survey

    Tech, engineering to have great demand for workers in Vietnam: survey

    The technology and engineering sectors will see strong growth in human resources demand in Vietnam in the next five years. The growth is forecast by 90 percent of experts polled in a survey recently released by online recruitment website VietnamWorks.

    The survey was done in the second half of this year by polling more than 200 human resources professionals in management positions at multinationals and top Vietnamese companies.

    According to the survey, 62 percent forecast increased demand for arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media workers.

    Forty-two percent said there would be a decline in administrative and clerical work in five years though these are among the top three in terms of demand this year. VietnamWorks said this is because repetitive jobs like these are likely be replaced by machines.

    Fifty-nine percent of respondents believed developments in automation and information technology would be the most influential factors in the labour market in the next five years.

    Mobile Internet and cloud technology would be the next major factor, according to 57 percent, and processing power and big data, according to 54 percent.

    Forty percent said privacy issues and greater awareness of environmental responsibilities would have a great impact on the labor market demand.

    As socio-economic factors alter the nature of jobs, employers will require more sophisticated skills and abilities. The respondents expected cooperating with others, people management, emotional intelligence, and judgement and decision making to be the top cross-functional skills needed in future.

    Gaku Echizenya, general director of Navigos Group, which owns VietnamWorks, said: “The market is experiencing major changes with the fourth industrial revolution. Therefore, businesses need to keep up-to-date with market information from reputable sources to respond promptly to changes, allowing them to set out a strategy to recruit and attract talented people.”

    Employees need to actively educate themselves in IT and digital knowledge, and develop crucial skills such as cooperation with others and people management to increase their competitiveness, he added.

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  • Li-Ning X EDG Joint Apparel Anounced

    Li-Ning X EDG Joint Apparel Anounced

    Chinese sports apparel brand Li-Ning has released a collaboration with esports organisation Edward Gaming (EDG). The Li-Ning X EDG apparel line, which includes hoodies, jackets, tracksuits, and shoes, is now selling at its retail location in Shanghai’s Daning shopping complex.

    Li-Ning has become one of China’s largest sportswear brands, having signed multiple sponsorship deals with international-league athletes. EDG is best known for its League of Legends team, which competed in the world gaming championship earlier this year. It closed a funding round of close to RMB100 million (US$15.7 million) last May.