Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Jan 17 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian government will focus on the service sector in Budget 2023 which will be presented on Feb 24, according to Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday.

He said that among the sectors that will be focused on are green technology, digital economy and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

He said the government policy should also focus on improving the capacity of the SME sector because it has high potential and involves a large number of workers.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 (NNN-BERNAMA) – The Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA), will make a comeback this year, following a four-year hiatus, with the event being launched by government officials here yesterday.

The biennial exhibition will be held from May 23-27, and bring together senior government officials, top military officers, and industry leaders, as well as, exhibitors from the defence and commercial sectors, from all over the world, the organiser said, in a statement.

PHNOM PENH, Jan 17 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia’s anti-drug police arrested a gang of five local men, for allegedly trafficking illicit drugs, seizing over 19 kilograms of narcotics, the Anti-Drug Police Department (ADP) said, in a news release today.

The suspects, aged between 34 and 41 years old, were apprehended during raids on three locations in Kampong Speu and Banteay Meanchey provinces, on Jan 8 and 9, after a thorough investigation for months.

BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - During a busy shift at the height of Beijing's COVID wave, a physician at a private hospital saw a printed notice in the emergency department: doctors should “try not to” write COVID-induced respiratory failure on death certificates.

Instead, if the deceased had an underlying disease, that should be named as the main cause of death, according to the notice, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

HANOI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has resigned after the ruling Communist Party blamed him for "violations and wrongdoing" by officials under his control, the government said on Tuesday, in a major escalation of the country's anti-graft campaign.

Phuc, a former prime minister widely credited with accelerating pro-business reforms, held the largely ceremonial post of president since 2021 and is the highest-ranking official targeted by the party's sweeping corruption crackdown.

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is projected to receive 4 million international tourists in 2023 after China's optimization of its COVID-19 strategy early this month, a tourism official said on Tuesday.

Kong Sopheareak, director of Tourism Statistics Department at the Ministry of Tourism, said China is the most important outbound tourism market for the world, and China's optimization of its COVID-19 strategy is a boon not only for Cambodia, but also for global tourism.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s population shrank for the first time in decades last year as its birthrate plunged, official figures showed Tuesday, adding to pressure on leaders to keep the economy growing despite an aging workforce and at a time of rising tension with the U.S.

Despite the official numbers, some experts believe China’s population has been in decline for a few years — a dramatic turn in a country that once sought to control such growth through a one-child policy.

BEIJING (AP) — The World Health Organization has appealed to China to keep releasing information about its wave of COVID-19 infections after the government announced nearly 60,000 deaths since early December following weeks of complaints it was failing to tell the world what was happening.

JAKARTA, Jan 14 (NNN-ANTARA) – Indonesia will begin making batteries for electric vehicles in the first half of next year.

Chinese firm, CATL and South Korean firm LG, will launch production first, and other foreign firms investing in Indonesia will follow.

“These electric vehicle batteries are targeted to meet international and domestic market needs,” Investment Minister, Bahlil Lahadalia summarised the outcome of a meeting on the electric vehicle ecosystem with President Joko Widodo yesterday.

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Saturday highlighted Cambodia-China close ties, saying that such relations had provided great tangible benefits to the kingdom's development.

During an annual gathering with journalists in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said the bilateral ties are solid as this year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cambodia and China.