Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

PHNOM PENH, Mar 11 (NNN-AKP) – The exports of renowned Kampot pepper, one of Cambodia’s only two products to be registered as a Geographical Indication in the European Union, had increased sharply in 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a farmers’ representative said today.

Ngoun Lay, president of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association, said, the nation exported 114 tonnes of Kampot pepper last year, up 63 percent from 70 tonnes in the year before.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 (NNN-Bernama) — Foreign missions of Turkiye and Japan in Malaysia are optimistic that the reopening of Malaysia’s international borders come April 1 will also help boost the shared diplomatic and bilateral relations.

Malaysia’s plans to enter the ‘Transition to Endemic’ phase was announced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob recently and it is deemed as a long awaited move.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday ordered a lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant.

Residents are required to remain home, with one family member permitted to venture out to buy food and other necessities every two days. All residents must undergo three rounds of mass testing, while non-essential businesses have been closed and transport links suspended.

BANGKOK (AP) — As Russia intensifies its assault on Ukraine, it is getting a helping hand from China in spreading inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims that the U.S. is financing biological weapons labs in Ukraine.

The U.S. has been quick to refute Russia’s conspiracy theory, and the United Nations has said it has received no information that would back up the claim, but that hasn’t stopped it from proliferating.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Premier Li Keqiang on Friday called the situation in Ukraine “grave” and offered Beijing’s help in playing a “positive role” for peace while continuing to refuse to criticize Russia.

China has largely sided with Russia in the conflict, which it has refused to refer to as a war or invasion. The U.S. accuses Beijing of helping spread false news and disinformation coming out of Moscow.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian markets surged while Europe opened lower Thursday after oil prices recovered some of a decline the day before that had eased inflation fears.

Futures for Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4% as Russian attacks on Ukraine intensified two weeks as fighting entered its third week.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his officials to expand a satellite launch facility to fire a variety of rockets, state media reported Friday, as the U.S. and South Korean militaries concluded the North is testing a new intercontinental ballistic missile system.

BEIJING, Mar 10 (APP): “In the last 13 years, I have travelled to China a lot to meet our partners in the fields of Internet, optical fiber, telecommunications, etc. It was during those trips that I saw the emergence of WeChat and AliPay and decided to develop a fintech company in Pakistan,” NayaPay Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Danish A. Lakhani said.

VIENTIANE, Mar 10 (NNN-KPL) – The Lao government is aiming for a trade surplus of at least 1.55 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, despite the country’s economic difficulties, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The value of exports is projected to reach 7.6 billion U.S. dollars, while the value of imports is forecast at 6.05 billion U.S. dollars, according to a recent report from the Prime Minister’s Office, quoted by the Vientiane Times, today.

PHNOM PENH, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral trade between Cambodia and the European Union (EU) was valued at 4.5 billion euros (4.98 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, said a joint press release on Thursday.

Main products Cambodia exported to EU are agricultural products, including milled rice, textiles, footwear, travel goods and bicycles, while key items the kingdom imported from EU include construction materials, food and beverage, electronics and pharmaceutical products, among others.