Asias

Uber and Airbnb have long been the poster children for the sharing economy. In other realms of society, entrepreneurs are also trying to match demand with untapped assets and services. HD, a startup based out of Bangkok, is applying the economic model to healthcare in Southeast Asia. HD operates a platform that helps three parties meet: surgeons with private practice, patients looking to have their surgeries done more cheaply, and vacant surgery rooms at hospitals. The model might sound a bit counterintuitive to…

Some of the world’s most influential institutions are selling shares of Asia’s technology giants after owning them for years, a troubling sign for investors after what has already been a painful market selloff. Tencent Holdings Ltd. , a tech giant that earlier amassed stakes in hundreds of tech firms, is divesting itself of billions of dollars in shares of listed companies. Meanwhile, Tencent’s biggest shareholder, Prosus NV, is cutting its large stake in the…

Crypto’s latest existential crisis, courtesy of Sam Bankman-Fried’s epic faceplant, flared amid far-reaching planned changes in the digital-asset rulebooks of Asian centers. Crypto's latest existential crisis, courtesy of Sam Bankman-Fried's epic faceplant, flared amid far-reaching planned changes in the digital-asset rulebooks of Asian centers including Hong Kong and Singapore.The fall of his FTX exchange showed the world lacked the true picture of its operations. As a result, officials in both jurisdictions and…

A new report indicates the travel industry in Asia-Pacific may be the only one in the world to recover by 2023.This year's "Travel & Tourism Economic Impact" report — an annual publication by the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council — shows that, compared with pre-pandemic levels, tourism revenue in 2020 dropped more in Asia-Pacific (59%) than anywhere else.Recovery efforts in the region were muted in 2021, with most countries there maintaining strict border restrictions. Tourism revenue's contribution to…

Some of Southeast Asia’s largest internet companies are trying to boost their revenues with an old-fashioned business: lending. Some of Southeast Asia’s largest internet companies are trying to boost their revenues with an old-fashioned business: lending.…

Gautam Adani has had a very good year.The Indian billionaire briefly surpassed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the second-richest person in the world in September, according to Bloomberg. He's now ranked as the world's fourth wealthiest person.Outside Southeast Asia, Adani is hardly a household name. That might be changing now that he's richer than Microsoft founder Bill Gates and iconic investor Warren Buffett."The kind of rise that you have seen is truly phenomenal and probably unprecedented in the world that in…

Yes, robots are coming to take our jobs. That's a good thing, we should be happy they are because those jobs they're taking kinda suck. Do you really want to go back to the days of manually monitoring, flagging and investigating the world's daily bank transfers in search of financial fraud and money laundering schemes? DBS Bank, Singapore's largest financial institution, certainly doesn't. The company has spent years developing a cutting-edge machine learning system that heavily automates the minutia-stricken process of…

K-pop is the rising fever with no age barrier but what does this industry have to do with Metaverse? K-pop has become a truly global phenomenon, thanks to its distinctive blend of addictive melodies, slick choreography, production values, and an endless parade of attractive South Korean performers who spend years in grueling studio systems learning to sing and dance in synchronized perfection. But what does the K-pop industry has to do with Metaverse? Well in the last 2 years of the pandemic many industries saw drastic…

The Philippines has the numbers to become a blockchain hub in Asia Almost 70 million people around the world use blockchain wallets, and the average daily trade volume for cryptocurrencies has soared to more than $130 billion. The Philippines has “the numbers” to become a blockchain hub. Cryptocurrency will have a significant impact in the Philippines, as the country’s stock exchange considers integrating digital assets into its trading platform. The city which is poised to become the leading Innovation Hub in the…

Five of Asia’s biggest economies are expected to see exponential growth of solar, positioning the region to become a global hub of solar power, according to independent energy think tank Ember. Ember analyzed existing national power sector development plans across China, Japan, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines. It found that solar capacity is expected to grow an average of 22% annually across the five economies. Of the five, the fastest solar capacity growth rates are expected in Indonesia – 41.81% – and the…