TOKYO -- The Japanese central bank on Friday maintained its policy rate unchanged after wrapping up its two-day policy meeting, which sent the Japanese yen to its fresh 34-year low past the 156 line. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to guide short-term interest rates in a range of zero and 0.1 percent, a month after it ended the negative interest rate policy in its first rate hike in 17 years. The announce ..read more

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - The head of Vietnam's parliament has resigned, according to state media, making him the latest senior member of government to leave office amid an ongoing anti-corruption campaign that's shaken the country's political and business elites. The resignation of National Assembly Chair Vuong Dinh Hue adds to growing instability in the country. President  ..read more

by Dames Alexander Sinaga JAKARTA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has already begun its preparation for hosting the 10th World Water Forum, the first of its kind in the Southeast Asia region, which will take place in the country's resort island of Bali in May. The global water and sanitation community forum has been held every three years since 1997. During the last forum held in Senegal in 2022, Indonesi ..read more

HANOI, Vietnam: As part of the reforms to advance the country's stock market and attract more foreign investors, Vietnam will launch a new stock trading system this week to speed up the settlement of transactions. The system, provided by the Korea Exchange, will help Vietnam, which both the MSCI and FTSE indices currently classify as a frontier market, be reclassified as an emerging market. This will mean that ma ..read more

cc Scooter Debuts With New Colours Yamaha's entry-level 155cc maxi-scooter has different names in different markets. While here it is called the Aerox 155 in India, locations such as Vietnam and Malaysia have it as Yamaha NVX 155. For the Malaysian market, Yamaha has introduced the 2024 Aerox 155 with new colour options. cc Standard Variant - New Colours, Prices Standard variant of 2024 Yamaha Aerox ..read more

HANOI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for 2024 could increase up to 4.5 percent compared to the previous year, with the State Bank of Vietnam's inflation forecast at 3.8-4.8 percent, Vietnam News reported Thursday, citing the Ministry of Finance. Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi said Vietnam's CPI must stay within the upward 0.26-0.39 percent range for the rest of the ..read more

NANNING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Opinions on durians, whether described as sticky-sweet or compared to the odor of socks, vary widely, yet the demand for durians is rapidly increasing, particularly in China. After placing orders online for durians, Huang Rongsheng, a resident of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, received doorstep delivery within about one hour. This was Huang's third online order for ..read more

WASHINGTON - Among a package of military aid bills it passed Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved a bill that requires TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell the video hosting platform or risk the government banning the app for all U.S. users. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Wednesday. If ByteDance refuses to sell TikTok within a year, it will be banned. Advocates of a ban argue that ByteDance ha ..read more

Vistar Media expands OOH advertising growth across Southeast Asia - MARKETECH APAC MARKETECH APAC ..read more

Washington - Afghanistan's Central Asian neighbors are holding out hope that America, based on its pledges at September's C5+1 summit, will expand its role in this neighborhood. The wish list includes delivering more humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, facilitating ..read more