Economy and commerce

The Nikkei Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, fell to a 14-month low of 51.6 in May from 54.1 in April. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion, while a reading below 50 points toward contraction. “Output and new orders each rose at much ...

Sumitomo group members including Sumitomo Chemical and Sumitomo Metal Mining plan to construct a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal and a gas-fired power plant in Ehime Prefecture, moving away from coal as they upgrade domestic infrastructure. The project will cost around 60 billion yen to ...

Japan’s first investment fund focusing on drone-related startups begins operation in June, offering financial assistance and business management advice for budding entrepreneurs. Though the small, unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly employed in various industries such as construction, logistics and tourism, Japanese companies have a weak ...

The Japanese retail investors behind the latest bitcoin boom may be in for a wilder ride than they expected, given the stiff challenges in determining virtual currencies’ underlying value and the ease with which souring sentiment can sink prices. The value of one bitcoin, the ...

Growth in China’s manufacturing sector in May kept pace with the previous month, an official survey showed on Wednesday, beating expectations in a reassuring sign the world’s second-biggest economy is not losing too much steam after a solid first quarter performance. The official Purchasing Managers’ ...

PanaHome will launch an Indonesian residential business on the outskirts of Jakarta, the Japanese developer said Tuesday, seeking to take advantage of growing housing demand in the Southeast Asian nation. PanaHome will build and sell detached houses in Deltamas, a city being developed by Japanese ...

Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Bank, also known as AYA Bank, announced on Tuesday that it will start issuing Visa cards to a wider customer base. The bank will issue three types of credit cards — silver, gold and platinum. The most accessible card requires a monthly income ...

Panasonic looks to build up to 50% more televisions in Asia outside Japan by fiscal 2020, taking advantage of low labor costs to churn out mass-market to top-of-the-line sets. The Japanese appliance manufacturer targets 3 million units of production capacity in the region by then. ...

MMC Corp., a Malaysian diversified infrastructure and utilities conglomerate, said on Monday that net profit improved 7.4% year on year to 55 million ringgit ($13 million) in the first quarter of the year due to growth in its power generation unit. Revenue in the same ...

Thailand’s Total Access Communication, commonly known as Dtac, will join with state-owned telecom operator TOT to offer 4G wireless network services. Dtac will pay 4.51 billion baht ($132 million) annually to access 60% of TOT’s 2,300MHz spectrum, setting up 20,000 cell towers. The remaining 40% ...