Asia-Pacific

Renault posts record year

Paris - Muslimchronicle

Renault sold a record number of cars last year, the French carmaker said Monday, with global unit sales reaching 3.76 million, a rise of 8.5 percent over 2016. Volumes were up in all the world's regions. The Asia-Pacific region had the strongest sales increase at 17 percent, helped by a doubling of sales in China, followed by Eurasia with 16.6 percent.Read more

Trade ministers agree Asia-Pacific trade pact without US

Danang - Muslimchronicle

Ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed Saturday to press ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's "America First" policy. Trump pulled his country from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreementRead more

'Trump effect' jams up APEC

Washington - Muslimchronicle

Asia-Pacific ministers struggled Thursday to agree on a joint statement on free trade in a rare wrangle over a usually routine document as US negotiators dug in over protectionism, insiders said Thursday. Global leaders from the Pacific Rim region are gathering in the Vietnamese city of Danang this week for the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Russia's VladimirRead more

Asia faces air travel infrastructure 'crisis': IATA

Paris - Muslimchronicle

The Asia-Pacific region must urgently step up investment in infrastructure to meet rapidly increasing demand for air travel, the global airline industry's trade body said Wednesday. "We are headed for a major infrastructure crisis," said Alexandre de Juniac, head of the International Air Transport Association. He said the 34 million jobs and $700 billion of economic activity supported by aviationRead more

Budget airlines to drive plane demand in next 20 years

Dubai - Muslimchronicle

Smaller planes will dominate aviation orders worldwide in the next 20 years, driven by the needs of budget airlines in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, Boeing said Friday. Nearly three in four of the 41,030 new commerical planes expected to be delivered in the period at a cost of $6.1 trillion will be single-aisle, according to the US aircraft maker.Read more

Face scans, robot baggage handlers

Singapore - Muslimchronicle

Passengers' baggage is collected by robots, they relax in a luxurious waiting area complete with an indoor garden before getting a face scan and swiftly passing through security and immigration -- this could be the airport of the future. It's a vision that planners hope will become reality as new technology is rolled out, transforming the exhausting experience of gettingRead more

Singapore’s Changi is the face of future airports

Singapore - Muslimchronicle

Passengers’ baggage is collected by robots, they relax in a luxurious waiting area complete with an indoor garden before getting a face scan and swiftly passing through security and immigration — this could be the airport of the future. It’s a vision that planners hope will become reality as new technology is rolled out, transforming the exhausting experience of gettingRead more

Time Of Reckoning For Region’s Hydrocarbon Processing Industry

China - Arab Today

During the first half of 2014, there was hope that the hydrocarbon processing industries (HPI) — which includes crude oil refining, gas processing and petrochemicals — would grow nicely after its recovery from the financial crisis of 2008. This had reduced the number of active projects from 5,473 in 2009 to 3,435 in 2013, reflecting the decline in oil demandRead more

US is 'here to stay' in Asia

Vientiane - Arab Today

Barack Obama, on his final visit to Asia as US president, insisted Tuesday renewed American engagement with the region would endure after he left the White House. "America's interest in the Asia-Pacific is not new. It's not a passing fad. It reflects fundamental national interests," he said in a speech in the Lao capital of Vientiane. The US president isRead more

Double-digit Asia growth drives record arms sales

London - AFP

A buying spree in the Asia-Pacific region propelled double-digit growth in the global arms market last year to a record $65 billion (57.7 billion euros), defence analysts IHS Jane's said Monday. Defence imports by Asia-Pacific nations soared 71 percent in a "spend surge" between 2009 and 2016, the analysts said, helping the global arms market jump 11.3 percent or $6.6Read more