Malaysia: Time to explore and enjoy
Malaysia has so much to offer, whether you're visiting on a business trip or attending a conference. Beyond your professional agenda, you'll find plenty to explore and enjoy. From its diverse and delicious cuisine to world-class shopping, your itinerary is bound to be full. Just be sure to carve out some time to relax and unwind before heading home.
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Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia, Indonesia deepen ties as Putin and Prabowo meet in St Petersburg
Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto as Moscow bids to strengthen ties in the Global South amid Western efforts to isolate the country following its war on Ukraine. On Thursday, Putin and Prabowo met in the Russian city of St Petersburg and signed a declaration on strategic partnership. Danatara, Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund, whose CEOs were also in Saint Petersburg, signed an agreement to create an investment fund worth 2 billion euros ($2.29bn). In a statement after the talks, Prabowo said that the relationship between the two countries was 'getting stronger again'. 'My meeting with President Putin today was intense, warm and productive. In all fields of economics, technical cooperation, trade, investment, agriculture – they all have experienced significant improvements,' he said. Moreover, during the meeting at the Konstantin Palace, Putin acknowledged Indonesia's entry into the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) grouping of emerging economies as a full member. 'Our relations with Indonesia are developing steadily. Trade turnover is growing. We have good prospects in a number of promising and very interesting areas of cooperation,' Putin said, according to Russian state news outlet TASS. 'This includes agriculture, space, and energy, as well as military-technical cooperation. Our interaction is very great, and it is growing,' he added. As Southeast Asia's largest economy relies primarily on coal as a source of power, despite its massive potential for renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar, and geothermal, Indonesia is seeking to boost power generation while capping its carbon emissions, considering nuclear power as a solution. With Jakarta maintaining a neutral foreign policy, it has walked a delicate balance between regional competitors, China and the United States. But Prabowo, who came to power last year, has looked to diversify the country's alliances instead of relying heavily on Western partners. His decision to skip the G7 summit in Canada this week in favour of talks with Putin raised fears of a tilt towards Moscow, analysts have said, after the two countries held their first joint naval drills last year. Meanwhile, the Russian leader said that on Friday, he and Prabowo will take part in the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Airbus strikes Vietjet deal at Paris Air Show, hopes for tariff rollback
Airbus has struck a deal with Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet for up to 150 single-aisle jets at the Paris Air Show as the aviation industry's hopes to return to a tariff-free trade agreement were given a boost by United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The French planemaker announced the deal on Tuesday. Airbus is the main supplier of jets to Vietnam, accounting for 86 percent of the planes currently operated by Vietnamese airlines. The export-dependent Southeast Asian country is under pressure from Washington to buy more US goods. Vietjet Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said the scale of the airline's orders was backed by plans to develop a major aviation hub in Vietnam, which Airbus says has seen its aviation market grow by 7.5 percent a year. A deal for 150 A321neos could be worth around $9.4bn, according to estimated prices provided by Cirium Ascend. The agreement was the latest in a flurry of business announced by Airbus at the world's biggest aviation trade fair in Paris, France. Airbus has made gains against its chief competitor Boeing as airlines reconsider purchases of the US-made jets amid ongoing tariff threats in recent months. In May, budget airline Ryanair threatened to pull orders of Boeing aircraft amid tariff threats. Duffy said he wanted civil aviation to return to a 1979 zero-tariff trade agreement, in one of the clearest signs yet that the administration of US President Donald Trump might favour such a move. However, Duffy added that while the White House was aware that the US is a net exporter in aerospace, it was also dealing with a complex tariff situation. 'Now, again, you look at what free trade has done for aviation. It's been remarkable for them. It's a great space of net exporters,' Duffy said. 'And so the White House understands that, but if you go over there and you see the moving parts of what they're dealing with, it is pretty intense and it's a lot.' Trump's sweeping 10 percent import tariffs are a headache for an industry already battling supply chain challenges and facing fresh turbulence from last week's deadly Air India crash and conflict in the Middle East. In early May, the US Commerce Department launched a 'Section 232' national security investigation into imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts that could form the basis for even higher tariffs on such imports. Airlines, planemakers and several US trading partners have been lobbying Trump to restore the tariff-free regime under the 1979 agreement. Boeing was having a subdued show and parking announcements while focusing on the probe into last week's fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 and after it racked up huge deals during Trump's recent tour of the Middle East. Attention turned to another big Airbus customer, AirAsia, long associated with buzzy show finales and looking at buying 100 A220s, with Brazil's Embraer seeking to wrest away the deal after losing a key contest in Poland, delegates said. Airbus was also expected to reveal Egyptair as the airline behind a recent unidentified order for six more A350s. Even so, Airbus's hopes of using the event as a showcase for its first significant deal with Royal Air Maroc faded after the airline postponed plans to announce a larger Boeing deal, delegates said.
Al Jazeera
11-06-2025
- Al Jazeera
As Trump's tariffs loom, Southeast Asia's solar industry faces devastation
Bangkok, Thailand – A brief text message informed Chonlada Siangkong that she had lost her job at a solar cell factory in Rayong, eastern Thailand. The factory operated by Standard Energy Co, a subsidiary of Singaporean solar cell giant GSTAR, shut its doors last month in anticipation of United States President Donald Trump's tariffs on solar panel exports from Southeast Asia. From Monday, US Customs and Border Protection will begin imposing tariffs ranging from 375 percent to more than 3,500 percent on imports from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia. The punishing duties, introduced in response to alleged unfair trade practices by Chinese-owned factories in the region, have raised questions about the continuing viability of Southeast Asia's solar export trade, the source of about 80 percent of solar products sold in the US. Like thousands of other workers in Thailand and across the region, Chonlada, a 33-year-old mother of one, is suddenly facing a more precarious future amid the trade crackdown. 'We were all shocked. The next day, they told us not to come to work and would not pay for compensation,' Chonlada told Al Jazeera. US officials say Chinese producers have used Southeast Asian countries to skirt tariffs on China and 'dump' cheap solar panels in the US market, harming their businesses. US trade officials have named Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Taihua New Energy Hounen, Sunshine Electrical Energy, Runergy and Boviet – all of which have major operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia or Vietnam – as the worst offenders. Thai solar exports to the US were worth more than $3.7bn in 2023, just behind Vietnam at $3.9bn, according to the latest US trade data. Standard Energy Co's $300m facility in Rayong had been in operation for less than a year, producing its first solar cell to great fanfare in August. 'I'm baffled by what's just happened,' Kanyawee, a production line manager at Standard Energy who asked to be referred to by his first name only, told Al Jazeera. 'New machines have just landed and we barely used them, they're very costly too – a few million baht for each machine. They've also ordered tonnes of raw materials waiting to be produced.' Ben McCarron, managing director of the risk consultancy Asia Research & Engagement, said Southeast Asian manufacturers are facing a serious hit from the US turn towards protectionism. 'There are suggestions that manufacturing might exit Southeast Asia entirely if tariffs are introduced either in a blanket way, or that specifically address Chinese-owned manufacturing capacity in the region,' McCarron told Al Jazeera. 'The implications are significant for these countries; Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia accounted for about 80 percent of the US's solar imports in 2024,' McCarron said, adding that 'some manufacturers have already begun shutting down and moving out of the region'. US officials and businesses have accused China of giving its solar firms an unfair market advantage with subsidies. China was the largest funder of clean energy in Southeast Asia between 2013 and 2023, pouring $2.7bn into projects in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, according to Zero Carbon Analytics. The American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, a coalition of seven industry players, was among the loudest voices to lobby for a sharp rise in levies on Chinese imports. Without a reprieve from the notoriously unpredictable Trump, companies affected by the tariffs have little recourse apart from the ability to file an appeal once a year, or after five years, once a 'sunset review' clause takes effect. Some observers believe the sector may never recover. 'It's not just the low-skilled labour that was affected by the trade war; many workers in the solar cell supply chain are technicians, skilled labourers,' Tara Buakamsri, an adviser to environmental organisation Greenpeace, told Al Jazeera. 'Even if you make a lot of savings, solar cell exporters would still need to cut down on these skilled workers.' Others take a more bullish view, arguing that, once the dust has settled, Chinese solar firms will drive the supply of products needed to meet regional emissions targets. While Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam welcomed Chinese solar companies in part due to the large sums of up-front investment on offer, they are all also seeking to meet more of their energy needs with cleaner sources. Before Trump entered office with his tariff agenda, Thailand had announced plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 and produce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065. 'A slowdown [or halt] in solar exports as a result of US tariffs may supercharge efforts in Southeast Asian markets by Chinese solar companies, which see the region as a critical and well-aligned destination for green technologies,' McCarron said. 'Leftover supply from slowing exports could be absorbed by domestic markets in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, particularly if governments use the situation as a cost-effective opportunity to rapidly accelerate policy initiatives that stimulate domestic solar.' For Southeast Asia's solar companies, survival is also likely to depend on governments cutting red tape and loosening the control of oil and gas monopolies over the energy mix. At the same time, the US's exclusion of Southeast Asian solar imports could hamper the shift towards greener energy in the world's top economy. 'Thailand's solar cell production is heavily export-driven and the US has historically been a major export destination,' Pavida Pananond, a professor of international business at Thammasat Business School in Bangkok, told Al Jazeera. But solar tariffs will 'also hurt American consumers and the green transition in the US as prices become higher'.
