Briefs

Panellists at the 2019 World Economic Forum (WEF) session on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remained upbeat about the long-term trade potential of the plan despite geopolitical tensions between China and the US.

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, one of four panellists at the discussion in Davos, Switzerland, was reported as saying he believed the momentum of the BRI would not slow down if there was continued support for economic interconnectivity.

“Geopolitics will have an impact on the pace and the international trading system, so it is important for us to push on and look for projects that are economically viable, bankable and have proper rules and regulations... so you can show to the world that these are projects that have long-term benefits,” he said.

The BRI, which was launched in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is estimated to bring a whopping US$1.5 trillion ($2.04 trillion) of investments from the superpower into Asia and Africa, mainly for infrastructure projects.

Rocky start to US-China trade talks

Negotiations to end the US-China trade impasse seem to have got off to a rocky start as the former has rejected an offer from two Chinese vice-ministers to travel to the US for talks.

The Financial Times reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration had blocked the trip over a lack of progress on “forced technology transfers and potentially far-reaching structural reforms to China’s economy”.

The visit was supposed to have paved the way for high-level talks between China Vice-Premier Liu He and Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative.

The US and China have agreed to reach a deal by March 1, but amid the continuing tensions, the markets in Asia have seen a slowdown.

Asian stocks edged down on Jan 23 on slowing global growth and anxiety over the dispute, while on Wall Street, the Standard & Poor’s 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average all posted their biggest one-day percentage drops since Jan 3. The S&P 500 lost 1.42%.

Garden of Eden is no more

British naturalist Sir David Attenborough has warned world leaders that “the Garden of Eden is no more”, in a push towards tackling climate change before the damage is irreparable.

At the start of the WEF in Switzerland, Attenborough warned that “human activity has taken the world into a new era, threatening to undermine civilisation”. He said the era of stability, which allowed mankind to thrive, grow and farm, has ended, threatening the futures of businesses and humanity alike.

The 92-year-old warned world leaders that the conditions mankind has known are changing fast and that the world needs to move beyond guilt or blame to focus on the practical task of arresting climate change.

He said this on the back of a Global Risk Report survey conducted before the WEF, which found environmental threats are now the biggest danger to the global economy.

Singapore releases AI governance framework

Singapore has released a model governance framework for artificial intelligence, becoming the first in Asia to form detailed and implementable guidelines for companies using AI.

Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran revealed the framework at the WEF in Switzerland.

In a press release, the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) said the framework is underpinned by two high-level guiding principles. The principles are to help organisations ensure that, first, decisions made by or with the assistance of AI are explainable, transparent and fair to consumers; and, secondly, that those AI solutions are human-centric.

“This in turn enhances trust in and understanding of AI, as well as acceptance of how AI-related decisions are made for the benefit of users,” IMDA said in its release.

Singapore also announced a collaboration with the WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to further drive AI and data innovation. The agreement was signed by IMDA, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, and WEF.

Iswaran was reported to have described AI as a frontier technology. “This is the future. It has the potential to affect many sectors in a very profound way and we want to make sure Singapore is prepared for that,” he was quoted as saying.

Ride-hailing apps to be regulated at last

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has proposed to license all street- and ride-hail operators, and change the way it regulates these companies — as “transport providers” and not tech companies.

The LTA said the regulations will also cover companies that provide pre-booked chauffeured services, and that it will be “different from today’s regulatory framework, where one set of regulations apply to taxi operators [that] provide both street-hail and ride-hail services, and there are no uniform regulations that apply to operators that purely provide ride-hail services”.

Ride-hailing services here in Singapore, such as Grab (or the now defunct Uber), have been a sore point for the last few years, as they occupy the grey area between private car hire and public transportation. They remain unregulated in many countries where they operate but regulators are slowly beginning to streamline the services offered in order to placate taxi driver protests that arose after these apps first emerged.

Singapore-Malaysia tensions simmer down as ministers meet

Singapore Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan and his Malaysian counterpart Anthony Loke have mutually agreed to extend the suspension on airspace and maritime restrictions to buy more time to come to a deal.

This was agreed upon after the two met in ongoing talks to resolve the boundary issues between the two countries, which surfaced late last year.

Khaw reportedly sought to extend the suspension of Malaysia’s restricted area over Pasir Gudang and new landing procedures at Seletar Airport to give officials “more discussion time to reach a win-win outcome”.

Meanwhile, Loke said he had a “fruitful and constructive meeting” with Khaw and “agreed on a way forward”.

Law firm linked with 1MDB raided

Malaysia’s police have raided the law firm linked to the troubled sovereign fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The law firm Rahmat Lim & Partners was reportedly raided on Jan 24 as investigators searched for documents linked to the scandal.

The Edge Malaysia reported that the police were looking for documents involving three 1MDB bonds worth US$6.5 billion, which Goldman Sachs handled when they were issued in 2012 and 2013, noting that Rahmat Lim was then acting for Goldman Sachs.

The Wall Street firm recently issued an apology for their role in the scandal, which saw over US$4.5 billion of funds swindled from 1MDB. The funds were ostensibly aimed at making infrastructure investments for the country, but much of the money ended up in the personal accounts of Malaysia’s disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak.

Goldman faces investigations around the world, including a Justice Department probe in the US and criminal charges in Malaysia, over its role in setting up the fund. The firm underwrote bond transactions in 2012 and 2013 to launch the fund, and it collected exorbitant fees for many of the deals.

Disgraced Renault boss resigns

Carlos Ghosn has resigned from French carmaker Renault, after being detained in Japan since November 2018 on allegations of financial misconduct. Ghosn had held top jobs in both Nissan and Renault after he orchestrated an alliance between the two in 1999, when the former was near bankruptcy. He is facing three charges of misconduct, including under-reporting his income and aggravated breach of trust. He was refused bail on Jan 22 and could face many months in detention. He denies all allegations against him.