From tuoitre A grocer’s in Ho Chi Minh City has garnered extremely positive feedback from customers by ditching the common plastic wrap to switch to the more traditional banana leaves, in a bid to protect the environment. The owner of Tiem Rau Cua Ba, literally “Dad’s Vegeteble Store,” in Binh Thanh District wraps his…
Shenzhen and Jakarta shine in city economy forecasts for 2030
TOKYO — U.S. cities have a firm grip on the ranking of the biggest urban economies on either side of the Pacific, but a power shift lies ahead within Asia, new data from the Japan Center for Economic Research shows. Singapore was Asia’s top city by nominal gross regional product per capita in 2015 and…
Mobile contracts for foreigners to be simplified
Japan’s government has asked the country’s mobile phone carriers to simplify contract procedures for foreigners. The move comes as Japan prepares to take in more foreign workers next month. The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry made the request on Wednesday to four groups of mobile carriers and dealerships. The ministry wants foreigners who are staying…
Opening the door to incoming workers
By Aizawa NHK world Of all the changes Japanese society has experienced during the Heisei Era, none has been as significant as the country’s rapid population decline. The demographic downturn has caused such economic distress that the government has been forced to accelerate its acceptance of workers from other countries. According to government data, the…
Egyptian King’s Tomb Restored after a Decade-Long Project
The decade-long restoration of an Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb finally ended in January. The tomb of Tutankhamun [toot-ahng-kah-MUH N] or King Tut was discovered in 1922. Since then, it has become a popular tourist attraction in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Unfortunately, the constant entry of people caused damages to the tomb’s 3,000-year-old structures, artifacts, and treasures. To…
Vietnam’s VinSmart enters global smartphone fray with Europe debut
HO CHI MINH CITY — Vietnamese smartphone maker VinSmart is entering the European market in a bold bid to become the country’s first globally recognized smartphone brand. But while the company is hopeful it can follow in the footsteps of Chinese makers that have cracked Western markets, snatching market share from the likes of Apple…
JD.com and Alibaba export AI and robot logistics expertise
SHANGHAI — Chinese e-commerce giants JD.com and Alibaba Group Holding are exporting their logistics technologies related to artificial intelligence and robots. JD.com started to test drone delivery service from a farming village in West Java to a nearby elementary school from January. Drone delivery is expected to bring benefits to Indonesia, which has many islands and some farming villages that lack logistics infrastructure. The…
Hanoikids – Tours with a unique twist
Every now and then something pops onto my radar that restores my faith in humanity and the way the world is going. Recently I saw a documentary on television about various tour offerings in Hanoi. Included were several creative options such as food, jaunts into colourful old neighborhoods, tours by motorbike, and even evening beer…
Study: Eating Breakfast Might Not Lead to Weight Loss
A new study found that eating breakfast might not actually help in achieving weight loss. Researchers from the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, examined the effects of eating and skipping breakfast on the weight of adults from developed countries. The researchers gathered the data from 13 studies conducted within the last 28 years. Some of…
More Japanese companies hire talent from overseas universities
Welcome to the new Japan Inc., where Asian hires are being counted on to stimulate their native co-workers. Mercari is an online flea market that hired mainly non-Japanese graduates last year. TOKYO — More than a quarter of major Japanese companies have hired foreign graduates from overseas universities in the current fiscal year, which runs through…