Win or lose, Trump won't dent US biz in Asia: Wagar

The US private sector will not sever seven decades of investment in Southeast Asia because of who occupies the White House, said US ambassador to Singapore Kirk Wagar.
Acknowledging a high number of inquiries generated by Donald Trump's presidential bid, Wagar said while his country's democratic process was noisy, it had built-in checks and balances.
"The one that is always forgotten is the private sector," Wagar said in an interview on Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La security dialogue in Singapore.
Estimating that around 50 million Southeast Asian citizens had either worked for or had interaction with a US company over the last 70 years, Wagar said he did not "think that the chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, of Facebook or General Motors is going to decide on their investment strategy on whether Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump are president."
Trump's emergence as the Republican presidential nominee, and his opposition to the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact that's been led by the US, has prompted concern among Southeast Asian nations that Obama's Asia rebalancing strategy might be quickly followed by a pivot away, if Trump wins in November. Clinton, who is still in a race with Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination, has also spoken against the pact, which would bind nations in a bloc that currently excludes China. The focus has now turned to attempts to get the agreement ratified by Congress in a brief window after the November vote. (Read More)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Flipkart-ebay deal and the high stake battle with Amazon

Image
Flipkart has been and will continue to make acquisitions to increase scale India's top e-commerce firm   Flipkart   has raised $1.4 billion in its biggest fundraising to date as it takes on US tech giant   Amazon.com   Inc for a larger share of the country's burgeoning online retail market. Chinese social media and entertainment firm Tencent Holdings Ltd, the world's biggest software company Microsoft Corp and online marketplace eBay Inc participated in the funding round, Flipkart said in a statement on Monday, which will value the Indian company at $11.6 billion. That is lower than the $15 billion valuation achieved at its last fundraising in 2015, reflecting how competition has intensified in the e-commerce sector as companies vie for a slice of the world's fastest-growing internet services market. Amazon last year said it would invest over $5 billion in India, and has recently expanded into online video and grocery shopping, seeking to expand aggressively
Read more

Amazon now has customers in 100% serviceable pin-codes in India: Jeff Bezos

Image
If things fall in place, then a deal with a major offline retailer might happen by the end of this year, according to a source Amazon might be the most visited shopping site in India, but for Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of the technology giant, it is still Day 1 in what may be the second-most important market for the firm outside the US. Bezos, in a letter to customers, said that Amazon now has customers in 100 per cent serviceable pin-codes in the country and is shipping packages from more than 50 fulfillment locations in 13 states. From talking about how Alexa plays devotional songs in local Indian languages to Amazon India working closely with communities in rural areas, Bezos said that the online marketplace has now become part of the country's culture and has adapted all its services and offerings accordingly. Stressing that Amazon India has captured the top spot for the last two years, Bezos pointed out that Amazon is the most visited site in the cou
Read more

Hypertension drug recall by USFDA shot in the arm for some drug majors

Image
The recall was due to an impurity (N-Nitrosodimethylamine or NDMA) which was found in the recalled products that include valsartan and its combinations   The recent recall of a common  hypertension drug  in the US due to contamination with a carcinogen has opened up short-term opportunities for a handful of Indian players. The issue with sartan (hypertension drug) began around July, when the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) notified health care professionals of a voluntary recall of several drug products containing the active ingredient valsartan. Valsartan is used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. The recall was due to an impurity (N-Nitrosodimethylamine or NDMA) which was found in the recalled products that include valsartan and its combinations. According to the USFDA’s list of products under recall, four companies - Teva, Prinston, Torrent, and Hetero - have recalled products containing the valsartan active ingredient. The USFDA also place
Read more