Tag: Investment

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-Top News UK News

Cameron’s appointment to investment fund ‘engineered by China’

“China’s size, ambition and capability have enabled it to successfully penetrate every sector of the UK’s economy,” stated the report, which was critical of the Conservative government…reports Asian Lite News

The appointment of David Cameron as the role of Vice President of a billion-pound China-Uk investment fund and as Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was in some part engineered by the Chinese state, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) of British Parliament.

In its report, the ISC said that it is possible that their appointments were in some part engineered by the Chinese state to lend credibility to Chinese investment, as well as to the broader China brand. Earlier, in July 2011, the (then) Prime Minister, David Cameron, approved the appointment, on the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA).

However, media reporting at the time suggested that the intelligence agencies had concerns about the appointment and that Suffolk was interviewed by the Cabinet Office to discuss these concerns.

Indeed, the conditions imposed on his appointment included a requirement for him to “seek advice from the appropriate security authorities … about any risks to the confidentiality of communications resulting from his new appointment which might be of concern to those authorities”.

During this Inquiry, ISC’s predecessor Committee specifically asked the Cabinet Office to provide any assessment or information they hold on whether the Chinese government or ChIS specifically targeted Suffolk for recruitment to Huawei. But the request was refused, on the grounds that “we do not comment on individuals”: the response is telling, given that it is not employed as routinely as it might suggest.

That decision was chastised by the watchdog as a complete misreading of the Chinese government’s determination to invest in the UK to gain global technological dominance for the Chinese Communist Party.

The ISC found that China has been able to aggressively target the United Kingdom because of London’s “failure” to develop an effective strategy for dealing with the “national security threats” from Beijing.

Beijing: Photo taken on May 21, 2020 shows red flags on the Tian’anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Cai Yang/IANS)

Accusing the UK government of “failing to recognise the issues involved”, the report stated that China has penetrated “every sector” of the UK’s economy.

“China’s size, ambition and capability have enabled it to successfully penetrate every sector of the UK’s economy,” stated the report, which was critical of the Conservative government.

It added that the level of resources dedicated to tackling the threat of China’s “whole-of-state” approach “has been completely inadequate”.

“The nature of China’s engagement, influence and interference activity may be difficult to detect,” the report stated further. Further as per the report, what is even more concerning is the fact that the “government may not previously have been looking for it”.

“The intelligence agencies’ focus on covert Chinese activity meant that they did not even recognise that they had any responsibility for countering Chinese interference activity in the UK,” the report read.

The report took a critical view of China’s alleged interference in UK academia, targeting of industry and technology, investment deals involving China and its alleged involvement in the UK’s critical national infrastructure. (ANI)

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-Top News India News

India will need $10t investment for its 2070 net zero target

Prime Minister Modi will address the COP 26 Summit in Glasgow.(photo: twitter)


In addition to this, India will have to look at gathering funds to achieve the objective as well as having the desired technologies to meet the target in the long run, experts say…reports Asian Lite News

On November 1, 2021, at the UN Climate Summit COP 26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that India would achieve the net zero emission target by 2070, a rather ambitious deadline, which according to experts would require no additional greenhouse gases emission into the atmosphere.

With a year having passed since that announcement and 2023 about to commence, the challenge is a stiff one as India is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the US and it would require some real action on the ground to achieve this target, environment watchers have said.

There are a lot of short term as well as solid sectoral targets which need to be set to achieve this goal, they added.

Also, if comparisons with the US and China can be made, then it should be seen that both the countries aim to achieve the carbon neutrality targets much earlier than India.

China has said that it plans to achieve it by 2060 and the US along with the European Union (EU) aims to do so by 2050. To achieve this target, India will have to move away from its heavy dependency on coal and a proper roadmap is required to first achieve this goal, before moving towards achieving the larger target.

In addition to this, India will have to look at gathering funds to achieve the objective as well as having the desired technologies to meet the target in the long run, experts say.

According to a study, an investment of $10 trillion, starting from this year itself would be needed to achieve the net zero target. And if the deadline is advanced to 2050, then the amount may go up to $13.5 trillion.

Also energy transition, as mentioned above, to renewable energy also remains a challenge.

The economic benefits of India stepping up its transition to climate neutrality by 2070 are immense — boost of up to 4.7 per cent to the annual GDP by 2036 and creating some 15 million new jobs by 2047, according to a report by the High-Level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero. The benefits are even greater if India reaches net zero carbon emissions by 2050, said the report released on Friday.

A report titled “Getting India to Net Zero” released in August this year by the High-Level Policy Commission On Getting Asia to Net Zero, said that achieving the zero emission target by 2070 could boost the country’s economy by around 4.7 per cent above the projected baseline growth in GDP terms by 2036, which would be worth $371 billion and create around 15 million new jobs by 2047.

The report also noted that policies to initiate the clean energy transition will be crucial in determining when India achieves net zero emissions and how much it could benefit from it. Positive economic impacts are driven in part by an improved trade balance of $236 billion due to reduced demand for fossil fuels.

It added that by achieving the net zero target by 2050, India could boost the annual GDP by around 7 per cent ($470 billion) and around 20 million jobs could be created by 2032.

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-Top News UAE News

UAE investments in India cross $10 bn

Sudhir asked builders to learn from the experience of UAE real estate companies and explore opportunities for partnership…reports Asian Lite News

UAE sovereign wealth funds have invested more than $10 billion in India across renewable energy, telecom, road infrastructure among other sectors, the Indian envoy said during an event in Abu Dhabi.

At the three-day annual conference of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to UAE, underlined that bilateral relations have been accelerating with a surge in two-way investments. “We have made rapid strides in bilateral relations since 2014,” he said.

Bilateral trade has continued to strengthen with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in February 2022. “The India-UAE partnership is accelerating fast. We see this reflected in investments made in India by leading UAE companies in the last several years. In the last five years alone, more than $10 billion have been invested by UAE sovereign wealth funds across renewable energy, telecom, road infrastructure, affordable housing and startups,” Sudhir said.

Sudhir asked builders to learn from the experience of UAE real estate companies and explore opportunities for partnership. “Our bilateral relations offer you the opportunity to partner with UAE companies in a big way and also to learn from their experiences,” Sudhir said and noted that Indian companies were investing in UAE in a big way across many sectors, including energy.

Meanwhile, CREDAI members pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050. “When the entire world is waking up to the need for green real estate, as an industry leader, we need to walk the talk by evaluating and exploring newer ways to reduce, and reuse waste through recycling,” said Harsh Vardhan Patodia, president, CREDAI.

CREDAI also announced a slew of measures, including collaboration with HDFC to empower tier-2 and 3 cities with a $3 billion fund. The body will partner with India’s first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator for startups – Venture Catalysts & NeoVon – to set up a $100 million Spyre VC Proptech Fund.

“India is a start-up hub, and a lot of new-age start-ups are finding solutions to real-world problems more swiftly and effectively. Our Sphyre VC fund will bring together a lot of young leaders who will help us in bringing sustainable realty to life,” Boman Irani, president-elect, CREDAI, said.

Satish Magar, chairman, CREDAI, pointed out that the real estate ecosystem in India has witnessed the “best year in decades” on the back of pent-up demand post-Covid-19 and positive consumer sentiment.

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Business UAE News

Lulu announces massive investment in retail sector

Credits: Press release/

Lulu Group International is one of the few retailers who continued expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic by opening 50 large-format outlets including 44 hypermarkets and 6 fulfilment centres from 2020 till date, to take the number of hypermarkets, shopping malls and fulfilment centres to 235 across 12 countries including the GCC, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Egypt…reports Asian Lite News…reports Asian Lite News

Lulu Group International, operator of the Middle East’s largest organised retailer, announced massive investment in retail sector at the RetailME Tech & Marcoms Summit and ICONS Awards, organised by Images RetailME – the largest retail information and market intelligence platform in the Middle East – that saw 45 experts sharing their insights on the changing retail landscape in the region and the rest of the world.

Despite the headwinds and rising inflation worldwide, the retail sector is witnessing growth. The global retail sales revenue will grow from US$26 trillion in 2021 to more than US$30 trillion in 2024 – which is equivalent to a third of the global economy, according to industry reports.

A report released by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has projected the UAE’s retail sales to reach $70.5 billion (Dh259 billion) by 2025 — an annual growth of 6.6 percent.

Welcoming the delegates, Justina Eitzinger, Chief Operating Officer of Images RetailME, said, “Innovation, evolution and revolution – are the keywords that define the state of today’s retail industry which is in the middle of a tremendous transformation. While technology has undeniably enhanced shopping journeys, it can’t quite solve the problem of ‘experience disconnect’, which is where the creative human minds that are responsible for driving the company’s purpose, messaging and brand image comes into play. So we decided to marry the tech and marcom aspects and bring the minds in-charge of these two elements for a full day of thought-leadership exchanges, panel discussions, masterclasses, and more.

“Retailers have realized today that heightened customer expectations can only be met with the adoption of the right tech tools, which is why technology has evolved to become the most important catalyst of the retail industry.”

Lulu Group International is one of the few retailers who continued expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic by opening 50 large-format outlets including 44 hypermarkets and 6 fulfilment centres from 2020 till date, to take the number of hypermarkets, shopping malls and fulfilment centres to 235 across 12 countries including the GCC, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Egypt.

From 2020 till 2023, it has a pipeline of 91 hypermarkets and stores lined up for opening, of which, it has already opened 50 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Despite continued headwinds including COVID-19 and other challenges, we have continued to expand our operations across the world. We never stopped growing. “We are going to open 11 more hypermarkets this year and a further 27 hypermarkets and stores next year,” Nandakumar Vijayan, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Lulu Group International, said at the RetailME Tech & Marcoms Summit taking place at the Conrad Dubai Hotel.

For each hypermarket, the company usually invests around Dh125 million, he said. The total investment in 85 hypermarkets and six stores would exceed Dh10.62 billion in four years at this rate.

“Despite the outbreak of COVID-19, we opened 9 hypermarkets and 2 dark stores in 2020 and 24 hypermarkets and three stores in 2021 – at the height of the pandemic. We continue with our expansion this year despite the challenging environment. We have already opened 14 hypermarket and 1 store so far in 2022 with 11 more to open by the end of this year,” he said.

Lulu Group also has sourcing and regional offices in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa and Uganda. The group employs 57,000 professionals across the world. It has also partnered with the UAE Government to support the UAEs food security programme, by supplying foodstuff and consumer goods at an affordable price to protect the UAE consumers from inflationary pressure.

“Since 2020, we are part of the UAE Food Security programme and have been supporting the government’s initiatives to supply products at an affordable price,” Nandakumar said.

The RetailME Tech and Marcom Summit, which saw more than 45 speakers, panelists and experts offering new insights to the retailers, was attended by more than 200 retail professionals including CIOs, Tech, Digitisation, Marketing, Communication and E-commerce, Heads of the industry. They shared their success mantras, predicted trends, exchanged thoughts on the winning and losing technologies in retail, and discussed actionable strategies for the growing MENA retail industry that generates an estimated US$1.02 trillion (Dh3.74 trillion) in sales per year.

Anamika Priyadarshi, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Jashanmal Group, said, the most important issue is to find the right people who understand the data and could analyse the data for business growth.

“I feel the real problem is finding the right people to analyse the data so that we could understand the market pulse and put the data to good use. So, human resource – the right skill set, up-skilling them or re-skilling them as per the changing market environment is key to success,” Anamika Priyadarshini said.

Industry thought leaders such as Nisreen Shocair, CEO- Middle East, YOOX NET-A-PORTER, Ahmad AR BinDawood, CEO at Bin Dawood Holding, Dharmin Ved CEO 6th Street.com, Mark Thomson, Retail Industry Director at Zebra, Sunil Nair, Group CIO GMG, Kamran Abbassi, Group CIO Chalhoub, Leena Khalil, Co-founder at Mumzworld, Anna Germanos, Head of Retail and Luxury at Meta, Mark Tesseyman, CEO of Liwa Trading, have shared their path-breaking insights during the panel discussions and roundtables at the forum.

Ksenia Ternyuk, CEO of Reborn Retail and moderator of the panel discussion on ‘In-Store Technologies that make omnichannel a reality’, said, more than 6 billion people will be connected to the 5G mobile network in the next few years while by 2024, about half of the human interactions will be done through speech Artificial Intelligence – that will change the way people interact globally.

“The retail landscape will undergo this tremendous transformation. The question is how many of us are ready for this transformation?” she asked.

Adam Docrat, Head of IT at Aster DM Healthcare Group, said, “Success of the retail experience will be determined through customer choice and the speed in the delivery of products and services will be the crucial differentiator when it come to the success of retailers, as customers are becoming more demanding everyday.”

E-commerce growth occurred as a result of the high internet usage by the Middle East populace. The UAE’s e-commerce market is forecast to increase 60 percent to more than US$8 billion by 2025 from 2021, as consumers across the region continue to shift towards online retail, according to a new report.

E-commerce in the MENA region is fast catching up with global powerhouses such as China. The total e-commerce market size in the region is expected to reach US$49 billion in 2025, surging from US$31.7 billion last year.

The COVID-19 pandemic hastened the move to digital services as consumers switched to cashless payments and online shopping. Globally, digital payments are expected to grow to US$8.26 trillion by 2024, from US$4.4 trillion in 2020, a report by Statista said.

Organised by Images RetailME, a 17-year-old retail intelligence media brand in the Middle East with 45,000+ print readership and over 100,000 digital reach across the MENA region, the prestigious RetailME Tech and Marcoms Summit and the RetailME Tech and Marcom ICONS will celebrate the success of an industry that serves 411 million people across 22 countries in the MENA region.

The event is sponsored by Zebra Technologies as Retail tech Partner, TikTok as Community Commerce partner, LuLu Group International, Altavant, Aruba and Ithra as Gold Partners. Other partners include Geidea, Lenskart, SkyEx, Dalma Mall and CIO Klub.

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Business Economy

Bitcoin investors likely to lose up to $545 mn in 20


People also unintentionally (or occasionally intentionally) send crypto to a burn address, or to an address on a different network, and lose it…reports Asian Lite News

Bitcoin investors are likely to lose up to $545 million this year, owing to various reasons like forgetting passwords to their wallets or making a mistake in recording their “seed phrases”, according to a new report.

A seed phrase is a series of words generated by your cryptocurrency wallet that give you access to the crypto associated with that wallet.

Analysts have estimated that at least 20 per cent of all Bitcoin is lost and that the majority of those funds are irretrievably lost.

According to new research from CryptoAssetRecovery.com, between $272 million to $545 million of Bitcoin will be lost this year.

“Crypto gets lost for a host of reasons: People forget the passwords to their wallets; people make a mistake in recording their seed phrases and some die without giving adequate instructions for how to access their funds,” according to the report.

“However, this does not include Bitcoin lost to scams or theft.

“While such funds are lost to the original wallet holder, they are not lost to the total money supply of Bitcoin. Those funds will likely continue to circulate,” the report noted.

People also unintentionally (or occasionally intentionally) send crypto to a burn address, or to an address on a different network, and lose it.

A new Bitcoin block reward is issued every 10 minutes, and in 2022, the block reward is 6.25 Bitcoin. The block reward will halve again in 2024, to 3.125 BTC/ block reward.

“Since there are 525,600 minutes in a year, and a block reward is issued every 10 minutes, 52,560 block rewards or 328,500 BTC will be issued in 2022,” the report noted.

“It’s clear that the vast majority of the approximately 3.8 million lost Bitcoin were lost early in the blockchain’s history, before it had any economic value.

Given that between 2-4 per cent of the 328,500 Bitcoin mined in 2022 is likely to get lost, somewhere between 6,570-13,140 Bitcoin are likely to get lost.

“When Bitcoin’s price is approximately $41,500, this means that between $272 million and $545 million in Bitcoin alone is likely to be removed from the Bitcoin money supply in 2022,” the report claimed.

Bitcoin’s price on Wednesday fell below $40,000 as other major cryptocurrencies were trading in the red, according to Coindesk data.

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Business India News

Haryana’s PADMA to bring investment of Rs 25,000 cr


Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and Minister of State for Labour and Employment Anoop Dhanak were present, among others…reports Asian Lite News

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday launched a five-year programme named Programme to Accelerate Development for MSME Advancement (PADMA) that is expected to bring in investment of over Rs 25,000 crore.

PADMA is a multi-departmental and multi-agency programme which would not only promote the local products but would also give ample employment opportunity to the local youth, especially to the targeted Antyodaya families.

“Based on the principles of local yet global, PADMA aims to create a dynamic, self-sustainable and thriving industrial infrastructure at the cluster level for each block of Haryana,” said the Chief Minister while formally launching PADMA at a function here.

Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and Minister of State for Labour and Employment Anoop Dhanak were present, among others.

“PADMA, a five-year programme, will not only revolutionise the industrial landscape in Haryana through the development of PADMA industrial parks across all the blocks but is also expected to bring in investment of over Rs 25,000 crore in the form of infrastructure, common facility centres, business development service centres and set-up new industrial units in each blocks,” said Khattar.

He said around 10,000-15,000 new units are expected to be opened by next year in these clusters.

The Chief Minister said in line with Atmanirbhar Bharat and to support state Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), a tremendous focus has been on development of its MSME ecosystem. “With this in mind the Haryana government has set up a separate directorate for the MSMEs.”

“The MSMEs play a significant role in the economic landscape of Haryana, contributing over 22 per centA to the Gross State Value Added (GSVA),” said the Chief Minister.

He said under PADMA, one product in each block of 22 districts, has been identified based on the locally available resources, existing micro enterprise ecosystem, demographic profile, key opportunities, sunrise sectors and growth potential.

“If required necessary training and skilling would also be given so as to promote this sector,” he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Chautala said with the launch of PADMA a new benchmark has been set for taking the industries forward.

“One year ago, the blueprint of this One Block One Product was prepared and a survey and study were conducted before the implementation of this programme. The findings highlighted that there are various local products at block levels that have huge market potential. In a bid to give a boost to each block and their special product on a larger level, PADMA programme has been launched,” Chautala, who also holds the portfolio of Industries and Commerce Departments, said.

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-Top News Africa News UK News

UK signals West African expansion at Africa Investment Conference

UKEF has capacity to provide further support for UK trade in West Africa, with up to £3 billion available in Senegal, £2 billion in Cote D’Ivoire, and up to £2 billion in Nigeria…reports Asian Lite News

UK Export Finance has released new data today showing it provided over £500 million worth of support for projects in West Africa throughout 2021, the most in over two decades.

At last week’s Africa Investment Conference (20 January), the Prime Minister said the UK is already one of Africa’s biggest commercial partners but we are “determined to do much more – our shared task must be to ensure that Africa prospers from the green industrial revolution.”

The Conference is an annual showcase event, designed to partner investment projects in Africa with British investors. Over 3000 delegates took part this year, boosting trade and investment ties between the UK and the continent.

The government is also mobilising support from its export credit agency, UKEF, to boost exports to Africa – it provided support worth £2.3 billion in the past year, more than trebling the amount provided in 2018-19.

In West Africa this has been deployed to a range of vital infrastructure projects, helping to build major roads and bridges as well as providing medical and IT equipment, design services and environmental and social work.

The region provides a unique opportunity for UK exporters as West Africa has experienced a surge in economic growth since the early 1990s. Research shows that since 2000 its collective GDP has risen from $105 billion to more than $659 billion in 2020.

UKEF has capacity to provide further support for UK trade in West Africa, with up to £3 billion available in Senegal, £2 billion in Cote D’Ivoire, and up to £2 billion in Nigeria.

Minister for Investment, Gerry Grimstone, said, “We want more British firms to sell to the world, taking advantage of new opportunities that present themselves in growing markets like this. The potential is huge. This government has the finance available to back British firms going global in West Africa, supporting growth and development in the region and helping communities and local economies to thrive.”

Examples of successful investments include an over £40 million UKEF guarantee for Gloucestershire firm Mabey Bridge to build 87 emergency bridges used to strengthen flood defences in Ghana, supporting countries suffering from the effects of climate change.

In 2021, UKEF also signed its largest-ever deal in the region worth over £200 million to support the construction of six hospitals, with support from UK suppliers, creating jobs in the UK and improving health outcomes in the Côte d’Ivoire.

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-Top News Asia News Bangladesh

SPECIAL 2022: Hasina Seeks Global Investments

The Prime Minister urged the business people to maintain and improve the quality of the export items for upholding the image of the country…reports Sumi Khan

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday urged the business community to invest in research and development for determining the product, product demand and quality to expand their businesses both at home and abroad.

The Prime Minister also asked the business community to explore new markets for the export of Bangladeshi items and diversify the products, which are urgently needed for export.

“I always put emphasis on research. It’s also needed in trade and commerce. You need to determine the product, product quality and its demand through research,” Hasina said while inaugurating the 26th edition of Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF).

“Bangladesh is advancing, our GDP had crossed 8 per cent, but it slid down slightly. I believe we’ll be able to overcome all the hurdles,” Hasina said as she thanked all the stakeholders for their all-out efforts to run the economy during the pandemic.

She then briefly described her government’s steps and stimulus packages to keep the wheel of the economy moving.

Hasina also mentioned that the world has entered the era of technology as the fourth industrial revolution is in progress.

“Keeping eyes on that, we’ve taken a move to generate skilled manpower so that we never fall behind,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina joined the fair virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

The Prime Minister urged the business people to maintain and improve the quality of the export items for upholding the image of the country.

“You’ve to create your own branding and move forward,” she said.

Talking about the government’s steps for economic diplomacy, she said the government has completed its survey for signing PTA or FTA or any other form of business deals with 23 countries, aiming to enhance trade and commerce of Bangladesh with them.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Hasina mentioned, the country’s economy did not get completely stalled as happened in many countries around the world.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi presided over the function jointly organised by the Commerce Ministry and the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh and President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Md Jashim Uddin, and Vice Chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), A.H.M. Ahsan, also spoke at the event.

As the country’s economic activity has increased significantly, Hasina said, the demand in the local market is also growing fast.

She asked the business community to produce agricultural products, look into food production and processing.

“During the pandemic, food product demand is increasing in many countries and this will never slow down,” she added.

The Prime Minister also put emphasis on improving the quality and standard of the existing export items and finding out the demand for various products across the globe.

“You’ve to find out new countries and know their product demands,” Hasina said.

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-Top News EU News India News

EU’s investment negotiations with India to start soon

European Commission High Representative/Vice-President, Josep Borrell, said the world’s centre of gravity is moving towards the Indo- Pacific, both in geo-economic and geo-political terms…reports Asian Lite News.

European Commission and the High Representative on Thursday adopted a Joint Communication on the EU Strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

This is seen as a major development for the region ahead of the first in-person Quad meeting in Washington next week, in which key players of the Indo-Pacific i.e. India, Japan, Australia and the US are taking part.

“The EU is stepping up its strategic engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. This region is increasing in strategic importance for Europe. Its growing economic, demographic, and political weight makes it a key player in shaping the rules-based international order and in addressing global challenges. The EU aims to contribute to the region’s stability, security, prosperity and sustainable development, in line with the principles of democracy, rule of law, human rights and international law,” a statement said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “The economic, demographic, and political weight of the Indo-Pacific region is expanding, from the east coast of Africa to the Pacific island states. With today’s proposals and guided by our values, we are offering a strengthened partnership to advance trade, investment and connectivity, while addressing common global challenges and reinforcing the rules-based international order.”

The implementation of the EU Strategy will include in particular the following actions: Completing EU trade negotiations with Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand; resuming trade negotiations and starting investment negotiations with India.

EU strategy also includes stepping up implementation of the connectivity partnerships with Japan and India; supporting partners in establishing an appropriate regulatory environment and facilitating the mobilisation of the necessary funding to improve connectivity on the ground between Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Completing Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCA), green alliances, strengthening ocean governance, reinforcing support to healthcare systems and pandemic preparedness for the least-developed countries in the Indo-Pacific region is also part of the EU strategy

European Commission High Representative/Vice-President, Josep Borrell, said the world’s centre of gravity is moving towards the Indo- Pacific, both in geo-economic and geo-political terms.

“The futures of EU and the Indo-Pacific are interlinked. The EU is already the top investor, the leading development cooperation partner and one of the biggest trading partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Our engagement aims at maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, while building strong and lasting partnerships to cooperate on matters from the green transition, ocean governance or the digital agenda to security and defence.”

In another recent development US, UK and Australia agreed on a new Indo-Pacific security pact according to which Australia will get nuclear-powered submarines as part of the deal, dubbed AUKUS, which is seen as an attempt to counter China. (ANI)

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-Top News Business Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka invites global players to Port City

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urged global business leaders to make use of the country’s first service-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ)… reports Asian Lite News

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has invited investors from around the world to make use of the strengths and opportunities provided by the Port City Colombo, the country’s first service-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Speaking at the Sri Lanka Investment Forum (SLIF) 2021, President Rajapaksa said on Monday: “We encourage business leaders from all nations to make full use of the unique strengths and many opportunities that the Port City affords by investing here.

“Our vision is to make the Port City a key service hub for one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.

Port City Colombo(Wikipedia)

“Its residents will have all the facilities they need to do productive work while enjoying a very high quality of life in a vibrant tropical beachside environment that fuses the best of both old and new.”

The SLIF is a three-day virtual event organised by Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and the Colombo Stock Exchange to attract high-quality investors from around the world, reports Xinhua news agency.

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The event showcases investment opportunities in the country and provides investors with an opportunity to network with local policymakers and businessmen.

Rajapaksa told investors that his government has passed a legal framework which would establish special incentives and improve ease of doing business in the Port City SEZ.

Port City Colombo(Wikipedia)

He said that Colombo is one of the best-connected and most livable cities in South Asia and that the Port City project would augment these features by adding world-class residential, commercial, social, and entertainment facilities.

The President also encouraged investment in a broad range of areas prioritised by government policies, including trans-shipment and logistics, organic agriculture, value-added agricultural exports, large-scale solar and wind power, manufacturing, IT, and tourism.

“The government of Sri Lanka is proactive and pro-business. We will look very favourably upon investments that can have a transformative impact on our economy as well as our national profile, and we will do our utmost to create an enabling environment for the success of such investments,” Rajapaksa added.

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