The Philippines aims to buy two frigates, two helicopters and three gunboats for deployment in the South China Sea where a territorial dispute with China has lent urgency to the need to bolster forces, a Philippine navy officer said on Wednesday.
Philippines
A possible public listing of a stake in the base metals unit of Brazil's Vale SA (VALE5.SA) hinges on a rally in nickel prices of around 20 percent, its chief financial officer said on Friday.
Japanese telecoms firm SoftBank Corp has pumped in $250 million to become the top investor in Southeast Asian mobile taxi-booking application GrabTaxi Holdings Pte Ltd, its biggest investment in a Southeast Asian Internet firm.
China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang proposed a friendship treaty with Southeast Asian countries and offered $20 billion in loans on Thursday but held firm on the line that Beijing will only settle South China Sea disputes directly with other claimants.
Tajikistan made the greatest strides in business-friendly reforms in the past year, part of an overall trend of improving business regulations across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the World Bank said in a report released on Tuesday.
India's diversified Aditya Birla Group has submitted a bid for the Brazilian and the Philippine assets of cement industry leaders Lafarge (LAFP.PA) and Holcim (HOLN.VX), two persons directly involved in the transaction said.
Seasonal rains are set to disrupt nickel mining in the Philippines for the next four months or so, crimping exports to top buyer China and stoking a shortfall in the global supply of ore.
Indophil Resources NL said on Tuesday Philippine-based conglomerate Alsons Group has offered to fully acquire the Australian company for $0.30 a share in an all-cash deal.
A proposed Indonesia-style ban on exports of unprocessed metal ores from the Philippines may not be implemented for about seven years, the proponent of a bill before Congress said on Tuesday, potentially easing pressure on nickel prices.
The euro zone's struggle to avoid another recession will take center stage in the coming week in the absence of major U.S. data, as investors mull whether the ECB's new asset-buying plan is a prelude to even more radical steps.
The territorial dispute between China and Japan has caused the latter to pull out its investments from the country and redirecting its focus to other South East Asian countries where it has already funded companies with USD22.8 billion last year.
Online video platform Viddsee launched its new site Viddsee BUZZ to promote independent films from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines on social media and help them go viral.
Philippine consortium LT Group Inc (LTG) increased its stake in Negros Occidental-based integrated sugar mill and refinery Victorias Milling Company Inc (VMC) from 7.4% to 14.8% for an undisclosed amount.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based taxi app GrabTaxi closed its Series A round with more than $1 million from Singaporean state-owned investment firm Vertex Ventures to conquer Southeast Asia.
Bangkok, Thailand-based digital publication platform Ookbee landed $7 million in a Series B funding led by Japanese outsourcing firm Transcosmos to fuel its Southeast Asian expansion.