Businesses turn to immersive experiences to boost sales amid stiff competition
Mounting pressure from e-commerce giants, high rents, and shifting consumer habits is forcing local businesses to reinvent themselves. As Mother's Day approaches, many are turning to immersive experiences in a bid to stay relevant. Some report revenue doubling since 2020, but for others, the shift is a gamble with no guaranteed payoff. Alxis Thng and Rachel Teng with more.
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International Business Times
37 minutes ago
- International Business Times
Malaysia Set to Enforce VEP for Singapore-Registered Vehicles from July 1
Malaysia is all set to enforce the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) for Singapore-registered vehicles crossing land borders starting July 1 to improve road safety. Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said in a press conference on Wednesday, June 4, that vehicles without a valid VEP would be issued a RM300 compound fine, which must be paid before they are allowed to leave Malaysia. "We're enforcing this from July 1 because ample time has already been given. As we've said before, we started with a soft advocacy approach on Oct 1, 2024," Fook said. The VEP system was introduced eight years ago, in 2017. It was postponed again, in 2019 and 2020, before being reintroduced last year. A similar VEP system is being developed for foreign-registered automobiles arriving from southern Thailand. Loke stated that anyone who have pre-registered but have yet to finish the VEP process will be punished and must pay the punishment before leaving the country. He added, "There's another category – company-owned private vehicles. If these do not have a valid VEP and no registration was ever made, the driver of the company vehicle will be fined." "However, if the vehicle has been pre-registered, we will issue a reminder notice instead of a fine. For this category, we are offering a bit more leeway because the process involves submitting various company documents." Loke stated that enforcement actions would take place outside of border crossings to avoid congestion. Fines must be paid cashless at road transport department (JPJ) counters, JPJ Mobile units, or online through MyEG. During the soft enforcement phase, officials randomly scanned 52,012 Singapore-registered vehicles and sent 2,245 reminder warnings (4.32%) to those who lacked VEPs. As of June 2, 231,018 RFID tags had been issued for individual private vehicles, including 2,660 for company-owned private vehicles.
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Saudi Arabia cuts July oil prices for Asia to nearly 4-year low after OPEC+ supply boost
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, cut its July prices for Asian crude buyers to close to the lowest level in four years on Wednesday, in what the market sees as the country's attempt to regain market share. Saudi Arabia has pushed OPEC+ this year to raise its output targets ahead of schedule. OPEC+ has cited healthy demand and low stocks as the reasons behind increasing production. Those reasons would normally prompt producers to raise selling prices. Saudi Arabia's state firm Aramco cut the official selling price for the flagship Arab light crude it sells to Asia for July to $1.20 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average. The OSP premium for June was $1.40 a barrel and in May it was $1.20. A Reuters survey had expected the price cut for Arab light in July to be 40 to 50 cents. Saudi crude OSPs are usually released around the fifth day of each month, and set the price trend for other grades exported by Iran, Kuwait and Iraq, affecting about 9 million barrels per day of crude bound for Asia. Eight OPEC+ countries met on Saturday and agreed to another big increase of 411,000 bpd for July, having increased by the same amount for May and June. The tables below show the full free-on-board prices for June in U.S. dollars. Saudi term crude supplies to Asia are priced as a differential to the Oman/Dubai average: July June CHANG E SUPER 1.75 1.95 -0.20 LIGHT EXTRA 1.00 1.20 -0.20 LIGHT LIGHT 1.20 1.40 -0.20 MEDIUM 0.75 0.85 -0.10 HEAVY -0.30 -0.30 0 Prices at Ras Tanura destined for United States are set against ASCI: July June CHANG E EXTRA 5.75 5.65 0.10 LIGHT LIGHT 3.50 3.40 0.10 MEDIUM 3.50 3.50 0 HEAVY 3.05 3.05 0 Prices at Ras Tanura destined for Northwest Europe are set against ICE Brent: July June CHANG E EXTRA 4.85 3.05 1.80 LIGHT LIGHT 3.25 1.45 1.80 MEDIUM 2.45 0.65 1.80 HEAVY 0.05 -1.75 1.80 Prices at Ras Tanura for Saudi oil destined for the Mediterranean are set against ICE Brent: July June CHANG E EXTRA 4.75 2.95 1.80 LIGHT LIGHT 3.05 1.25 1.80 MEDIUM 2.45 0.65 1.80 HEAVY -0.25 -2.05 1.80
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Asia First - Wed 4 Jun 2025
02:26:53 Min From the opening bell across markets in Southeast Asia and China, to the biggest business interviews and top financial stories, tune in to Asia First to kick-start your business day.
