Latest news with #AIGrowth
Zawya
6 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Foreigners pour billions into Taiwan, South Korea stocks on AI, growth optimism
Foreign investors flocked to Asian stocks for the third straight month in July, with inflows into Taiwan hitting a near two-decade high and Thailand snapping its nine-month losing streak, buoyed by growth and AI prospects as trade worries fluctuate. Foreign inflows into most Asian equity markets have stabilised over the past three months as countries clinched better trade arrangements with the United States, calming tariff-related volatility and uncertainty in financial markets. Overseas investors showed strong interest in Taiwan and South Korea for the third straight month in July, pouring $7.78 billion in Taiwan, the highest since the 2008 global financial crisis, and $4.52 billion in South Korea, the most since February last year, LSEG data showed. The MSCI gauge of equities in Asia excluding Japan rose 2% last month, its fifth consecutive month in green, while benchmarks in Taipei and Seoul advanced roughly 6% each. Taiwan and South Korea were the top destinations in the region for foreign capital, securing a cumulative $25.7 billion over the past three months as the two dominant Asian tech exporters benefit from a global surge in AI-related investments. South Korea's shareholder-friendly reforms, political stability, and robust corporate fundamentals lured investors in 2025 after a dreary performance last year, though recent concerns over reforms to tax policy are posing new challenges. Foreign investors also net bought $499 million worth of Thai equities in July, the first month of inflows since September last year, as they scooped up stocks at relatively cheap valuations after a prolonged period of heavy selling. Even so, Thailand's uncertain political climate, challenging macroeconomic conditions, and an unnecessarily strong currency that undermines export competitiveness continue to impede any buildup of positions on these equities. Thailand's benchmark SET index surged 14% in July — its best month since November 2020 — but still not enough to erase steep losses suffered earlier in the year. The index remains 10% in the red, ranking among the region's worst performers. "We are cautious and underweight on Thailand as it remains in a fairly precarious position: high household debt, limited government spending, an uncertain political environment, and external negative events such as the conflict with Cambodia," said Kenneth Tang, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management. "If Thailand can settle these issues, it will clear up the path for its recovery." Indian stocks experienced sharp outflows of over $2 billion in July, the highest since February this year and snapping a three-month streak of net purchases. Indonesia and the Philippines also logged net outflows of $570 million and $29 million, respectively, last month, while Vietnam attracted $326 million as investors bet on the country's strong growth prospects after it secured a comfortable tariff rate with the United States. (Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
CNA
6 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Foreigners pour billions into Taiwan, South Korea stocks on AI, growth optimism
Foreign investors flocked to Asian stocks for the third straight month in July, with inflows into Taiwan hitting a near two-decade high and Thailand snapping its nine-month losing streak, buoyed by growth and AI prospects as trade worries fluctuate. Foreign inflows into most Asian equity markets have stabilised over the past three months as countries clinched better trade arrangements with the United States, calming tariff-related volatility and uncertainty in financial markets. Overseas investors showed strong interest in Taiwan and South Korea for the third straight month in July, pouring $7.78 billion in Taiwan, the highest since the 2008 global financial crisis, and $4.52 billion in South Korea, the most since February last year, LSEG data showed. The MSCI gauge of equities in Asia excluding Japan rose 2 per cent last month, its fifth consecutive month in green, while benchmarks in Taipei and Seoul advanced roughly 6 per cent each. Taiwan and South Korea were the top destinations in the region for foreign capital, securing a cumulative $25.7 billion over the past three months as the two dominant Asian tech exporters benefit from a global surge in AI-related investments. South Korea's shareholder-friendly reforms, political stability, and robust corporate fundamentals lured investors in 2025 after a dreary performance last year, though recent concerns over reforms to tax policy are posing new challenges. Foreign investors also net bought $499 million worth of Thai equities in July, the first month of inflows since September last year, as they scooped up stocks at relatively cheap valuations after a prolonged period of heavy selling. Even so, Thailand's uncertain political climate, challenging macroeconomic conditions, and an unnecessarily strong currency that undermines export competitiveness continue to impede any buildup of positions on these equities. Thailand's benchmark SET index surged 14 per cent in July — its best month since November 2020 — but still not enough to erase steep losses suffered earlier in the year. The index remains 10 per cent in the red, ranking among the region's worst performers. "We are cautious and underweight on Thailand as it remains in a fairly precarious position: high household debt, limited government spending, an uncertain political environment, and external negative events such as the conflict with Cambodia," said Kenneth Tang, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management. "If Thailand can settle these issues, it will clear up the path for its recovery." Indian stocks experienced sharp outflows of over $2 billion in July, the highest since February this year and snapping a three-month streak of net purchases. Indonesia and the Philippines also logged net outflows of $570 million and $29 million, respectively, last month, while Vietnam attracted $326 million as investors bet on the country's strong growth prospects after it secured a comfortable tariff rate with the United States.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Foreigners pour billions into Taiwan, South Korea stocks on AI, growth optimism
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Foreign investors flocked to Asian stocks for the third straight month in July, with inflows into Taiwan hitting a near two-decade high and Thailand snapping its nine-month losing streak, buoyed by growth and AI prospects as trade worries fluctuate. Foreign inflows into most Asian equity markets have stabilised over the past three months as countries clinched better trade arrangements with the United States, calming tariff-related volatility and uncertainty in financial markets. Overseas investors showed strong interest in Taiwan and South Korea for the third straight month in July, pouring $7.78 billion in Taiwan, the highest since the 2008 global financial crisis, and $4.52 billion in South Korea, the most since February last year, LSEG data showed. The MSCI gauge of equities in Asia excluding Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab rose 2% last month, its fifth consecutive month in green, while benchmarks in Taipei (.TWII), opens new tab and Seoul (.KS11), opens new tab advanced roughly 6% each. Taiwan and South Korea were the top destinations in the region for foreign capital, securing a cumulative $25.7 billion over the past three months as the two dominant Asian tech exporters benefit from a global surge in AI-related investments. South Korea's shareholder-friendly reforms, political stability, and robust corporate fundamentals lured investors in 2025 after a dreary performance last year, though recent concerns over reforms to tax policy are posing new challenges. Foreign investors also net bought $499 million worth of Thai equities in July, the first month of inflows since September last year, as they scooped up stocks at relatively cheap valuations after a prolonged period of heavy selling. Even so, Thailand's uncertain political climate, challenging macroeconomic conditions, and an unnecessarily strong currency that undermines export competitiveness continue to impede any buildup of positions on these equities. Thailand's benchmark SET index (.SETI), opens new tab surged 14% in July — its best month since November 2020 — but still not enough to erase steep losses suffered earlier in the year. The index remains 10% in the red, ranking among the region's worst performers. "We are cautious and underweight on Thailand as it remains in a fairly precarious position: high household debt, limited government spending, an uncertain political environment, and external negative events such as the conflict with Cambodia," said Kenneth Tang, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management. "If Thailand can settle these issues, it will clear up the path for its recovery." Indian stocks experienced sharp outflows of over $2 billion in July, the highest since February this year and snapping a three-month streak of net purchases. Indonesia and the Philippines also logged net outflows of $570 million and $29 million, respectively, last month, while Vietnam attracted $326 million as investors bet on the country's strong growth prospects after it secured a comfortable tariff rate with the United States.
Scotsman
02-07-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Scotland's AI transformation is opening up new job opportunities to thousands of workers
The recent announcement that Ravenscraig could soon be home to one of the UK's largest green AI data centres has raised eyebrows, but it represents a transformative step towards Scotland becoming a major artificial intelligence hub. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A renewable energy developer has earmarked Ravenscraig's former steelworks to become a data centre with battery energy storage in a £3.9 billion proposal. The proposal would create around 2,400 jobs, with 1,044 becoming permanent North Lanarkshire jobs and 440 set to be on-site roles. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Should the plans come to fruition, the centre is expected to contribute an additional 0.4% to Scotland's annual GDP, according to an independent socio-economic study. However, the wider implications of Scotland becoming a major player in AI innovation could bring far-reaching benefits across a vast range of sectors. Jobs Building Scotland's AI Infrastructure Raventcraig's proposed AI data centre has been put forward by renewable energy developer Apatura as part of the UK government's AI Growth Zone initiative, which intends to identify Britain's best sites to accommodate artificial intelligence infrastructure. The United Kingdom's AI Growth Zones would be distributed nationwide, with Scotland's post-industrial towns and costal areas set to benefit from embracing the technology. The proposals are set to form the foundations for the UK's AI infrastructure, and the sector has already attracted £25 billion in investment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scotland's prominent position among AI Growth Zone proposals reflect the positive outlook that Scottish businesses have already adopted when it comes to artificial intelligence. According to a recent survey published by the Institute of Directors (IoD) Scotland, some 84% of Scottish cross-sector leaders have claimed that they're already utilising artificial intelligence within their organisations across functions like administrative tasks, research, marketing, and data analytics. These insights position Scotland as a receptive location for building a nationwide AI infrastructure, and the technology could form a transformative economic catalyst for growth over the years ahead. Nurturing AI Talent Artificial intelligence is also inspiring new initiatives to upskill Scottish talent to work alongside the emerging technology. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Statistics show that AI is driving 37% of business leaders to upskill their employees in the coming two to three years, and this widespread push towards training workers can pave the way for a freshly skilled workforce to take on the thousands of new roles artificial intelligence is expected to create in Scotland and beyond. We're already seeing initiatives emerge to support Scottish AI innovation, and the recent launch of AI Discovery, an initiative delivered by CodeBase via its Techscaler startup support network, in partnership with the University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, and NHS Scotland, represents a significant step in nurturing talented postgraduates specialising in healthcare. AI Discovery was developed to improve the commercialisation of academic research and support scalable innovation in healthcare. The initiative maintains a focus on Scotland's postgraduate talent pool to turn today's innovators into tomorrow's AI founders to provide a technologically driven boost to the National Health Service. This commitment to not only supporting an artificial intelligence infrastructure in Scotland but also upskilling some of its most talented tech graduates is an indication of a growing AI ecosystem that can help to open further job opportunities at a significant pace over the years ahead. Sustainable Adoption Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scottish thought leaders have positioned themselves at the forefront of sustainable AI usage in UK workplaces. Richard Susskind OBE, professor at the University of Strathclyde, is one of the United Kingdom's most prominent AI advisors to both professional firms and governments alike and has been outspoken in his warnings over the implementation of artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity. Susskind has suggested that the disruptive power of AI could pose an existential threat to mankind if decisive action isn't taken to control its emergence. In terms of AI's disruptive presence in the job market, Scottish business leaders have also been mindful of the impact of artificial intelligence. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ed Vickers, co-founder of Edinburgh-based marketing firm LOOP Agencies, has suggested that employee concerns over AI have shifted from fears of being made redundant by the technology to being replaced by workers who are trained in artificial intelligence. In maintaining a strong understanding of the dangers of AI, Scotland can excel in the sustainable development of artificial intelligence in a way that wouldn't heavily impact existing job roles. With fears already emerging over how UK entry-level jobs are diminishing in the wake of ChatGPT's launch, the sustainable adoption of AI will take centre stage in the years to come. Unlocking the Potential of AI The news that Ravenscraig could soon host one of the UK's largest green AI data centres is a welcome sign that Scotland can thrive in the age of artificial intelligence while generating thousands of new jobs. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad With evidence that businesses are already preparing for the transformative potential of AI, Scotland is showing that it can become a prosperous hub for the sustainable implementation of the technology.
Business Wire
12-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Udemy Launches New AI Fluency Packages to Accelerate Workforce Transformation
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY), a leading AI-powered skills development platform, today announced a suite of new AI Packages designed to help organizations and professionals develop AI fluency. The new packages provide end-to-end skills development to accelerate an organization's AI transformation, underscoring Udemy's position as a trusted upskilling and reskilling partner to nearly 80 million learners and more than 17,000 organizations across the globe. Udemy launches a suite of new AI Packages designed to help organizations and professionals develop AI fluency Share 'At Udemy, we believe that building the right AI skills, sharpening them over time, and keeping them up to date is the key to driving stronger business performance,' said Hugo Sarrazin, President & CEO at Udemy. 'As AI adoption surges across industries globally, Udemy's dynamic marketplace enables us to respond to technological shifts with unprecedented agility. While traditional publishers struggle to keep pace, our platform can introduce and update cutting-edge AI reskilling/upskilling journeys in real-time, ensuring learners and organizations are equipped with the most relevant skills.' In today's uncertain global labor market, and with the rapid pace of change in AI, organizations need expert guidance and support to assess their current skills gaps and develop a clear path forward to drive better outcomes. That's exactly what Udemy's new AI Packages are designed to support. Customers can get access to: The AI Readiness Package for building foundational AI skills. The AI Readiness Package includes 50 curated courses along with a structured introduction to AI concepts. Learners will also have access to the Udemy AI Assistant which provides real-time coaching and in-course support to help the learner better understand the concepts and tools being taught. Additionally, learners can develop real-world soft skills through immersive, instructor-designed conversation simulations with Udemy's AI-powered Role Play. The AI Growth Package to support teams who want more specialized AI skills. The AI Growth Package is targeted at teams looking to develop advanced, role-specific skills including generative AI for performance and productivity, neural networks for data science and engineering, and agentic AI. It builds on the AI Readiness Package and includes an additional 30+ curated learning paths, multilingual support, and certification prep, along with access to both the Udemy AI Assistant and Udemy AI Skills Mapping, which helps leaders develop personalized and targeted learning paths at scale. These new packages build on the success of Udemy's standalone AI courses, which have already surpassed 11 million enrollments, and the recently launched 'AI for Business Leaders' program designed to help senior leaders build core AI skills as they guide their teams toward developing an AI habit and, ultimately, AI fluency. To complement the new offerings and support more advanced use cases, including broader digital transformation initiatives, Udemy continues to offer a comprehensive Enterprise Plan that includes access to 30,000+ premium courses and 200+ certification paths as well as a full suite of Professional Services that gives learning and business leaders access to expert help so that they can develop a fully customized, end-to-end program aligned with business objectives. With the introduction of these new packages, Udemy continues to expand its suite of AI offerings – spanning both content and platform – delivering on its mission to transform lives through learning and drive AI fluency for organizations and professionals worldwide. To learn more about Udemy's unique approach to AI upskilling and reskilling, visit About Udemy Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY) is an AI-powered skills development platform transforming how companies and individuals across the world build the capabilities needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving workplace. By combining on-demand, multi-language content with real-time innovation, Udemy delivers personalized experiences that empower organizations to scale workforce development and help individuals build the technical, business, and soft skills most relevant to their careers. Today, thousands of companies, including Ericsson, Samsung SDS America, On24, The World Bank, and Volkswagen, rely on Udemy Business for its enterprise solutions to build agile, future-ready teams. Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco, with hubs across the United States, Australia, India, Ireland, Mexico and Türkiye.
