Latest news with #AsiaPacific
CNN
an hour ago
- Business
- CNN
US calls for Asia allies to boost defenses in face of China's ‘imminent' threat, Hegseth tells top defense forum
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday delivered a dire warning to the Asia-Pacific region and the world: China's designs on Taiwan pose a threat to global peace and stability that requires 'our allies and partners do their part on defense.' 'There is no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent,' Hegseth said in a speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier defense forum, in Singapore. 'Beijing is credibly preparing potentially to use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,' with People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces training daily to take military action against Taiwan, Hegseth said. He noted that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be prepared by 2027 to invade Taiwan, the democratic island of 23 million people that the Chinese Communist Party claims as its sovereign territory despite having never ruled it. 'The PLA is building the military needed to do it, training for it every day and rehearsing for the real deal,' Hegseth said, delivering some of his strongest comments against China since he took office in January. He said US President Donald Trump has pledged not to let Taiwan fall to China on his watch, and he called on US allies and partners in the region to band together to stand up to Beijing, both on the Taiwan issue and other regional disputes where China aggressively pursues its agenda, such as in the South China Sea. 'China's behavior towards its neighbors and the world is a wake-up call. And an urgent one,' the US defense chief said. But he said the US cannot deter the Chinese threat alone, calling on other nations to be 'force multipliers' against Beijing. 'We ask – and indeed, we insist – that our allies and partners do their part on defense,' he said. Hegseth urged Asian countries to increase their defense spending, pointing to NATO allies who have boosted it to 5% of gross domestic product. 'So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea,' he said. While Hegseth made clear that Washington does not seek conflict with China, he stressed the Trump administration would not let aggression from Beijing stand. 'We will not be pushed out of this critical region, and we will not let our allies be subordinated and intimidated,' he said. Hegseth's speech adds to heated tensions between Washington and Beijing. China has railed against America's efforts in recent years to tighten its alliances and stiffen its defense posture in Asia, while economic frictions rose to historic levels earlier this year after Trump imposed tariffs on China, sparking a tit-for-tat between the two countries that saw duties rise to more than 100% on each other's goods. The annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore has in the past been a place where defense leaders from the US and China can meet on the sidelines and foster at least a minimal dialogue between the two foes. No such meeting is expected to take place this year. China announced on Thursday that it would send only a low-level delegation from its National Defense University to Shangri-La, rather than its defense minister, who has spoken at the past five forums. When the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which sponsors the event, belatedly released a speakers list for the forum on Friday afternoon, the usual 8:30 a.m. time slot for a Chinese representative to speak was scrubbed from the agenda. At a Chinese Defense Ministry press conference on Thursday, a spokesperson ducked a question on why Beijing was not sending its defense minister to the forum. China was 'open to communication at all levels between the two sides,' a ministry spokesperson said, when asked about a potential sidelines meeting with the US delegation. Hegseth's call for allied cooperation in deterring China is a carryover from the Biden administration, but the Trump administration seems more strident than its predecessor. Ahead of the Singapore conference, there was broad consensus among analysts that unlike the turmoil Trump has caused in Europe – with threats to pull back from NATO and abandon Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion – the US role in Asia has largely been consistent, centered on a policy to counter Chinese influence and back Taiwan. Analysts noted that US-led military exercises, especially those involving key allies Japan, Australia, the Philippines and South Korea, have continued or even been bolstered in 2025.
Finextra
11 hours ago
- Business
- Finextra
Visa makes AI-driven commerce push in Asia Pacific
The future of commerce in Asia Pacific is on display at the Visa Asia Pacific Media Showcase, where the company announced a suite of product innovations and strategic partnerships to enable a new era of commerce for the region. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Jack Forestell, Visa's Chief Product and Strategy Officer said, 'Combining the strength of our global network with our leadership in payment innovation here in Asia Pacific, we are bringing new products and solutions that will transform commerce and deliver trust and security to AI-enabled payments across the region.' The Visa Asia Pacific media showcase highlighted how AI-enabled digital commerce will significantly change the way consumers across the region discover and purchase products and services. In the near future, AI agents will browse, select, purchase, and manage transactions on behalf of users, making trust in payments more important than ever. Visa's new AI-enabled solutions offer regional partners including AI platforms, fintechs, banks, and merchants a seamless way to connect to the Visa network to deliver secure, frictionless payment experiences. Headlining today's announcement, the company introduced Visa Intelligent Commerce, a new initiative that opens Visa's payments network to developers and engineers building the first generation of AI-powered commerce in Asia Pacific. Visa Intelligent Commerce: A New Era for Asia Pacific Visa Intelligent Commerce brings a suite of integrated APIs and a commercial partner program to AI platforms, enabling developers to deploy Visa's AI commerce capabilities securely and at scale. Visa announced today that it is in explorations with Ant International, Grab and Tencent to grow AI commerce by enabling a secure and seamless checkout experience. Ant International is a leading global digital payment, digitisation, and financial technology provider. Grab is Southeast Asia's leading super app offering ride-hailing, food delivery, digital payments, and financial services across eight markets. Tencent is a multinational technology leader that develops a wide range of digital products and services, including Weixin/WeChat, China's super app. Over the past 25 years, Visa's global network has handled 3.3 trillion transactions. Today, Visa is advancing its infrastructure, standards, and capabilities to power AI-driven commerce, opening new opportunities for consumers across Asia Pacific. Soon, AI agents integrated into familiar platforms will be able to transact using Visa's 4.8 billion credentials at millions of merchant locations worldwide. T.R. Ramachandran, Head of Products and Solutions, Asia Pacific, Visa, said, 'As global commerce continues to evolve rapidly, Visa remains at the forefront of delivering innovations that will enable the future of commerce across Asia Pacific.' 'We believe AI agents will play a growing role in commerce, from handling routine purchases such as ordering food, to more complex purchases such as securing event tickets or making travel reservations,' added Ramachandran. 'By combining AI capabilities with Visa's trusted payment infrastructure, we are enabling a seamless, secure, and more enjoyable experience for consumers, merchants, and businesses alike.' New Products and Capabilities for Asia Pacific Visa continues to expand its product portfolio with solutions designed to support the evolving payment needs of consumers and businesses across Asia Pacific. Stablecoins: Visa has been facilitating cryptocurrency transactions for over five years and is now expanding its offering to include stablecoin backed cards, settlement, and programmable money. On and off-ramps via stablecoin-backed cards allow consumers to use their Visa credentials to buy stablecoins with fiat currency and pay with stablecoin across Visa-accepting merchant locations. In Asia Pacific, Visa is partnering with DCS Singapore, DTC Pay and StraitsX on stablecoin-backed cards that support conversion through regulated infrastructure. Enabling seven-day-a-week settlement for stablecoins: Visa has settled more than $225 million to date in stablecoin volume that has been settled through Visa across participating clients. In Asia Pacific, Visa is working with StraitsX for stablecoin settlement. Through the Visa Tokenized Asset Platform (VTAP), Visa provides a platform for our partners to issue and manage fiat-backed tokens, offering interconnectivity to public and private blockchains, enabling programmable financing, trading of tokenized assets and facilitating cross-border money movement. Visa is looking to expand the availability of VTAP to more partners later this year and into 2026. Flex Credential: Visa's Flex Credential, a next-generation card that allows users to toggle between debit, credit, and reward points, continues to gain traction in Asia Pacific. Visa first launched Flex in partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company (SMCC), known as Olive, two years ago in Japan. Today, more than 5 million Olive account holders are benefitting from the Visa Flex Credential. The Olive card continues to outperform, with cardholder transactions averaging 40% higher than the national average in Japan over the past year. Visa and SMCC have expanded the Visa Flex Credential to support small businesses with the flexibility to switch between business and personal accounts using the same Olive card, enhancing access to credit and cash flow management. Visa is also collaborating with local banks in Vietnam to launch Flex Credential in the next few months. New Strategic Partnerships to Enable More Ways to Pay and Get Paid Visa is launching new services and partnerships to make it easier for consumers, merchants, and businesses in Asia Pacific to pay and get paid. Visa Pay: A service designed to connect any participating wallet to any Visa-accepting merchant, local or international, in-store or online, launches across Asia Pacific, home to the largest number of digital wallet users. Through partnerships with leading players including LINE Pay in Taiwan, Maya in the Philippines, OpenRice in Hong Kong, and Woori Card in South Korea, Visa is expanding access to its global network, giving consumers more ways to pay globally by tapping, scanning or online. Digital Identity: This suite of solutions includes Passkeys, Tap to Confirm, and enhanced data which are meant to identify and authenticate digital users. These solutions will reduce friction for consumers by being digitally native while improving payment security and authorisation rates with enhanced transaction data and state-of-the-art fraud prevention techniques. New partners in the region include Coles, a supermarket chain in Australia and Maybank, a leading financial services provider in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Visa Accept is a new solution that allows micro-sellers to receive payments directly to their eligible Visa debit card using any NFC-enabled smartphone. Launching in Vietnam, the service supports micro-entrepreneurs and informal sellers such as street vendors, freelancers, and rural service providers. Participating issuers will enable cardholders to accept contactless payments through their bank's mobile app.
CNA
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Milken Institute Asia Summit will continue to be held in Singapore from 2026 to 2028
The annual Milken Institute Asia Summit, which addresses pressing issues in the Asia Pacific, will continue to be held in Singapore from 2026 to 2028. This follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Singapore Tourism Board and Milken Institute. The event provides business leaders and senior government officials with a platform to address challenges, such as geopolitics and climate change. STB said the commitment reaffirms Singapore's position as the world's best city for the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions sector.
National Post
14 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
Achievers Strengthens Customer Leadership with Sixteen Total Accolades in G2's Spring 2025 Reports
Article content The recognition category leader with the highest usage in the industry also received three Regional Leader badges in major global regions, including Canada, Europe, and Asia Pacific Article content Article content TORONTO — Achievers, the world's most utilized recognition and reward software, announced today it has earned 16 badges across multiple categories in G2's Spring 2025 Grid® Reports. These accolades reinforce Achievers' unmatched ability to boost employee engagement and retention, fuel culture and business transformation through behavior change, and deliver measurable business results. Article content Known and trusted for its enterprise-grade recognition platform anchored in workforce science, Achievers empowers over 4 million users across nearly 190 countries. One of Achievers' standout differentiators is its unmatched adoption and usage – employees using Achievers receive 13 recognitions annually on average, twice the rate of other recognition platforms. The level of user engagement was solidified by G2: Achievers earned a coveted Leader spot in G2's Spring 2025 Enterprise Grid® for Employee Recognition Software report, fueled by exceptional user feedback and market momentum. With over 1,600 five-star reviews, users consistently highlight Achievers' ability to recognize both everyday efforts and major milestones, integrate seamlessly into daily workflows, and provide robust reporting and insights. Customers also benefit from exceptional support and innovative, consistent recognition and reward experiences. Article content 'At Achievers, our customers aren't just recognizing more, they're recognizing moments that matter seamlessly with science-backed strategies,' said David Bator, Managing Director, Achievers Workforce Institute. 'The impact is clear: they're doubling productivity and engagement rates, shaping resilient cultures, delivering better service, and witnessing stronger ROI. With 16 G2 badges and over 1,600 five-star reviews, our customers aren't just seeing results, they're helping 90 million G2 users understand what makes our approach to recognition so unique and effective. We're incredibly grateful for our passionate, vocal, and loyal user community.' Article content In addition to earning a spot as a Leader on the Enterprise Grid® for Employee Recognition, Achievers ranked as a Leader on G2's Spring 2025 Enterprise Grid® for Employee Experience and a Leader on the Mid-Market Grid® Report for Employee Engagement. Achievers was also named on the Enterprise Canada Regional Grid® Reports for Employee Recognition, Employee Engagement, and Employee Experience. Additional G2 accolades Achievers received this spring include badges for Momentum Leader for Employee Engagement and Employee Recognition, High Performer in Canada for both Employee Engagement and Employee Experience, as well as High Performer Enterprise for Employee Recognition. Achievers also earned the title of Regional Leader in Canada, Asia Pacific, and Europe for the same areas – bringing the total to 16 G2 badges earned in Spring 2025. Article content Achievers' exceptional rankings in G2's Spring 2025 Grid Reports build on a milestone year for the recognition category leader. Article content Achievers recently unveiled an AI assistant, a recognition toolkit, and new reward features, equipping customers with sophisticated tools to address the $438 billion management disengagement crisis. Its unwavering commitment to innovation and global excellence continues to earn industry acclaim. In April 2025, Achievers announced that it ranked as a Leader in Everest Group's Rewards and Recognition (R&R) Solutions PEAK Matrix® Assessment for the third consecutive time, also securing the #1 spot for vision and capability. Earlier in the year, Achievers and its customer Seattle Children's Hospital were honored in the Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards for their work empowering patients and families to recognize their healthcare providers, an initiative that set a new standard for employee appreciation in the healthcare industry. Article content G2 is the world's largest and most trusted online software marketplace. Every year, over 90 million people, including those working at major companies, use G2 to help them choose the best software based on real feedback from other users. G2 scores products and vendors based on reviews gathered from its user community and aggregated data from online sources and social networks. The G2 Star Rating is calculated by aggregating reviewers' answers to its 'Likely to Recommend' question (1–10 scale) and dividing the average in half. Its software scoring system leverages two proprietary scoring components, Satisfaction and Market Performance to determine overall G2 score and Grid placement. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Article content
Free Malaysia Today
15 hours ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Malaysia elected UN-Habitat Assembly president for 2025-2029
Housing and local government minister Nga Kor Ming described the presidency as 'a shared glory for all Malaysians', citing the country's efforts in sustainable urban development. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : Malaysia has been elected president of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) General Assembly for the 2025-2029 term. In a statement, the housing and local government ministry said the appointment was unanimously endorsed by all 193 UN member states during the assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, today. Malaysia takes over from Mexico, which previously held the presidency on behalf of the Latin America and Caribbean region. For the current term, Malaysia will co-hold the presidency and a seat on the executive board with the United Arab Emirates, representing the Asia-Pacific region. 'Together, we will ensure that this assembly bridges global ambition with local realities,' Nga said in his acceptance speech. 'To strengthen multilateralism and the UN-Habitat agenda, both Malaysia and the UAE call upon member states to redouble their efforts in implementing the New Urban Agenda.' Nga added that Malaysia's appointment reflects international recognition of the country's leadership. 'This is a shared glory for all Malaysians, as we continue to demonstrate our commitment and achievements in sustainable urban development, with 53% of our 156 local governments now leading Voluntary Local Reviews (VLR), putting us on track for full nationwide coverage by 2030. 'In co-presidency with the UAE, we stand ready to lead with integrity, inclusivity, and with steadfast dedication to the principles of the United Nations,' Nga said. UAE's representative, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Mansoori, director-general of the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, said it was an honour to jointly lead the assembly with Malaysia. 'This collaboration is marked by strategic coordination and a shared purpose for a better future,' he added. Headquartered in Nairobi, UN-Habitat was established in 1975 and became a full UN programme in 2001. It is the UN's top decision-making body on sustainable urbanisation and meets every four years to shape global policies for cities and human settlements.
