Politics
Russia shipped more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea in March in defiance of U.N. sanctions as the two countries have been forging closer relations, a senior White House official said Thursday. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Russian shipments have already topped North Korea's annual import cap mandated by the U.N. Security Council. North Korea is banned from importing more than 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum products a year under U.N. sanctions, approved in 2017 over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile tests. "Given the close proximi...
Kyodo News
An assembly plant to produce Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles opened in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone on Thursday. At an opening ceremony for the factory, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said, "Toyota is a giant company...When the giant comes to Cambodia with trust, many other companies will follow suit." "Cambodia needs this kind of investment," he added. The factory, operated by a Cambodian arm of Toyota Tsusho Corp., a group company under the Japanese automaker, will produce Toyota's Hilux pickup trucks and Fortuner SUVs. Toyota Tsusho CEO Ichiro Kashitani said his company "will contin...
Kyodo News
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Thursday it has begun reviewing membership for Indonesia, the first Southeast Asian country to request to join the intergovernmental body. The OECD said in February that it had opened discussions with Indonesia for its accession to the organization, whose 38 members mostly comprise Western nations. The Japanese government has expressed support for more Asian countries joining the Paris-based body. OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, in a speech Thursday, said the move came as a result of Indonesia's "remarkable economic reform,...
Kyodo News
Japan likely spent an additional 3 trillion yen ($19 billion) to shore up the yen in its second suspected currency market intervention this week, data by the Bank of Japan and market sources showed Thursday. Japanese government officials have remained silent on whether the country stepped into the market again late Wednesday in New York, when the dollar tumbled about four yen in about an hour, hitting a low of 153 yen. The latest estimate brings the total size of suspected yen-buying, dollar-selling operations on Monday and Wednesday to over 8 trillion yen, compared with about 9.2 trillion yen...
Kyodo News
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Thursday declined to comment on the yen's sudden surge earlier, as market participants suspect it to be another round of intervention by Japanese authorities to slow the currency's fall against the U.S. dollar. Japanese officials have not publicly confirmed government intervention late Wednesday in New York when the yen spiked against the dollar, leaving market players in the dark. Suzuki is in Georgia to attend a series of meetings related to the Asian Development Bank.
Kyodo News
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged Thursday to take the lead in formulating global regulations on the appropriate use of generative artificial intelligence technology through a new framework involving like-minded nations. In a speech at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Ministerial Council Meeting, Kishida expressed his appreciation to other countries for the launch earlier in the day of the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group. The creation of the Hiroshima AI Process was agreed upon at the Group of Seven summit hosted in May last year by Kishida in the west...
Kyodo News
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Thursday upgraded this year's global economic growth outlook to 3.1 percent from 2.9 percent, sounding more upbeat about the United States, China and the euro area due to slowing inflation and resilient demand. The upward revision from its February report came despite a sharp cut in its growth outlook for Japan as rising prices take a toll on consumption. Japan's economy is forecast to grow 0.5 percent this year, slower than 1.0 percent seen in the previous report. U.S. economic growth will be 2.6 percent, against its earlier forecas...
Kyodo News
Bank of Japan policymakers were cautious not to indicate the central bank's first interest rate hike in 17 years signaled the beginning of a monetary tightening cycle, while underscoring the need to guide policy as appropriate, minutes of the March meeting showed Thursday. At the March 18-19 meeting, BOJ board members expressed confidence that its 2 percent inflation target is attainable, with some pointing to the risk of higher inflation and the need to respond flexibly by possibly further raising interest rates. The Policy Board decided to use short-term interest rates as its major policy to...
Kyodo News
The president of The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings on Wednesday denied any plans to move the Yomiuri Giants baseball team into a 50,000-seat stadium to be built as part of a development project his company is involved with. The new stadium, a roofed multi-purpose venue that is slated to open in fiscal 2032, will be part of a redevelopment plan for Tokyo's old Tsukiji fish market. Toshikazu Yamaguchi, who also serves as owner of the group's baseball franchise, told a press conference, "It's only natural to want to try to use it (the new stadium), but no plans have been made around the concept of cha...
Kyodo News
Companies tasked with redeveloping the site of the iconic Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo said Wednesday they plan to invest 900 billion yen ($5.7 billion) in the project, which includes building a multi-purpose stadium. The consortium, including real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan Co., said it aimed to turn the location into a "gateway to Tokyo" that would draw people worldwide for sporting events and international conferences. "We will promote urban development by valuing elements such as the excitement brought by sports and Japan's world-renowned cuisine," Mitsui Fudosan President Takashi Ued...
Kyodo News
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