Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
Tensions are expected around the Taiwan Strait this week. The island’s vice president and leading presidential hopeful makes stops in the U.S. on the way to and from Paraguay, moves that have sparked protests from Beijing.
Carmakers will gather for an international auto show in Indonesia, whose government is eager to turn the country into Southeast Asia’s hub for electric vehicles, leveraging its abundant reserves of minerals needed to make batteries.
Hun Manet will be nominated Cambodia’s new prime minister after his father, incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen, orchestrated a landslide victory for the ruling party in last month’s election.
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MONDAY
Hun Manet endorsed as Cambodia’s new prime minister
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen is expected to formally endorse his 45-year-old son as prime minister by sending a letter to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni. The official handover from his 71-year-old father, Hun Sen, who has ruled the country for 38 years, will take place Aug. 22, when Cambodia’s parliament convenes for a vote. In last month’s election, his party won 96% of the seats after the main opposition was barred from fielding candidates.
GDP: Indonesia
TUESDAY
India Prime Minister Modi faces no-confidence vote
India’s lower house of parliament is expected to begin debating a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over deadly ethnic violence in the northeastern state of Manipur, which borders Myanmar. A vote on the motion, which is likely to come after three days of debate and Modi’s response, is unlikely to succeed in toppling the government as it has a parliamentary majority.
Thailand’s Bitkub launches AI engine
Bitkub, Thailand’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, will unveil plans to incorporate artificial intelligence into its blockchain. The rollout of the Thai-language Bitkub AI follows Bitkub’s investment in ThaiGPT, an AI research and development company. The engine will power Bitkub Moonshot, a new subsidiary that will offer back-office and project integration services. Bitkub has been diversifying since the “crypto winter” of 2022 sapped investor appetite for digital assets.
Earnings: SoftBank Group, China Telecom
China, Taiwan July trade data
WEDNESDAY
Bank Indonesia holds first investment forum in Tokyo
Indonesia’s central bank will hold a one-day investment forum in Tokyo for the first time. The monetary authority overseeing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ largest economy will present nine carbon neutrality-related projects, along with speeches by Deputy Gov. Aida S. Budiman of the bank and other officials. Nearly 30 Japanese companies have been invited to the forum as Bank Indonesia seeks more investment in the country. It hopes to hold similar events regularly in the coming years.
Earnings: Sony Group, Honda Motor, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Unicom
China July CPI
THURSDAY
Indonesia holds international auto show
More than 20 carmakers will take part in the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show organized by the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers. The event, which is being held in a Jakarta suburb, starts Thursday. Exhibitors from Japan include Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and others. Japanese manufacturers currently hold a market share of around 80% in Southeast Asia but are struggling to stay in the race to offer electric vehicles. Their South Korean rival Hyundai, which already has an EV plant in Indonesia, as well as China’s Wuling, will also show off their latest models at the event.
Monetary policy: India
GDP: Philippines
Earnings: Alibaba Group, Swire Pacific, China Mobile
FRIDAY
Earnings: CapitaLand Investment, Olam Group
WEEKEND
Malaysia state elections
Six states in Malaysia — Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan — will hold elections on Saturday. Nearly 10 million voters will cast ballots to elect new state governments. There are 572 candidates contesting 245 state-level seats. While the outcome will not change the makeup of the federal leadership, the election is seen as a litmus test for relations between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan coalition and its former nemesis, Barisan Nasional.
Taiwanese Vice President William Lai begins tour of Americas
Taiwanese Vice President William Lai heads to Paraguay, one of the island’s few remaining diplomatic allies, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the South American nation’s new president, Santiago Pena. On his way there, Lai will stop in New York, followed by another stopover in San Francisco on his way back. Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party is the front-runner to succeed President Tsai Ing-wen in the presidential election next January.
China has objected to the stopover. It views the democratically ruled island as part of its territory and is loathe to give it the opportunity for displays of sovereignty. Many observers are concerned China will use Lai’s trip as an excuse to escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait or to conduct military drills around the island.