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Indonesia firm targets new $80 million startup fund

Bloomberg AC Ventures, an Indonesia-focussed venture capital firm, said it completed the first close of a planned $80 million technology investment fund. The Jakarta-based company raised $56 million at the first close, according to its partners. The fund will invest in about 30 early-stage startups in areas including e-commerce and financial technology in the next three years. AC Ventures was ...

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China to take part in WHO-backed vaccine program

Bloomberg China will take part in a World Health Organization-backed effort to provide a coronavirus vaccine to developing nations, filling a void in global health leadership after US President Donald Trump spurned the program. Beijing joined the $18 billion Covax initiative that aspires to give lower-income countries the same access to vaccines as wealthier nations. The move came despite China ...

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Jakarta aims for SE Asia’s vaccine hub

Bloomberg China supports Jakarta’s efforts to become the centre for vaccine production in Southeast Asia, Indonesia Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Pandjaitan said after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Indonesia has the strongest capacity for vaccine production in Southeast Asia, Wang said, according to a statement issued by Pandjaitan after the two held a discussion. Wang ...

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Luxury Thai hotels bet on 5-star quarantine in pandemic opening

Bloomberg A slew of luxury hotels opening in Thailand amid the Covid-19 pandemic are pinning their hopes on a government plan to lure high-spending tourists, betting those seeking five-star quarantine will help cushion the devastation wrought on the travel industry. About half-a-dozen luxury hotels that opened in Bangkok during the pandemic, or will open soon, from Four Seasons, Kempinski and ...

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Protests over Nigeria police brutality block main commercial hub

Bloomberg Protesters blocked a key route into Nigeria’s commercial hub on Monday, a day after President Muhammadu Buhari bowed to their demands to disband a controversial police unit. Hundreds of demonstrators forced motorists trying to drive to Victoria Island in Lagos, the main business district, to turn back at the Lekki Toll Gate in the south of the city. Dozens ...

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China indicts Australian ‘spy’ held for two years

Bloomberg China moved to prosecute an Australian writer detained in the mainland for almost two years on spying charges, the latest strain on an increasingly tense relationship between Beijing and Canberra. Beijing prosecutors indicted Yang Hengjun on allegations of espionage, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular news briefing on Monday. Yang, a Chinese-born Australian national who’s also ...

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Hong Kong bankers losing their jobs to Chinese rivals

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s homegrown investment bankers are rapidly losing their status as city’s go-to dealmakers, supplanted by mainland Chinese rivals who now hold a majority of senior jobs in Asia’s biggest financial hub. While the shift has long seemed inevitable given the expanding pool of mainland talent and dominant role of Chinese issuers in Hong Kong, the recent pace of ...

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