TOKYO/OSAKA -- As global interest grows in greener technologies, Daikin Industries and Toyota Motor are racing rivals at home and abroad to develop more energy-efficient motors.

Motors are the backbone of industry, used in everything from factories and office equipment to trains and home appliances. About half of all electricity consumed worldwide is said to be used by motors.

Adjusting the voltage and frequency of electricity fed into motors to improve their efficiency is already a widespread tactic in Japan. But Daikin is now working on software to adjust

TOKYO -- Honda Motor plans to build production lines dedicated to electric vehicles and debut its first EV brand in China as the Japanese automaker doubles down on the industry's electrification trend in the world's biggest auto market.

Honda's two joint ventures with local partners Dongfeng Motor and GAC Group will each set up the new production lines, the company said Wednesday. They would be Honda's first such specialized facilities.

GAC Honda will invest roughly 3 billion yuan ($465 million) to transform

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Fund manager VinaCapital will pour $100 million into solar power in Vietnam, the world's No. 3 solar market but also a heavy coal user that is expected to feel the impact of China's recently announced divestment from coal.

VinaCapital said France's EDF Renewables has invested in its SkyX Solar holding company but declined Nikkei Asia's request to disclose the amount. The combined $100 million will go toward developing 200 megawatts peak of rooftop solar

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's central bank on Thursday tightened its monetary policy for the first time in three years -- an earlier-than-expected move as the country seeks to reopen its coronavirus-hit economy and manage inflationary pressures.

The city-state, which also reported a preliminary 6.5% increase in gross domestic product for the July-September quarter, follows countries such as South Korea and New Zealand in backing away from an accommodative monetary stance.

Singapore's monetary policy is based on exchange rates

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved parliament Thursday for a general election on Oct. 31, as the lower house comes to the end of its four-year term. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, are seeking to maintain their dominance in the Diet despite political headwinds.

Kishida, elected as LDP leader last month, has said that the goal of the coalition is to retain a simple majority. While it may lose seats, the party hopes a fresh face will lift

TOKYO -- As Japan looked for a partner in its first-ever free trade agreement, it picked Singapore. When Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong came to Tokyo to meet with counterpart Keizo Obuchi, they agreed to start talks on the matter. There was a widespread view at the time that opening up the Japanese agricultural market was out of the question, but Tokyo moved ahead nonetheless because there was only limited trade with the city-state.

The World Trade Organization, however, required that free trade deals cover "substantially

SHANGHAI -- China's producer price index jumped 10.7% year-on-year in September, as manufacturers grappled with rising commodity price pressures, electricity shortages and supply chain delays.

The rise in factory-gate prices was the fastest since China started compiling such data in October 1996, according to National Bureau of Statistics data published Thursday. The price increase beat market expectations -- 10.5% in a Reuters poll, putting further pressure on the country's COVID-

SINGAPORE -- A Singaporean company that quietly supports some of the world's best-known digital tech brands enjoyed a moment in the limelight when it went public in New York this month, beating Grab, GoTo and other more visible Southeast Asian unicorns to a U.S. stock market debut.

TDCX, a provider of business process outsourcing (BPO), raised around $400 million in its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 1. It was the biggest U.S

JAKARTA -- Indonesia reopened the popular holiday island of Bali to travelers from select countries on Thursday, offering a ray of hope to the tourism-dependent economy, which has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

International travel to the island from 19 countries, including China, Japan and South Korea, along with a number of countries from the Middle East and Europe, is now permitted. The trial reopening will last a month, Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno said on Monday.

Despite the reopening, no international