TAIPEI -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Thursday confirmed that it is eyeing the company's first chip production site in Japan and that it will continue to build up its overseas manufacturing footprint to maintain long-term competitiveness.

C.C. Wei, CEO of TSMC, said the world's top chipmaker is conducting "due diligence" to determine the feasibility of a chip facility in Japan. Nikkei Asia earlier reported that TSMC is considering building a factory in the western prefecture of Kumamoto to address growing demand from

SEOUL -- The head of South Korea's central bank on Thursday signaled an interest rate increase is coming within this year, striking a note of caution about side effects from a prolonged loose monetary policy.

The Bank of Korea's seven-member policy board opted the same day to hold the benchmark rate steady at a record-low 0.5%, with one dissenting vote. But Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said keeping interest rates low for too long would worsen financial imbalances and undermine the country'

BANGKOK -- Thailand's effort to rescue its ailing tourism industry took another step forward as the island of Samui and nearby islands reopened starting Thursday for vaccinated foreign visitors, despite an outbreak of the COVID-19 delta variant in the country.

Hotel operators on the island are looking to ramp up capacity, betting on more foreign tourists as the government tries to kick-start the sector. Thai retail giant Central Group's hospitality arm will open a new resort on Samui island in August.

Bangkok is keen to

Dr. Frederick Kliem is research fellow and lecturer at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the Centre for Multilateralism Studies in Singapore.

Germany's new law on supply chain responsibility for businesses operating abroad, passed in the last week of regular sittings before voters elect a new parliament in September, was a momentous piece of legislation.

After much controversy, numerous amendments and significant resistance from businesses and lobby groups, Germany's normally pro-business lawmakers made German companies directly responsible for maintaining ethically sound and sustainable working

TOKYO -- Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing on Thursday stressed that the company does not use any materials linked to human rights violations in the supply chain amid rising concerns over forced labor in China's Xinjiang region.

Chief Financial Officer Takeshi Okazaki spoke to the media after the apparel maker posted a net profit of 151 billion yen ($1.38 billion) for the first nine months of this fiscal year, up 67% from a year ago.

French prosecutors are investigating Fast Retailing and other global apparel

TOKYO/SEOUL -- South Korea's government hosted emergency talks with the country's steelmakers on Thursday after the European Union put forward wide-ranging plans to decarbonize its economy, in a first sign of how the green policies could rebound on Asian exporters.

Meanwhile, China plans to launch its national carbon trading market on Friday, as a key instrument to cut carbon output by the world's biggest emitter.

The moves by two of the world's leading economic powers show how decarbonization has moved up the

TOKYO -- Chiyoda, a Japanese engineering and construction company, has signed an estimated 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) contract to build a copper smelting plant in Indonesia, the company said on Thursday.

The contract was awarded by a subsidiary of U.S. mining company Freeport-McMoRan's, and covers all aspects of the project from design to construction.

The plant will have one of the world's largest smelting capacities, and will cater to rising demand for copper in various

HANOI -- Vietnam's first all-cargo airline, led by local retail conglomerate Imex Pan Pacific Group, aims for launch as early as 2022 to take advantage of soaring demand in the air freight market.

The group known as IPPG will establish IPP Air Cargo at a capitalization of 2.4 trillion dong ($104 million). IPPG will take a 30% stake while other investors hold the rest.

IPPG sees a ripe opportunity to capture air cargo demand, which has surged

TOKYO -- Quad members the U.S., Australia and Japan, along with eight other countries, have begun joint exercises in Australia and its nearby waters through July as military tensions simmer in the Taiwan Strait and near the Senkaku Islands.

The U.S. and Australia kicked off their biennial Exercise Talisman Sabre on Wednesday. Defense forces from Japan, the U.K., Canada, South Korea and New Zealand will also take part in the drills, while India, Indonesia, Germany and France will participate