Springview Holdings Ltd. IPO: An Exciting Investment in Renewable Energy

“Bitcoin is a proxy [for cryptocurrency generally], and I believe it will head to $100,000 relatively soon, and other [assets] will follow,” Tapiero said.

Bitcoin’s quarter-on-quarter returns since 2015.

Meanwhile, some crypto industry Trump supporters say the former US president “lost their votes” after the widely criticized debut of a Trump-affiliated crypto project in September.

Three in four crypto owners said a candidate’s crypto policy will impact how they vote. Source: Gemini

Source: Cointelegraph

The Central Bank of the Kingdom of Eswatini, the landlocked country of 1.2 million people sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique, has released a design paper describing its potential central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital lilangeni.

The digital lilangeni would be a tokenized retail CBDC run on a distributed database, rather than a distributed ledger. Blogger and CBDC consultant John Kiff recently took note of the design paper.

A CBDC tailored to Eswatini’s specific needs

The CBDC would have hosted online wallets managed by financial institutions and hard wallets, most likely in the form of a smart card, that could function in the absence of internet access, according to the design paper.

The digital lilangeni would be intermediated, with financial institutions distributing the currency to users using infrastructure operated by the central bank. The CBDC would feature pseudo-anonymity that would preserve privacy without compromising Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering requirements.

Digital lilangeni payments would be programmable at the wallet level to enable automated payments or place restrictions on children’s spending, for example.

Eswatini’s CBDC in context

Cash remains the dominant form of payment in Eswatini despite the central bank’s efforts to advance a “cash-lite” society and the growth of digital financial services like mobile money and bank cards. The central bank decided to phase out checks in 2022.

Interoperability will be a key issue for the digital lilangeni, which has to work within the existing electronic money framework and international standards. The lilangeni is pegged to the South African rand.

The CBDC was designed in conjunction with Giesecke+Devrient using its Filia CBDC technology and has already been subjected to proof-of-concept and one sandboxed and one live pilot project. Staff training was a source of delay in the projects and would have to be addressed on a larger scale if the CBDC were to be implemented.

The Eswatini CBDC proposal resembles Rwanda’s envisioned digital currency in several ways. Like Rwanda’s digital franc, the Eswatini CBDC would be token-based and operate on a distributed database, which the Rwandans expected to be more reliable than a blockchain.

In addition, the Rwandan and Eswatini CBDCs feature programmability, which while looked at with disfavor in the Global North, could provide advantages in less developed economies. In Kazakhstan, for example, programmable CBDC is seen as a tool to battle corruption.

Source: COINTELEGRAPH

Malaysia is poised to exceed its national growth target in 2024 on the back of sound fiscal policies and an ongoing commitment to reforms under the Madani economic framework, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.

He highlighted that the country’s economic transformation is gathering momentum, despite facing challenges such as political polarisation, a widening socio-economic gap and ongoing geopolitical tensions.

"I believe that we all share the confidence that Malaysia is on track to exceed the national growth target of 4.0%-5.0% in 2024," he said in his closing remarks at Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2024.

The minister said that with positive macroeconomic indicators providing a strong setting, Budget 2025 can focus on continuing with sound fiscal policies for economic resilience and people-centric initiatives to ensure no one is left behind. He added that Budget 2025 will be forward-looking, inclusive and resilient. More than that, it will be pro-investment, pro-development, pro-empowerment, and most importantly, pro-people.

"At the finance ministry, efforts are underway to realise the Madani vision of ‘Building a Better Malaysia Together’. Through engagement sessions and roadshows in preparation for Budget 2025, the Finance Ministry has engaged with stakeholders from all strata of society — from the people to civil servants, think tanks, industry players, and capital providers.

"This is to ensure the creation of a more inclusive, more relevant, and more effective budget that will strengthen the national economy," he continued.

He highlighted that plans under the Madani economic framework are seeing evident signs of progress, with the second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growing 5.9%, supported by a steady recovery in key sectors like construction, manufacturing, services, and tourism. In addition, the strong performance in both foreign and domestic direct investments reflects growing investor confidence.

Furthermore, inflation moderated to 1.9% in August, helping to ease cost-of-living pressures on the people.

The performance of the local bourse, which hit an all-time high in market capitalisation of over RM2 trillion in June this year, underscores the resilience of domestic equities despite global uncertainties, he noted.

The minister pointed out that the ringgit has continued to outperform regional currencies, appreciating 12.5% against the greenback since February this year.

However, he said that while Malaysia’s growth is encouraging by the numbers, it tells only part of the story.

"After all, as a country, Malaysia is not defined only by its economy, but also by its people, its culture and its collective attitude towards progress. Therefore, her development must encompass more than just economic metrics; it requires a commitment to inclusivity, embracing the strength of our diversity, nurturing talent and fostering innovation," he added.

Hence, Amir Hamzah said how Malaysia pursues its next leg of growth depends not only on its ability to stay the course in executing sound policies but also on its capacity to be open to collaboration, innovation and committing to forward-thinking solutions that can have a meaningful national impact.

Source: The edge markets

Source: Euronews

European companies are calling for stronger European Union (EU) engagement in Southeast Asia. In fact, the latest EU-Asean Business Sentiment Survey reveals a record 59% of European businesses polled felt that the EU is not doing enough to support their interests in Southeast Asia, marking the highest level of dissatisfaction recorded since the survey was launched in 2015.

And it’s not just the companies talking; speaking to ministers, senior officials and policymakers across Southeast Asia as I regularly do, eyebrows are being raised at the EU’s absence in crucial areas where other global players are all too eager to show up.

This might seem strange to some. The EU’s track record in Asean is commendable: it is among the region’s largest aid and development donors, with several hundred million euros invested in projects across Asean Community Pillars and more funds allocated for future initiatives. However, the EU has not sufficiently highlighted these contributions.

Free Trade Agreements (FTA) have been signed with Vietnam and Singapore, which also recently signed a Digital Trade Agreement with the EU, while ongoing FTA negotiations with Indonesia, Thailand and soon, the Philippines are paving the way for even stronger ties. Add to that the trade preference arrangements with several other Asean member states, and the efforts of the Joint Working Group on EU-Asean Trade and Investment it is clear that on the trade front, things have never looked rosier. Credit is due to the team at DG Trade in Brussels for their efforts in advancing this progress.

Meanwhile, the EU and Asean now share a strategic partnership bolstered by a plan of action to bring it to life. On paper, it is an impressive document highlighting many potential and actual collaboration areas. Yet, much of the action remains behind the scenes, uncelebrated and unremarked on. That is a pity and a missed opportunity for Europe to sing about the work being done, while Asean’s other dialogue partners do this with great fanfare, even when their contributions to the region are smaller in comparison.

It should come as no surprise then that many of these countries enjoy a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Asean, while the EU can only hope to have its status upgraded in 2027, when both sides celebrate 50 years of bilateral relations.

The impact of EU’s lack of engagement on European businesses

Asean is central to the EU’s Indo-Pacific policy and has explicitly called for greater engagement with all its dialogue partners — not only to balance geopolitical dynamics but to drive more just, equitable and sustainable regional development.

Yet, despite these clear signals, the EU’s response has been lukewarm, creating a vacuum that is being filled by other global players, including Russia and China, who are more than willing to exploit the opportunities that come with deeper engagement.

The biggest concern for European businesses is the glaring lack of EU engagement at the highest levels in key areas. There is another opportunity for a meeting between the EU and Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) in September, which is traditionally one of the most important region-to-region interactions. No European trade commissioner has physically met their Asean counterparts in person since 2018, and it appears that will remain the case this year.

There have been legitimate reasons, such as travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, but in a region where Asean’s other dialogue partners consistently show up at the ministerial level, this absence is noticeable. Beyond the AEM-EU consultations, the only other regular ministerial meeting has been with Asean foreign ministers, where High Representaive/Vice_President Josep Borrell and his predecessor Federica Mogherini have been ever present at Post-Ministerial Dialogues.

The economic ministers’ meeting is one of many forums where the EU has been absent. While countries like the US, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia are engaging at the highest levels in regular meetings with Asean ministerial bodies on digital, health, agriculture, energy, transport, customs and financial services issues, the EU is often represented at senior officials’ level, and frequently not from those travelling from Brussels.

This leaves European businesses navigating the complexities of the Asean market without the high-level political support that their competitors enjoy. The lack of EU representation puts us at a disadvantage — we miss out on the opportunity to influence regulations, standards and policies that directly impact our regional operations. There is also a growing suspicion that European companies are being sidelined in favour of competitors from other countries whose governments are more visibly and actively engaging with Asean.

This is a matter of more than optics. It sends a message: the EU is just not as committed to Asean as others. This has the potential to undo years of trust and good work that has been built. The EU’s slip in the recent State of Southeast Asia survey reflects this, potentially harming the long-term prospects of European businesses in the region.

Opportunities for the EU to reassert its presence

There is still time for the EU to step up its engagement with Asean, but it requires more than just words on paper. Ministerial-level representation on energy issues would be a good start — Europe has established a continent-wide power grid and, therefore, should have valuable insights for Asean on what worked and what did not as the region develops its own power grid.

It should also be an active partner in the digital economy space at a time when Asean is negotiating what would be the world’s first regional agreement on digital economy. Given how the European Green Deal has ruffled feathers in this part of the world, high-level engagement with Asean environment ministers would seem a no-brainer. Much could be done to facilitate mutual collaboration on health issues, as demonstrated by the recent US-Asean Ministerial Meeting on health. The list goes on.

As economic and geopolitical alliances are increasingly shaped by who is present at the table, the EU cannot afford to be seen as disengaged. Admittedly, dealing with Asean is not always easy, and there will be difficulties — as there are in any relationship. But the region likes to be seen to be valued, deservedly so, and that means making an effort to visit even when there are no grand announcements to be made.

Europe and Asean need each other as partners, and like any friendship, regular communication is essential.

With a new European Commission being formed at the end of this year, we can only hope it will ramp up engagement with Asean going forward and see more European commissioners engaging directly with their Asean counterparts.

After all, Asean is among the few economic bright spots in the world today, and one of significant geopolitical importance. The EU should make efforts to become a proactive and reliable partner for the region. This will ensure that both the EU and European businesses have a strong voice in Asean’s most critical discussions, allowing them to continue to thrive in this dynamic region.

Source: Theedgemarkets