Category: Business

Business

GlobalWafers’ Square Silicon Wafers Are Entering the AI Race — But Its Bigger Prototype Could Be the Real Game-Changer

Taiwan’s GlobalWafers is moving deeper into one of the semiconductor industry’s fastest-growing battlegrounds: advanced packaging. The world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier says wafers designed for advanced packaging should make a meaningful contribution to revenue in 2026, after generating only limited sales last year. The shift comes as artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and increasingly complex chip designs force semiconductor companies to rethink not only how chips a

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Business

Singapore Watchdog Clarifies: Hong Kong Mineral Boutique Owner Was Not Part of DNA Brands Investigation

SINGAPORE — Singapore's consumer watchdog has clarified that a Hong Kong-registered company that owns The Mineral Boutique brand was not investigated in the high-profile case involving DNA Brands' alleged unfair sales practices. The clarification is significant because the name The Mineral Boutique appeared in reports about a Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) investigation into DNA Brands Co Pte Ltd. But according to CCS, the investigation concerned specific Singapore outl

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Business

Toyota PH’s Filipino Workforce Just Swept Asia’s Skills Contest — But the Bigger Win Is Happening on the Factory Floor

Toyota Motor Philippines | Santa Rosa Laguna plant | Philippine auto manufacturing | Toyota Vios | Innova | Tamaraw Toyota Motor Philippines is not just selling more vehicles in one of Southeast Asia’s biggest automotive markets. Behind the numbers, a highly trained Filipino manufacturing workforce is helping turn the company’s Santa Rosa, Laguna complex into an increasingly important production hub. That capability came into sharper focus after six Filipino Toyota manufacturing workers won me

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Business

Singapore Worker Dorm Rents Rise 2.1% to S$495 as New Rules Threaten to Push Costs Even Higher

SINGAPORE — The cost of housing foreign workers in Singapore is climbing again, with average rents for beds in Class 4 worker dormitories rising 2.1% in the first half of 2026 to S$495 per bed per month. The increase may look modest compared with the dramatic rent increases seen during the post-pandemic accommodation crunch. But property analysts say the latest rise could be an early warning of renewed upward pressure as dormitory operators undertake major upgrades required under Singapore's t

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Business

Fujitsu’s 64-Qubit Quantum Computer Turns Heads in Taiwan — But the Machine It’s Building Next Could Be the Real Game-Changer

TAIPEI — Amid the towering semiconductor equipment, artificial-intelligence hardware and advanced packaging systems filling SEMICON Taiwan 2026, one machine offered a glimpse at what could come after today’s computing boom: Fujitsu’s 64-qubit superconducting quantum computer. Visitors gathered around the system at Fujitsu’s booth at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on September 2, an image highlighted by the Taipei Times under the simple headline “The age of quantum.” But the machine on di

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Business

Aboitiz, GCash Are Planting 1 Million Trees in Cebu — But the Real Test Begins After They’re in the Ground

CEBU, Philippines — Aboitiz Foundation and GCash are launching an ambitious five-year environmental push in Cebu, targeting one million new trees and the restoration of about 1,200 hectares of forest and coastal ecosystems in Balamban. But the bigger measure of success will not simply be how many seedlings make it into the ground. It will be how many survive, mature and eventually become part of functioning forests, watersheds and coastal ecosystems. The CarbonPH x GForest Project brings toget

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Business

LaunchStrong Has Helped 150+ Filipinos Build E-Commerce Brands — But Launching Is No Longer the Hard Part

MANILA, Philippines — Starting an online store in the Philippines has arguably never been easier. Turning one into a profitable business that survives rising competition, platform costs, logistics headaches and relentless customer-acquisition expenses is another matter entirely. That widening gap between launching a product and building a sustainable company is what Philippine-founded e-commerce mentorship program LaunchStrong is attempting to address as it marks its first year. Founded in 202

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Business

Singapore HDB Million-Dollar Sales Hit Record 201 in August — Even as Overall Resale Market Cools

SINGAPORE — Singapore's million-dollar HDB market has crossed a new psychological milestone, with 201 resale flats changing hands for at least S$1 million in August — the first time monthly transactions have surpassed 200. The record came despite a broader cooling in resale activity. A total of 2,524 HDB resale flats were transacted in August, down 5.1% from 2,660 in July, according to data from 99.co and SRX. Yet the number of seven-figure transactions moved in the opposite direction, rising

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Business

Bedok Condo Site Sells for Record S$1.42 Billion — New Homes Could Launch Near S$3,000 PSF

SINGAPORE — A prime residential site in Bedok has set a new record for Singapore's suburban property market after developers committed more than S$1.4 billion for the land, raising the prospect that future condominium units could launch at prices approaching S$3,000 per square foot. The New Upper Changi Road Government Land Sale (GLS) site attracted four bids when its tender closed on September 1, with a consortium comprising UOL Group, CapitaLand Development and Singapore Land emerging as the

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Business

PNB Holdings Turns ₱80.9-B Legacy Property Portfolio Green — Just Weeks Before Its PSE Debut

MANILA, Philippines — PNB Holdings Corp. is trying to prove that some of Metro Manila’s aging corporate landmarks do not need to be torn down to stay valuable. Instead, the Lucio Tan-linked property company is betting on renewable electricity, lower energy consumption, water recycling, technology-driven waste management and adaptive reuse to extend the commercial life of a property portfolio recently valued at around ₱80.9 billion. And the timing is significant. The sustainability drive is ac

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