In the oasis city of Kashgar, once a vital crossroads of the ancient Silk Road, history is not confined to ruins—it breathes through alleyways, fragrances, and stories of new encounters. Located at the edge of China’s far west in Xinjiang, near the borders of Central and South Asia, Kashgar is reinventing its ancient cosmopolitan role, […]

In a country where 96% of people say they know what cryptocurrency is, only 28% understand Web3. That tension—between headline-grabbing adoption and limited understanding—sits at the heart of the Philippine Blockchain Industry Report 2025, a first-of-its-kind benchmarking study of the nation’s blockchain ecosystem. Launched by the Blockchain Council of the Philippines, law firm Gorriceta Africa […]

For once, the tax system favors the many over the few. The flat 20% levy on interest income, introduced under the Capital Market Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA), doesn’t punish savers—it puts an end to years of built-in advantages that let the wealthy lock away capital and enjoy lower tax rates. Contrary to the social media […]

For years, global trade was the default engine of growth. But as we pass the midpoint of 2025, it’s sputtering badly—and not because of any natural cooling. This slowdown is man-made, self-inflicted, and increasingly perilous. According to the World Bank, global trade growth is forecast to decelerate from 3.4% in 2024 to just 1.8% in […]

As the global community searches for ways to accelerate climate action while balancing economic demands, China is offering its own blueprint: a detailed, case-driven report that blends policy insight, on-the-ground practices, and a vision for inclusive international cooperation. In a rare collaboration between academia and state-affiliated media, the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development […]

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest business organization, is calling for stricter enforcement of rules in the country’s electricity spot market and greater billing transparency by power retailers. The group warned that persistent payment defaults by some members of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) are distorting market operations and […]

A new report from Singapore-based fintech firm ROSHI has raised alarms about the growing credit card debt crisis in the Philippines, with consumer debt reaching levels described as “critical.” According to the findings, Filipino cardholders are carrying an average balance of S$2,092, while the typical monthly income is just S$492.26. This results in a staggering […]

Today, June 30, the country marks Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day, a commemoration of compassion, mutual respect, and an extraordinary chapter in shared history. The law behind this annual event—Republic Act No. 9187, authored by the late senator Edgardo J. Angara—was inspired by a wartime episode that quietly transformed enmity into empathy: the Siege of Baler, a […]

While South Korea turned long-term cultural investment into global soft power, the Philippines failed to match vision with infrastructure. In the late 1980s, as French cinema sparked late-night conversations among young artists in Seoul, a similar scene was unfolding in Manila. The Goethe-Institut was hosting film workshops that captured the social and political turbulence of […]

Hotel101 Global Holdings Corporation became the first Filipino-owned company to be listed and traded on the Nasdaq, debuting with an Opening Bell ceremony in New York on Friday, June 27. Now trading under the ticker “HBNB,” the tech-driven hospitality platform is built for global scale, offering standardized hotel units through a proprietary, asset-light model. The […]