Welcome to Your Week in Asia.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella starts a Southeast Asian tour, kicking off with his attendance at an artificial intelligence (AI) conference in Jakarta, while Japanese leader Fumio Kishida is set to attend an OECD meeting in Paris later this week.
All eyes will be on China's factory activity index release on Tuesday for more signs about the health of the world's No. 2 economy.
On the earnings front, memory chip leader Samsung reports its latest results, along with some of Japan's biggest trading houses.
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MONDAY
Jokowi meets Lee Hsien Loong
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is set to visit Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the Bogor palace outside Jakarta. This is likely to be one of Lee's final meetings with a foreign leader before he transfers power to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in mid-May. Wong will accompany him on the trip, Indonesia's foreign ministry said. The discussions are expected to cover topics such as food resilience, the green energy transition and the development of Indonesia's new capital city, Nusantara.
Earnings: HSBC, BYD, GoTo Group
TUESDAY
Microsoft chief visits Southeast Asia
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is slated to begin a Southeast Asia tour starting in Indonesia, where he will attend the Microsoft Build: AI Day Jakarta. At the conference, he's expected to share insights on the new era of AI with local developers and Indonesian businesses on how to leverage the emerging technology to support their operations. After Jakarta, Nadella will take part in similar events in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, where he is scheduled to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
China factory activity
China's National Bureau of Statistics releases its factory activity index for April, a closely watched gauge of how the economy is faring. For the first time in six months, the reading for March came in above the threshold of 50 that separates contraction from expansion. April's figure will signal whether the world's second-largest economy continues to find its footing amid a persistent property crisis and tensions with the West over industrial overcapacity.
Samsung posts Q1 earnings
Samsung Electronics announces first-quarter earnings after surprising analysts with a strong $4.8 billion operating profit guidance figure earlier this month. The world's biggest memory chipmaker is keen to ride the artificial intelligence boom as big tech companies' demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a critical component for AI computing, rises sharply.
Indonesia opens EV show
More than 80 brands, including electric vehicle manufacturers and related businesses, are expected to take part in the Periklindo Electric Vehicle Show in Jakarta. Exhibitors from China include BYD and Chery. Their South Korean rival Hyundai, which already has an EV plant in Indonesia, will also show off its latest models at the event. Japanese brands dominate the conventional auto segment in the country, but Chinese and South Korean brands are seeking opportunities in Indonesia's electric vehicle market.
WEDNESDAY
Earnings: Mitsui Corp
THURSDAY
Japan's Kishida heads to OECD meeting
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to announce the creation of an international framework for generative AI at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Ministerial Council Meeting. During the two-day meeting in Paris, where more than 40 countries are expected to participate, chair Japan aims to take a lead in promoting development, utilization and rulemaking for AI. Kishida also plans to visit Brazil and Paraguay during his trip to show support for emerging countries' moves to join the Paris-based OECD.
Japan trading houses report earnings
Major Japanese trading houses Mitsubishi Corp., Sumitomo Corp. and Marubeni post earnings for the fiscal year ended March 2024, on the heels of Mitsui & Co., reporting Wednesday. They've been attracting market attention after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed investments in the mining-to-convenience store conglomerates.
Earnings: Japan Airlines, DBS Bank
FRIDAY
Earnings: Naver
