TOKYO -- The Japanese central bank on Friday maintained its policy rate unchanged after wrapping up its two-day policy meeting, which sent the Japanese yen to its fresh 34-year low past the 156 line.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to guide short-term interest rates in a range of zero and 0.1 percent, a month after it ended the negative interest rate policy in its first rate hike in 17 years.

The announcement weakened the country's currency against the U.S. dollar to the lowest level since May 1990, raising the risk of forex intervention by Japanese authorities. (Japan-BOJ-Policy Meeting)

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HONG KONG -- The sixth session of the Hong Kong/Shanghai Cooperation Conference was held here Friday, where 20 cooperation documents were signed in legal services, trade, finance, science and technology, urban development, culture and other fields.

John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Gong Zheng, Shanghai mayor and deputy Party chief, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the conference. (HK-Shanghai-Cooperation)

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MACAO -- The 12th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE) kicked off Friday at the Cotai Expo in Macao on the largest scale since its first edition.

The tourism office of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government noted that this year's MITE expanded from two exhibition halls in the previous session to three, totaling 30,000 square meters, with 1,353 booths set up. It has attracted 668 exhibitors and units from 54 countries and regions. (Macao-Travel Expo)

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JAKARTA -- Indonesia's economy is expected to increase by 5 percent in 2024 and 2025, primarily coming from domestic private consumption and investment, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) projections.

"The combination of strong private consumption, public infrastructure spending and increased investment will maintain gross domestic product growth rates," said ADB Chief Economist Albert Park on Friday. (Indonesia-ADB)

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SINGAPORE -- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) maintained its estimate of 1 percent to 3 percent economic growth this year, following a 1.1 percent expansion in 2023, according to a macroeconomic review published Friday.

Growth in trade-related and modern services clusters is expected to improve from last year while travel-related and domestic-oriented clusters will continue to moderate but stay above trend, the MAS noted. (Singapore-Economy-GDP)

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HANOI -- The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee on Friday accepted the resignation of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue upon his personal request, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Hue will also leave his position as a member of the Politburo, according to a decision announced at a CPV Central Committee meeting. (Vietnam-Communist Party-Resignation) Enditem

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