Culture plays an important role when it comes to business and communication in the Southeast Asian region.

“I consider myself lucky to be able to wear batik on several international events in Indonesia and overseas. It is a sense of pride,” Monika Nabillya, a 26-year-old accountant who resides in Indonesia, told The ASEAN Post.Batik is one of the most highly developed art forms of Indonesia’s rich cultural heritage. In 2009, UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) recognised Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Go-Jek, Indonesia’s first billion-dollar startup, is looking to expand its ride-hailing services to three to four countries in Southeast Asia, escalating its rivalry with Grab and Uber Technologies.Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Nadiem Makarim didn’t specify the countries or services that Go-Jek will target, but said in an interview they will be places with a large population and where cash rules, hinting that Go-Jek’s digital payment service will be a key part of its push into new ma

The Malaysian Grand Prix is "200 percent" cancelled after this weekend's final race, the circuit's head told AFP, adding that the loss-making event had been hit hard by competition from neighbouring Singapore.The high-speed Sepang International Circuit, with its tough, tropical recipe of steamy heat and unpredictable rain will disappear from the Formula One calendar after 19 races dating back to 1999. And Asia's second-oldest race after Japan is not likely to return a

The Wall Street Journal, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., is closing down print editions in Europe and Asia as a result of shrinking advertising.The final print edition in Europe will be Friday, with the Asian edition ending a week later, the newspaper reported Thursday in an article, citing company officials.

An electric car-sharing service will be launched in Singapore in December, in what the company behind the scheme said Wednesday was a first for Southeast Asia.BlueSG, a subsidiary of France's Bollore Group, said that 80 cars and 30 stations where vehicles can be picked up and dropped off would be operational by the end of the year.The group plans to roll out 1,000 of its custom-built Bluecars by 2020, as well as numerous stations and charging points.The affluent city-state – whose genera

Even by Asia’s low standards when it comes to having women on corporate boards, the progress of the region’s billionaires is lagging: Most of the richest men in China, Japan and South Korea run companies with few, if any, female board members. The situation is particularly extreme among Asia’s biggest tech companies with billionaire founders.

Uber Technologies, facing a federal probe into whether it broke laws against overseas bribery, has embarked on a review of its Asia operations and notified US officials about payments made by staff in Indonesia, people with knowledge of the matter said.As the Justice Department looks into a possible criminal case, Uber is working with law firm O’Melveny & Myers to examine records of foreign payments and interview employees, raising questions about why some potentially problematic busi

South Korea’s biggest cosmetics maker is revamping its products to suit Muslims and darker-skinned women in Southeast Asia as it tries to make up business lost because of political tensions with China over a missile-defence system.Amorepacific is pushing harder into Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam with a lineup that takes into account skin tones, the region’s humidity and the need for Muslim women to wash their faces five times a day before prayers.

Southeast Asia is a growing market for business. However, there is still plenty of untapped potential, in terms of both consumer demand and labour markets. With all eyes on the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states, business investors are presented with opportunities to generate lucrative returns on their investments within the region.