Modi meets Putin, Samsung faces strike, Philippines-Japan “2 plus 2”

Welcome to your week in Asia.

Several diplomatic events are planned this week. On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the same day, Japan and the Philippines will meet for a meeting of senior diplomats and defense officials. On Tuesday, a NATO summit will be held in Washington to mark the 75th anniversary of the military alliance.

At Samsung Electronics, South Korea’s largest company by market capitalization, the company’s largest union is threatening a strike on Monday.

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MONDAY

India’s Modi visits Moscow

India’s Modi will travel to Russia for a two-day visit at the invitation of President Putin. The two countries have held annual summits since 2000, but the last such meeting was in 2021 when the Russian president visited New Delhi. This is Modi’s first foreign trip to visit an individual head of state since he was sworn in for a third term in June. In mid-June, he traveled to Italy to attend the Group of Seven summit.

Samsung union prepares for strike

Samsung Electronics’ main union is facing a three-day strike in South Korea. The National Samsung Electronics Union has called on its 28,000 members to hold a rally outside the company’s headquarters in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, demanding that the company raise basic pay by more than 3% and change its “opaque” bonus policy. The union called on chairman Lee Jae-yong to meet workers’ demands, calling him a “puppet” who refuses to face them.

Japan and Philippines hold 2-plus-2 talks

The Philippine and Japanese defense and foreign ministers are meeting in Manila for a series of talks aimed at strengthening their strategic partnership. The “two-plus-two” talks are the second such meeting between the two countries, but the first for the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. They come against a backdrop of rising tensions between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea. Top of the agenda is the signing of a force access agreement between the Philippines and Japan, a pact designed to facilitate joint military training and cooperation.

Second anniversary of Shinzo Abe’s assassination

Monday marks the second anniversary of the shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the election campaign for the 2022 upper house candidates. A table was set up at the crime scene in Nara, western Japan, where people could lay flowers. The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, the man who is alleged to have killed Abe, has begun.

TUESDAY

NATO summit begins in Washington

US President Joe Biden will host NATO leaders at the Mellon Auditorium, where the North Atlantic Treaty was signed on April 4, 1949, establishing the international alliance. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will begin talks with NATO in Washington on deepening security cooperation with the group. Leaders from Australia and New Zealand will also attend. The three-day summit is expected to end with NATO’s first joint document with the four non-member states, clarifying cooperation on issues such as cybersecurity and combating disinformation in the Asia-Pacific region. Kishida will travel to Germany after the summit to speak with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Monetary policy: Malaysia

WEDNESDAY

Japan-Arab Economic Forum

Japan and the Arab League will hold a two-day Japan-Arab Economic Forum in Tokyo starting Wednesday. The forum will include a ministerial conference to discuss ways to strengthen economic relations between Japan and Arab countries, and a public-private economic and business conference to promote business cooperation. The forum was launched in 2009.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) China

China releases inflation data for June as concerns about weak consumer demand plague the world’s second-largest economy. Prices rose just 0.3 percent in May.

THURSDAY

Revenue: Fast Retailing (owner of Uniqlo)

FRIDAY

Trade statistics for China

China’s trade statistics provide an overview of the country’s trading relations with the rest of the world amid growing concerns about a flood of Chinese exports.

GDP: Singapore Q2

Income: Ryohin Keikaku (owner of Muji)