Canada's new prime minister just named the most diverse cabinet in history — here are some members

• Portia Crowe
 
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• Nov. 4, 2015, 3:40 PM
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REUTERS/Chris WattieJustin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire, walk to his swearing-in ceremony with other members of Parliament.

Canada's new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was sworn into office on Wednesday.

At the ceremony he revealed his 30 cabinet ministers — 15 of whom are women.

Not counting Trudeau, the 31st member, that means 50% of Canada's privy council is female.

Trudeau made a number of other changes.

He renamed the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship.

The Ministry of Environment became the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. And the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development was renamed the Ministry of Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

The new cabinet is also the most diverse Canada has ever seen — and not just because of the 15 women. From an indigenous attorney general to a minister who was once imprisoned and wrongly accused of terrorism, here are a few of Canada's fascinating new ministers.

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Jody Wilson-Raybould — Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice

Facebook/Jody Wilson-Raybould

Justin Trudeau with Jody Wilson-Raybould.

Wilson-Raybould is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation and was a regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations in British Columbia.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Wilson-Raybould was also a provincial Crown prosecutor.

Harjit Sajjan — Minister of National Defence

Harjit Sajjan

Sajjan has served in the Canadian army and as an officer in the Vancouver police department.

Sajjan, born in India, was the first Sikh to command a Canadian army regiment.

Kent Hehr — Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

Facebook/Kent Hehr

Hehr represents Calgary Centre. He became a quadriplegic after being shot as a bystander in a drive-by shooting in 1991. Gun violence and LGBT rights are issues he consistently emphasizes.

Maryam Monsef — Minister of Democratic Institutions

Facebook/Maryam Monsef

Monsef was born in Afghanistan and went to Canada as a refugee at age 11. She represents the Peterborough-Kawartha electoral district (aka a "riding"). She is the first member of Parliament to have been born in Afghanistan.

Amarjeet Sohi — Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

Amarjeet Sohi

Sohi is a former bus driver who represents an electoral riding in Edmonton.

He once spent 21 months in prison in India, wrongly accused of being a terrorist. Today, he is an outspoken opponent of Bill C-51, Canada's controversial antiterrorism legislation passed earlier this year.

Carla Qualtrough — Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities

Facebook/Carla Qualtrough

Qualtrough is a former Paralympic swimmer and is legally blind.

She is a lawyer and has worked with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.

Hunter Tootoo — Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard

Hunter Tootoo

Tootoo is the only Inuit cabinet minister. He represents Nunavut, one of Canada's three northern territories.

His new role as Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard marks the first time those issues have been seen as northern ones in Canada.

Marc Garneau — Minister of Transport

REUTERS/Devaan Ingraham

Garneau is a former astronaut. What's more to be said?

He was the first Canadian in outer space and flew on the Challenger in 1984. He now represents the Westmount-Ville-Marie electoral district in Montreal.

Here's a look at the full Cabinet:

REUTERS/Chris Wattie

SEE ALSO: 'We all underestimated Justin Trudeau' — here's what analysts are saying about Canada's surprise Liberal victory

More: Justin Trudeau Canada Features Women In Leadership 

Sony starts making premium smartphones in Thailand, in quest for profits

NOV 5, 20158:08 PM

[BANGKOK] Japan's Sony Corp aims to make 600,000 to 700,000 premium smartphones in the first year at its new wholly-owned plant in Thailand which began production in September, a spokesman said.

The start up of its first overseas mobile phone plant in two decades is part of Sony's strategy to turn around its loss-making mobile phone business by prioritising profits over volume and shifting its focus to high-end smartphones.

Teeradej Pruksawananon, a spokesman for Sony in Thailand, said the firm began small scale production of its premium smartphone models, including the Xperia Z3, two months ago and started shipping the phones globally from October.

Initial investment at the site in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok, was several billion yen, he said, without specifying the exact amount. "Sony finds it easier to implement cutting-edge technologies at its own plant to produce such phones," said a Sony spokeswoman in Japan.

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Sony currently produces most of its smartphones at its joint venture in China.

Its investment comes at a critical time for Thailand as its military-led government struggles to revive Southeast Asia's second-largest economy after taking power in a 2014 coup, with exports and domestic demand sluggish.

Thailand has become a major manufacturing base for Japan's high-tech sector with Sony and Nikon Corp investing in plants in recent years.

Last week, Sony's second-quarter operating profit came to 88 billion yen, its highest in eight years, driven by videogame sales that helped neutralise a fall in smartphone sales and keep the company on a recovery track.

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World food prices up 3.9% in October: UN food agency

NOV 5, 20156:17 PM

[ROME] World food prices rose in October, spurred by weather-driven concerns about sugar and palm oil supplies, but remained well below their equivalent level a year ago, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 162 points in October against 155.9 the month before.

The FAO said this was the sharpest increase since July 2012, however, food on international markets in October was still 16 per cent cheaper than one year ago, it added.

FAO cut its forecast for world cereal output in 2015 to 2.530 billion tonnes, from a previous estimate of 2.534 billion tonnes given last month. It raised its world wheat output forecast for 2015/16 to 736.2 million tonnes from 734.8 million.

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UOB's Greater China loans double to S$25b over 3 years

By

Siow Li Senlisen@sph.com.sg@SiowLiSenBT

United Overseas Bank's strategy of financing Chinese companies investing overseas is paying off, with cross borders loans doubling from three years ago to S$25.1 billion. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

NOV 5, 20156:54 PM

UNITED Overseas Bank's strategy of financing Chinese companies investing overseas is paying off, with cross borders loans doubling from three years ago to S$25.1 billion.

As Chinese companies expand along the One Belt One Road (OBOR) trade routes and as trade and investment between China and South-east Asia continues to grow, UOB has also doubled its cross-border financing to these companies over the last three years, it said on Thursday.

Loans to Greater China as at end-September 2015 rose to S$25.1 billion, almost double than S$12.3 billion in 2013.

"The bulk of the S$25.1 billion is from cross-border loans," said UOB spokeswoman Kelyn Tan.

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These loans were provided to companies investing in industries such as real estate, trading, natural resources and the consumer products and services sector, UOB said.

Since 2011, UOB has had a team dedicated to helping businesses seize new opportunities in the region. UOB's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Advisory Unit has to date facilitated the regional business expansion and investment plans of close to 600 new customers along the OBOR trade routes.

More than one-third of the new customers came on board in the first 10 months of this year.

Compared with the same period last year, Chinese FDI into countries along the OBOR trade routes from January to August 2015 rose 48.2 per cent year-on-year to US$10.7 billion while FDI into China amounted to US$3.6 billion, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

Said Ian Wong, UOB head of group strategy and international management: "Our customers are tapping on the large-scale infrastructure projects and increasing trade flows along the OBOR trade routes to deepen their presence across geographies."

Singapore is at the heart of intra-regional trade and investment flows between China and South-east Asia, he said. In particular, Singapore accounted for 85 per cent of the total FDI into China from countries along the OBOR routes.

The OBOR is an initiative that China proposed to increase its connectivity and cooperation with other countries. It comprises the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt that focuses on China's links with Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, and the 21st Maritime Silk Road aimed at increasing collaboration with South-east Asia, India and North Africa.

Mr Wong said UOB has a strong advantage in helping customers capitalise on the business opportunities arising from the increased connectivity between China and South-east Asia.

Singapore's third largest bank has the biggest network in South-east Asia among the three local banks. In July 2015, a Business Times report said UOB's South-east Asian network has 484 branches and offices. Rivals OCBC Bank has 443 branches and offices while DBS Bank has 135 branches and offices.

On Thursday UOB also officially opened its Suzhou branch, its 17th branch in China. Including four non-banking subsidiaries and associates, UOB has 21 branches and offices in China.