Category: 3. Business

Through Frontria, Fujitsu will provide participating organizations with trial access to its core AI technologies for disinformation countermeasures, AI trustworthiness (including fairness), and AI security (such as fake detection for fraud). By fostering collaboration, Frontria will refine existing technologies, generate new ideas and use cases, leverage IP and data, support application development, and drive market expansion, creating monetization opportunities while solving critical societal issues and enhancing organizational value.

Participating organizations and experts (as of December 2, 2025): Activ8 Inc., AKOS AI SRL, All About, Inc., Amadeus Code Inc., ASCII STARTUP, Atlas Associates Inc., Bengo4.com Inc., Prof. Oreste Pollicino (Bocconi University), Cloudy Soft, CROSS Business Producers Inc., Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc., DAIKO ADVERTISING INC., DAIKO WEDO creative & development Inc., Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd., Data Resources Inc., Digirow K.K., Digital Content Association of Japan, Fileforce Inc, Fujitsu Limited, Glocalist Co., Ltd., Prof. Nicolas Lesca (University Grenoble Alpes), Prof. Amélie Favreau (University Grenoble Alpes), G-Search Limited, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, InfoCom Research Inc., Prof. Shinichi Yamaguchi (International University of Japan), Intesa Sanpaolo, LARUS Business Automation S.r.l., LY Corporation, Prof. Ananiadou Sophia (The University of Manchester), Doctor Batista-Navarro Riza Theresa (The University of Manchester), Prof. Junichi Tsujii (AIST & The University of Manchester), Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company, Meltwater Japan, Miotsukushi Analytics Co. Ltd., Miura & Partners, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Associate Prof. Abhinav Dhall (Monash University), Mori Hamada & Matsumoto, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc., Nebuly, Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd., Prof. Shin’ichi Arakawa (The University of Osaka), POCKET RD Inc., Ridgelinez Limited, Prof. Kazutoshi Sasahara (Institute of Science Tokyo), Center for Education in Healthcare Innovation, Institute of Science Tokyo, Consortium for Medical and Drug Discovery Data Science, SIA Media Inc, Sparticle Inc., Spectee Inc., TDSE Inc., TOEI ADVERTISING Ltd., Tohoku University, Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc., Prof. Masaki Aida (Tokyo Metropolitan University), Trusted Corporation, Uber AI Solutions.

For comments from participating organizations and information regarding company HQs please refer to these links:

I am deeply honored to have been asked to speak here today about the remarkable legacy of George Shultz. Just to be clear, I will not address current economic conditions or monetary policy.

I have been an admirer of George Shultz since my college years. I saw him then and now as a great role model, as I mentioned a few months ago when delivering the Baccalaureate address to Princeton’s class of 2025, 50 years after my own graduation.¹

As I told the graduates, when I faced the world after college, I had no real plan, but knew that I wanted to combine a private-sector career with public service. I had in mind a few well-known public figures of the era, especially George Shultz, whose picture was on the wall of the Princeton eating club of which both of us were members. George may also have caught my attention because my dad was a labor lawyer who represented one of the major steel companies in collective bargaining. Like George, my father had both a belief in the collective bargaining process and a deep respect for workers.

I followed George’s career with interest through the years. It didn’t occur to me that I would ever have the honor of meeting him. But I did meet him after I joined the Fed in 2012, as I visited Stanford from time to time. I remember energetic economic discussions at group lunches in his conference room at Hoover. George was also kind enough to host John Taylor, Michael, and me for a chilly round of golf on a rainy March day.

Today, our focus is on George’s extraordinarily broad economic accomplishments. I also want to celebrate the remarkable man and policymaker that he was. Several things stand out for me.

He was a man who combined strong principles and unshakeable integrity with common sense and a practical, problem-solving approach to policy. He had a deep belief in the wisdom of markets and a desire to let them work whenever possible without government direction. That theme runs through many issues we will discuss, including collective bargaining, wage and price controls, and exchange rates.

But he was not an absolutist and saw that there are sometimes market failures that should be addressed by public policy. As one of the most successful policymakers of his era, George brought the intellectual rigor of an academic to the practical, constrained, messy work of policymaking. Through four cabinet appointments, he dealt with many of the great issues of his day, with remarkable success. And he kept at it long after leaving public office, making important contributions on health care reform, climate change and nuclear disarmament.

He may be less well known for this, but George Shultz was deeply concerned about racial discrimination in the workplace and our society more broadly. He consistently and effectively used his positions of authority to increase opportunities for minorities. He later noted that there was both a moral and an economic basis for this.

He stuck to his principles while also treating people with honesty and respect, including those with whom he had policy disagreements.² Labor leaders welcomed his appointment as Secretary of Labor. As many of his contemporaries remarked, faced with divergent views and difficult issues, he was extraordinarily good at steering people toward agreement. A key part of that strategy was to let the parties reach the final agreement themselves. That way, they owned the agreement and were more likely to honor it. His friendships and collaborations were beyond number, and knew no partisan bounds.

He often said that trust is the coin of the realm, and that good things were only possible where there was mutual trust.³ His integrity provided the basis for that trust. All of those who aspire to serve the public can learn from his example.

---

1. See Jerome H. Powell (2025), “Baccalaureate Remarks,” (PDF) speech delivered at Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., May 25. Return to text

2. See Charles Moritz, ed. (1970), Current Biography Yearbook 1969 (New York: The H.W. Wilson Company). Shultz’s background as a mediator served him well in economic policymaking, and Paul Volcker would later say of Shultz, “Time and again he would work with almost inhuman patience to bring a group to agreement upon a decision all could support, at times submerging his own preferences”; see Philip Taubman (2023), In the Nation’s Service: The Life and Times of George P. Shultz (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press), p. 23. Return to text

3. Shultz summed up his views in this area in the mottoes “Trust is the coin of the realm” and “Respect your adversaries”; see George P. Shultz (2016), Learning from Experience (Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press). Return to text

Tokyo, December 2, 2025 – NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) will begin offering its “NEC AI Agent Service for Procurement Negotiations” in Japan starting this December. This service utilizes NEC’s proprietary AI technology, “Automated Negotiation AI,” to autonomously generate optimal transaction terms for procurement operations in the manufacturing industry and to negotiate with suppliers.

This service automates complex delivery date and quantity adjustment negotiations in manufacturing, drastically reducing the time spent on transaction negotiations. It enables rapid response to demand fluctuations and significantly improves operational efficiency.

NEC conducted a proof-of-concept (POC) at an NEC Group company in November 2024, successfully automating delivery date and quantity adjustments with suppliers for the procurement of approximately 1,300 parts.

In this proof-of-concept, the “automated agreement rate”—the percentage of agreements reached solely by AI without procurement personnel intervention—reached 95%. Negotiations concluded under optimal conditions for both the supplier and NEC. This confirmed that the adjustment time from negotiation initiation to completion, which previously took several hours to days, could be reduced to just approximately 80 seconds, achieving a significant improvement in operational efficiency.

In recent years, negotiations among stakeholders in the manufacturing industry have become increasingly complex due to diversifying demand and the extensive supply chains spanning from raw material procurement to final product delivery. Amid demands for shortening overall supply chain lead times and adapting to high-mix, low-volume production, procurement operations must address risks in a VUCA environment, making efficiency and speed through digital transformation (DX) advancement an urgent priority.

However, many companies lack the capacity to swiftly optimize production systems and procurement plans in response to unexpected fluctuations in demand, hindered by factors such as labor shortages, overly personalized work processes, and cost pressures. Particularly, adjusting delivery dates and quantities for parts and raw materials is a critical task directly linked to production planning and potentially leading to lost sales opportunities. Yet, due to its complexity and the time required for negotiations, many items face the challenge of insufficient coordination.

NEC developed Automated Negotiation AI to address these challenges, leveraging its proprietary AI technology cultivated through years of research. This technology enables systems to autonomously negotiate with business partners without human intervention, supporting the formation of optimal agreements. This allows for the coordination of procurement timing even for vast numbers of items that were previously unmanageable manually. By curbing excess inventory, preventing stockouts, and avoiding delivery delays, it creates a supply chain resilient to demand fluctuations. Through this service, NEC resolves challenges in increasingly complex supply chains and contributes to enhancing customer competitiveness.

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks staged a rebound on Tuesday following a selloff that saw cryptocurrencies lead declines in global risk assets. Japanese government bonds were in focus ahead of an auction of 10-year debt.

A gauge of Asian equities rose 0.5%, with South Korea’s tech-heavy market outperforming. Futures contracts for US stock indexes edged higher after the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.4% on Monday. Bitcoin fluctuated early in Asia after losing more than 5% on Monday.

This year’s final auction of 10-year Japanese bonds — scheduled for later Tuesday — has assumed greater importance for traders after increased speculation over an interest-rate hike saw yields surge. The yen traded weaker against the dollar after rising the most in a week on Monday, when Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda sent the clearest hint yet that his board might raise rates soon.

“Asia is trying to stabilize after Monday’s shake-out, but it still feels more like a pause than a full-hearted risk-on,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets in Singapore. “The bigger swing factor for sentiment today is Japan’s 10-year JGB auction. With markets increasingly treating a December BOJ hike as the base case, any sign of weak demand or a soft bid-to-cover will reverberate well beyond Tokyo.”

Global markets were off to a shaky start in December on Monday as the renewed selloff in cryptocurrencies and hawkish comments from BOJ’s Ueda spurred risk aversion. Focus in the coming days will remain on central bank actions as Federal Reserve policymakers meet Dec. 9-10 and the BOJ decides on rates on Dec. 19.

JGBs should be watched after yields “have been on a tear” this year on expectations of larger budget deficits and another rate hike by the BOJ, Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group, wrote in a LinkedIn post. “This is important because rising JGB yields can help push up the yields of other longer-dated sovereign bonds, adding to borrowing costs when some governments can least afford it.”

Treasuries steadied on Tuesday after falling across the curve in the previous session, when the 10-year yield jumped seven basis points to around 4.1%. A gauge of the dollar was little changed. Australia’s 10-year yield climbed six basis points.

Elsewhere, silver retreated from a record high, with a key technical indicator showing that a six-day rally through Monday had taken the white metal into overbought territory. Gold also declined while oil edged higher.

US Economy

In the US, data Monday showed factory activity shrank in November by the most in four months as orders weakened.

Fed officials will get a dated reading on their preferred inflation gauge before next week’s rate decision. The report due Friday is expected to show that inflationary pressures are stable, but sticky. Yet the debate will likely largely center on the job market when policymakers meet for the rate decision.

Still, key data like the jobs report won’t arrive until after the December rate decision, which “drastically dilutes this week’s ability to spring any material surprises in as far as rate cut expectations are concerned,” noted Fawad Razaqzada at Forex.com.

In addition to Friday’s inflation data, other relevant economic data this week include ADP private employment figures for November and a preliminary reading of consumer confidence in December.

“We have highlighted that stocks historically performed best when the economy is not in recession and the Fed is cutting interest rates,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management. “The latest available data suggest that the Fed is more likely to proceed with a 25-basis-point cut.”

She also noted that the current soft patch in the US economy is likely temporary, and global growth should accelerate in 2026.

Corporate News

China Vanke Co., the distressed builder that surprised markets last week when it proposed an unspecified delay in paying a local bond, has now asked holders to wait a year to be made whole, as it faces mounting liquidity pressure amid waning state support. Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. was fielding a second round of bids on Monday, including a mostly cash offer from Netflix Inc., in an auction that could wrap up in the coming days or weeks, according to people familiar with the discussions. Jane Street Group and Citadel Securities reported gains in third-quarter trading revenue, cutting further into Wall Street’s dominance of that business and leaving the two market-making firms on track for record years. After 13 years of running South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Song Chi-hyung and Kim Hyoung-nyon have cemented their spots among the world’s wealthiest. China’s DeepSeek unveiled two new versions of an experimental artificial-intelligence model it released weeks ago, adding fresh capabilities the startup said would help with combining reasoning and executing certain actions autonomously. Chinese vaccine makers are caught in a steep downturn, as intensifying competition pushes prices lower and erodes profits, underscoring the far-reaching deflationary pressure across the world’s second-largest economy. Fanuc Corp. shares climb as much as 9.4% to the highest since July 2021 after the Japanese factory automation equipment company announced that it will collaborate with Nvidia Corp. to implement physical AI in industrial robots, in a statement Monday. Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10:46 a.m. Tokyo time Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 0.5% Japan’s Topix rose 0.3% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.4% Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was unchanged at $1.1610 The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 155.62 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0739 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6545 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.1% to $86,574.29 Ether rose 0.2% to $2,798.78 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.08% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.875% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 4.61% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $59.40 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,213.27 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Richard Henderson, Abhishek Vishnoi and Ruth Carson.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

The clean energy transition in Southeast Asia has reached a critical inflection point. Viet Nam, the Philippines, and Indonesia – accounting for nearly 60% of ASEAN’s power demand and emissions – are rapidly transforming from coal-reliant, emissions-intensive economies into emerging hotspots for renewable investment. Robust policy frameworks, market reforms and targeted incentives are now setting the stage for these nations to anchor ASEAN’s clean energy future. 

 

By 2030, Viet Nam, the Philippines and Indonesia each aim for renewables accounting for over half of their installed capacity – among the boldest commitments in ASEAN. Viet Nam has set a target of 73 gigawatts (GW) of solar, the Philippines 14 GW, and Indonesia 13 GW. However, turning this ambition into actionable progress hinges on overcoming persistent bottlenecks and creating a stable, investment-friendly environment.

The momentum is in the right direction. In 2024 alone, this trio attracted $4.6 billion in clean energy investment, a $1.1 increase from last year’s. But even more robust policy frameworks and decisive reforms can derisk and attract private long-term investment.

Viet Nam’s move to enable direct power purchase agreements could double its renewable electricity share, offering producers and buyers a clear path to cleaner power and carving out new revenue streams. The electricity market is gradually being liberalised, with policies that invite private and foreign participation and open opportunities for blended finance models. 

Similarly, the Philippines continues to champion market openness. It has removed foreign ownership restrictions in the renewable sector and introduced competitive mechanisms for energy procurement, such as the Green Energy Auction, which integrates storage solutions and streamlines project delivery through digital permitting platforms. 

Indonesia, in turn, is advancing regulatory frameworks with risk-sharing provisions in power purchase agreements, new ownership models, and policies that give value to carbon credits and other environmental attributes. This signals an emerging recognition that policy innovation and regulatory clarity are fundamentally necessary if Indonesia is to unlock its abundant solar and wind potential and maintain momentum in foreign investment.

At KKR, our focus is on growth equity and buyout strategies. Diversified exposure across this risk spectrum is essential to maximizing both an investor’s participation in private equity and their long-term return potential.

Growth equity targets businesses with established products, proven business models, and meaningful revenue scale. These companies often prioritize reinvesting cash flow into expansion and product development rather than generating steady free cash flow, and their earnings are less predictable, making high leverage levels unsuitable. Consequently, a growth equity deal’s capital structure is primarily equity with limited or no debt, to provide flexibility for continued growth initiatives and absorb volatility in performance. This structure appropriately capitalizes risk by avoiding debt obligations that could constrain growth or liquidity, while allowing investors to participate in performance upside through equity appreciation.

Buyout investing focuses on control-oriented ownership of business with established market positions, predictable earnings, and stable cash flows. These companies are often past their high-growth phase and have the operating scale and balance sheet robustness to support some degree of leverage. While buyout deals don’t always use leverage and leverage levels have reduced by about a third in the last ten years when implemented, the use of leverage generally reflects the lower business risk and cash flow visibility of the company. This strategy also disciplines capital allocation, encouraging operational improvements, cost optimization, and strategic repositioning to drive earnings growth and cash generation.

For investors, a thoughtful allocation across these strategies enhances diversification, captures a broader share of the private market opportunity, and supports more consistent returns across market cycles.

Core-Satellite Construction for Wealth Portfolios

Historically, individuals have not been able to access drawdown private equity funds because of the operational complexity required to maintain a well-diversified and scaled allocation. Evergreen vehicles can offer an operationally easy and efficient way to achieve diversified, stable, continuously compounding private equity exposure. Some investors may use an evergreen vehicle as a core private equity commitment and expand exposure into high-conviction sectors or geographies through drawdown funds to support their investing goals.

This core-satellite approach mirrors the architecture used by leading institutional investors but adapts it for the scale and liquidity preferences of private wealth. The result can be a more balanced, resilient, and compounding portfolio.

Moreover, evergreen allocations can act as a reinvestment hub for proceeds from maturing drawdown funds, keeping overall exposure stable without manual reallocation. This circular compounding effect — capital returning and immediately being redeployed — is a key advantage for investors seeking to maintain consistent private market exposure through time.

Exhibit 8: Blending Drawdown and Evergreen Structures Could Produce Higher Compounded Returns over Time