Lai Oi Lai

Lai Oi Lai

Correspondent, Business Desk, Lianhe Zaobao

Lai Oi Lai joined Lianhe Zaobao's Business Desk in 2016. She covers business news, financial markets and the private sector.

The construction site of the China Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Debrecen, Hungary, on 16 August 2023. (Akos Stiller/Bloomberg)

[Big read] Global fight for lithium battery raw materials heats up

Amid the global electric vehicle (EV) race, European countries and the US are doubling down on their efforts and investment towards building an even more localised vertically integrated battery supply chain. This comes amid China dominance over the global lithium-ion battery supply chain. As the race for raw materials continues, Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Singapore can play an increasingly significant role. Lianhe Zaobao business correspondent Lai Oi Lai speaks with experts and business insiders to find out more.
US dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken 10 March 2023. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

De-risking too: The world's efforts to de-dollarise

Despite all the talk of de-dollarisation and some movement towards it, the US dollar remains the dominant global currency for now, and it will be an uphill task to shift away from it. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Lai Oi Lai speaks to academics and financial experts to find out more about the world's pursuit of de-dollarisation as a way of risk management.
The skyline of Singapore's Central Business District, 1 December 2021. (SPH Media)

Wealthy Chinese setting up family offices in Singapore see it as springboard to ASEAN

In the first of a seven-part Lianhe Zaobao-Business Times series on China and ASEAN, Zaobao business correspondent Lai Oi Lai gives an update on the trend of high-net-worth Chinese investors coming to Singapore to set up family offices and invest in start-ups.