■CHINA
Growth could meet target
The economy will be able to achieve a growth target of 8 percent this year, but the country should not rest on its laurels as problems remain, the statistics bureau’s top economist was quoted as saying yesterday. Yao Jingyuan (姚景源), chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics, told a forum in Shanghai that the basis for the country’s economic recovery was still not stable and that many uncertainties existed. Yao said the slide in the nation’s economic performance which began in the second half of last year had already been arrested.
■AUTOMOBILES
Moscow open about Opel
Russia’s part in the purchase of GM’s Europe unit Opel will prove a waste of time if no Western technology is gained, German Gref, the head of deal participant Sberbank, was quoted as saying yesterday. “The point of our participation in the deal is for the import of technology. If this doesn’t happen, then we wasted our time,” Gref was quoted by news agency RIA Novosti as saying at an economic forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. State-owned Sberbank has teamed with Canadian auto parts maker Magna to purchase a joint majority 55 percent stake in Opel, while General Motors will keep 35 percent.
■SOFTWARE
Apple rejects Google app
Google Inc said Apple Inc’s top marketing executive rejected its Google Voice application because it duplicates the dialer on the iPhone and could be used as a replacement. Apple earlier denied it rejected the program and said on Friday the two Silicon Valley companies were still discussing the application. Google Voice lets people pick a new phone number, then route incoming calls to cell, office or home phones. It also lets users place calls from within the application. Google said Phil Schiller of Apple told Google’s Alan Eustace, a senior vice president, during a July phone call that Apple rejected the Google Voice program.
■OIL
Brazil claims reserves
The massive oil reserves found off Brazil under a geological layer of salt all lie within Brazilian waters, the head of the country’s top oil company Petrobras said on Friday. The “pre-salt area is in Brazilian waters,” Petrobras chief executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli told a press conference in London. Brazil has decided to put the offshore fields, estimated to hold up to 50 billion barrels of oil, under tighter state control, counting on the resources to help propel it forward as one of the major powers of this century.
■AVIATION
JAL hires Merrill Lynch
Japan Airlines Corp (JAL), Asia’s most indebted carrier, hired Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co to advise on its search for partners and investments, two sources familiar with the situation said. Japan Airlines appointed Bank of America Corp’s Merrill Lynch to evaluate the carrier’s value and select a partner who can help replenish its capital, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to discuss the deal publicly.
■BANKING
Irwin subsidiaries closed
US regulators on Friday closed two banking subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corp, bringing the total of US bank failures this year to 94. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said First Financial Bank of Ohio will assume the deposits of Irwin Union Bank and Trust Company and of Irwin Union Bank.
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