COTTON
Egypt agrees to export
Egypt agreed to export 1,193 tonnes of cotton in the week ended on Thursday, the Alexandria Cotton Exporters Association said in its weekly bulletin yesterday. The country has shipped 91,588.5 tonnes of cotton valued at US$344.4 million since the marketing year began on Sept 1. Of last week’s sales, Egypt will ship 432 tonnes of Giza 88 cotton variety and 761 tonnes of Giza 86, the association said. Egypt produces the world’s finest extra-long staple cotton, which is stronger and softer than shorter staple cotton.
INDIA
Sugar controls to continue
India deferred a plan to end controls on sugar producers as rising food prices fuel inflation, the Business Standard reported, citing Farm Minister Sharad Pawar. The Indian Sugar Mills Association last year asked the government to stop setting the benchmark price for sugar cane and the monthly sales quota for mills, which are required to sell 10 percent of their output at below-market prices to the government for resale to the poor.
PORTUGAL
Deals signed with Qatar
Portugal and Qatar signed memorandums of understanding for cooperation in renewable energy and tourism, Prime Minister Jose Socrates said in Doha yesterday. The two countries also discussed investment opportunities, Socrates said, adding that his country plans to open an embassy in the Gulf Arab country.
TELECOMS
Emirates extends deadline
Emirates Telecommunications Corp extended a deadline to reach an accord on its US$12 billion offer for control of Kuwait’s Zain, saying there were “unforeseeable delays” to complete the diligence process. The bid by Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecom, also known as Etisalat, to buy about 46 percent of Zain, Kuwait’s largest mobile phone operator, expired on Saturday. Etisalat got commitments from Zain investors holding about 40 percent of the company, three people involved in the talks said on Friday, declining to be identified because the talks are confidential. Etisalat didn’t set a new deadline in its statement yesterday. Etisalat’s effort to purchase Zain is aimed at deepening its presence in the Middle East, where Zain operates in countries from Kuwait and Iraq to Bahrain after selling most of its African assets last year to Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel Ltd for US$9 billion.
PHILIPPINES
Tetangco can stay on
Central bank Governor Amando Tetangco “has done an excellent job” and can stay for a second term after his fixed, six-year term ends by mid-year, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said yesterday. A veteran of the central bank for more than three decades, Tetangco, 58, has kept inflation below 5 percent in the past 21 months, allowing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low since July 2009.
AVIATION
Garuda to launch IPO
Indonesia’s national carrier Garuda Indonesia will this week launch its initial public offering (IPO) around Hong Kong, London and New York. Its scheduled listing on Feb. 11 may raise up to 10.3 trillion rupiah (US$1.1 billion) through the sale of 9.32 billion shares, or 36 percent of its capital, at between 750 and 1,100 rupiah each, likely to be the biggest listing on the Indonesian share market.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last