GERMANY
Wage hike boosts economy
The Federal Ministry of Finance says the national tax income was nearly 9 percent higher last month than a year earlier — helped by recent wage increases and underlining the continuing strength of Europe’s biggest economy. The ministry said in its monthly report released yesterday that the country’s total tax take last month was 43.13 billion euros (US$53.2 billion) — an increase of 8.6 percent compared with the same month last year. Over this year’s first seven months, tax income was up 5 percent at 311.36 billion euros. Many workers have enjoyed solid pay increases after two years of strong economic growth and unemployment is low.
THAILAND
Economy exceeds forecasts
The economy grew faster than economists forecast in the second quarter as the government’s stimulus measures boosted domestic demand after last year’s floods, helping offset a global slowdown. GDP increased by 4.2 percent in the three months through June from a year earlier, after expanding a revised 0.4 percent in the previous quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board said yesterday in Bangkok. That exceeded all 16 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey that had a median prediction of a 3.1 percent rise.
AVIATION
Attendants approve AA deal
Flight attendants at American Airlines voted to approve a new contract offer from the airline, which is seeking to cut costs in bankruptcy protection. The results released on Sunday showed attendants voted to accept the contract by 59.5 percent to 40.5 percent, according to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. By voting for the airlines’ proposal the flight attendants stave off the chance that the airline company would impose even deeper cuts in bankruptcy court. The airline said the new flight attendants’ contract will reduce spending by US$195 million a year.
SHIPPING
Daewoo inks mystery deal
South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering yesterday said it has clinched a 2.22 trillion won (US$1.94 billion) deal to build five offshore platforms for an African company. The leading shipbuilder said it would deliver the fixed platforms for the company by April 2016. It did not identify the African client or give other details.
NORTH KOREA
Government holds trade fair
The government is staging its second international trade fair in the special economic zone of Rason this week just days after a top official went to China to drum up support for the region. A year after the first fair, there are signs of development in the area near the borders of China, Russia and North Korea, including a newly paved road making it easier for Chinese investors to travel to the remote area in North Korea’s far northeast. Rason was earmarked years ago as a special economic zone, but became the focus of renewed activity after Pyongyang revised laws in 2010 and last year.
TECHNOLOGY
Youku to acquire Tudou
Youku Inc (優酷), China’s biggest online video company, won approval from shareholders to acquire competitor Tudou Holdings Ltd (土豆), a deal that will extend its lead over Web sites run by Baidu Inc (百度) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊). The combination of China’s two biggest online video companies will help reduce content licensing and network costs, and generate savings of as much as US$60 million annually, Youku said in March.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last