SINGAPORE
‘Modest’ expansion forecast
The economy will experience “modest” expansion this year as a tight labor market constrains some industries amid improving global demand, the government said yesterday after growth exceeded initial estimates last quarter. The government reiterated its forecast for the economy to expand by between 2 percent and 4 percent this year, and for non-oil domestic exports to increase by between 1 percent and 3 percent. The economy expanded 4.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, after growing a revised 4.9 percent in the previous three months, the trade ministry said.
AFRICA
Demand to boost growth
The continent is set to see economic growth of 4.8 percent this year and further expansion to 5.7 percent next year, an annual report published on Monday showed. The report titled Economic Perspectives in Africa was jointly produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the African Development Bank and the UN Development Programme. The three groups said growth has come from a more diversified economy, boosted by internal demand, infrastructure and a growing trade of manufactured goods around the continent. However, they added that the geopolitical situation on the continent could affect the growth estimates.
LUXURY GOODS
Market reaches ‘maturity’
The global market has reached a “maturity and stabilization” phase with growth of about 2 percent expected this year — the same level as last year. The study by the US consultancy Bain & Co and the Fondazione Altagamma found the US would be the major engine for growth, while revenues in Europe would do well mainly thanks to foreign tourists. Japan is set for solid growth, but is punished by an unfavorable exchange rate. China does not show a lot of dynamism, unlike Hong Kong and Macau, the report said. There has been strong growth in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, it added.
PHOTOGRAPHY
GoPro eyeing US listing
The company behind GoPro cameras used to capture sports action from players’ perspectives filed on Monday to raise US$100 million in an initial public offering. Silicon Valley-based GoPro did not disclose how it planned to price the shares, but it did reveal that it is already profitable, making a net income of US$60.6 million on nearly US$1 billion in revenue last year. GoPro said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that profit slowed to US$11 million on US$235.7 million in revenue in the first three quarters of this year.
INTERNET
Twitter mulling music deal
Twitter Inc is mulling plans to buy the German-based music-sharing service SoundCloud to fuel growth at the social network, the news site Re/code reported on Monday. The move would be a new effort by Twitter to get back into music after a failed attempt last year to launch a music-finding service. The report suggested that such a deal, if consummated, would be expensive for Twitter, but would add a company with a customer base of 250 million, roughly the same size as that of the messaging platform. SoundCloud recently raised about US$60 million in venture capital, which would give the start-up a value of about US$700 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Neither company has commented on the report.
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
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