GERMANY
Trade surplus sets record
Europe’s largest economy reported a new record trade surplus last year, official data showed yesterday, exporting 253 billion euros (US$270.66 billion) more than it imported. Exports added 1.2 percent to top 1.2 trillion euros, while imports climbed 0.6 percent to 955 billion euros, the federal statistics office Destatis said. Most of the nation’s goods sold abroad were bought by its neighbors in the EU, accounting for about 708 billion euros, up 2.2 percent from 2015, while exports to non-EU nations fell 0.2 percent to below 500 billion euros. Imports were 1.8 percent more from fellow EU members at 633 billion euros, but 1.7 percent less from non-EU nations, at 322 billion euros.
INTEREST RATES
New Zealand rates remain
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand yesterday left its base rate at a record low of 1.75 percent and indicated it would stay there “for a considerable period,” barring any global shocks. The nation’s inflation rate hit the central bank’s 1 to 3 percent target for the first time in two years during the final quarter of last year and bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said the economic outlook was positive. While he had concerns about increased geo-political uncertainty and the stubbornly high New Zealand dollar, Wheeler said he saw no need for an imminent rate move.
REAL ESTATE
UK inquiries hit low
Interest from UK house buyers slipped to a five-month low last month amid waning affordability and a diminishing supply of properties for sale. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its measure of new buyer inquiries fell to 5 percent from 6 percent a month earlier. That came as instructions from sellers also declined, remaining in negative territory for an 11th month. The survey’s headline price index rose to 25 from 23 in December last year, with values expected to increase over the coming year in all regions except central London. The outlook for sales also gained, with the 12-month outlook reaching a one-year high.
AUTOMAKERS
Nissan profits up 3.5%
Nissan Motor Co yesterday said its October-December profit last year rose 3.5 percent to ¥131.7 billion (US$1.2 billion) from ¥127.2 billion in the same period in 2015 as vehicle sales climbed in all major markets. Nissan, which makes the March subcompact, Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, sold more vehicles in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia for the quarter compared to the previous year. The company sold 1.09 million vehicles worldwide during the quarter, up from 1.02 million. Quarterly sales slipped 2.2 percent to ¥2.94 trillion.
MEDIA
Offer for HK broadcaster
Television Broadcasts Ltd (TVB), Hong Kong’s dominant free-to-air TV broadcaster, said it received an offer for 29.9 percent of the company from TLG Movie and Entertainment Group Ltd (傳奇影業及娛樂集團) and is gathering more information about the prospective buyer. A 29.9 percent stake would be valued at about HK$3.9 billion (US$503 million) based on the stock’s last closing price. Closely held TLG Movie did not provide information about its owners, source of funds or “proof of financial soundness,” according to the TVB filing. TVB said it would seek more information to fulfill its six-year investment plan.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day