INDONESIA
Moody’s upgrades rating
The nation yesterday received a credit rating upgrade from Moody’s, with the agency lauding central bank and government policies for boosting confidence in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. The upgrade — after similar moves by other ratings agencies — reflects the nation’s efforts at keeping budget deficits and inflation under control. Moody’s raised the sovereign rating to “Baa2” from “Baa3,” with a stable outlook. The country’s economy expanded by 5.1 percent year-on-year last year, up from 5.0 percent growth in 2016.
TECHNOLOGY
Indonesia growth forecast
Goldman Sachs Group Inc says that the next battle for technology companies will be fought in Indonesia, because of the Asian country’s huge population, high economic growth and “untapped market potential.” In a report that the brokerage described as the “first of its kind,” Goldman analysts analyzed the two sectors that they believe offer the biggest opportunities for profits — gaming and e-commerce — and forecast gaming revenue could have a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 percent over the next five years, while gross merchandise value in e-commerce could see a CAGR of 61 percent.
TECHNOLOGY
Nintendo scouts start-ups
Nintendo Co is teaming up with San Francisco-based Scrum Ventures to scout start-ups working on new ways to play or use the Japanese company’s hit gaming console, the Switch. The program, run by Scrum, would look for start-ups, teams within larger companies or university researchers developing new tools to improve the Nintendo Switch platform, including components, sensors, chips or other add-ons, the venture capital firm said. Scrum and Nintendo would provide outside developers with assistance to bring products to the market. Neither company plans to invest directly in the start-ups.
COSMETICS
L’Oreal growth not enough
L’Oreal SA’s fastest growth in eight years could not make up for unfavorable exchange rates at the start of the year. Surging demand for its high-end beauty products in China helped lift first-quarter sales by 6.8 percent on a like-for-like basis, the company said in a statement on Thursday, beating analysts’ average estimate of 5.5 percent. However, reported revenue dropped 1 percent because of the euro’s gain against currencies in countries including the US and Brazil.
QATAR
Bond sale raises US$12bn
The nation raised US$12 billion in its first US dollar bond sale in two years, surpassing Saudi Arabia to issue the biggest dollar bond from an emerging-market nation this year. The nation sold US$3 billion of five-year notes, priced to yield 135 basis points over similar-maturity US Treasuries, two people familiar with the matter said. It also placed US$3 billion of 10-year bonds at a spread of 170 basis points and US$6 billion of 30-year securities at 205 basis points, they said.
STOCK EXCHANGE
LSE names new chief
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group yesterday announced that it has picked Goldman Sachs banker David Schwimmer as the company’s new chief executive. Schwimmer, 49, would start on Aug. 1 after a 20-year career with US banking giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the LSE said in a statement. He is to replace Frenchman Xavier Rolet, who was forced out late last year.
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