ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix to buy ABQ Studios
Netflix Inc is buying its first production studio — the New Mexico facility used to make The Avengers and Sicario — to accommodate its growing output of original movies and television shows. The world’s largest paid online TV network said it was in final negotiations to purchase ABQ Studios, with eight sound stages in Albuquerque, it said in a statement on Monday. Terms were not given. Netflix already shoots the supernatural drama Chambers and the epic Messiah in New Mexico and previously shot its Emmy-winning series Godless there as well. New Mexico offers tax incentives to attract productions. Together the state and the city of Albuquerque would provide Netflix with US$14.5 million in funding. Netflix said it would create up to 1,000 jobs a year and spend US$1 billion on production over the next 10 years.
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Start-up receives license
Crypto Finance AG has obtained the same license as professional fund managers from Switzerland’s financial regulator as the country pushes to become a leader in the growing virtual-currency industry. The Zug-based company is now being recognized as an asset manager of collective investment schemes, meaning it can manage and distribute domestic and foreign funds and provide advice to investors, the company said. Obtaining the license removes a hurdle for the company of former UBS Group AG banker Jan Brzezek, allowing it to cater to wider group of professional investors managing cryptofunds in Switzerland after getting a license to distribute investment schemes in the country earlier this year.
INVESTMENTS
Qatar offers incentives
Qatar has allocated US$2 billion to attract multinational companies to its financial center in its latest effort to rival Dubai. Companies that set up a hub in Doha are to be provided free offices and tax incentives as well as seed capital to cover five years of operating expenses in return for a commitment of at least a decade, Qatar Financial Center Authority CEO Yousuf al-Jaida told Bloomberg TV. Qatar’s financial hub aims to launch the incentive plan in the first quarter once all the governance structures have been put in place. The plan comes after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut economic and diplomatic ties with Qatar in June last year, accusing the country of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with Iran, charges Qatar rejects. The rift forced Qatar to shift import routes to Kuwait and Oman, and buy goods from Iran and Turkey.
GERMANY
Exports edge down 0.1%
German exports unexpectedly fell in August, the Federal Statistics Office said yesterday, in a fresh sign that manufacturers in Europe’s largest economy shifted into a lower gear over the summer months. Seasonally adjusted exports edged down 0.1 percent from July, missing a Reuters forecast of a 0.3 percent rise. Imports dropped 2.7 percent, undershooting a predicted 0.2 percent fall. ING economist Carsten Brzeski blamed the low trade volumes over the summer months on a general weakening of global manufacturing activity and a temporary blip in domestic demand. Volker Treier from the DIHK chambers of industry and commerce said the weak data meant that he would probably have to cut his forecast for 5 percent export growth this year. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus widened to 18.3 billion euros (US$21 billion) in August from 15.9 billion euros in July, the data showed.
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