VIETNAM
Growth hits 7.3% in Q4
Growth accelerated in the fourth quarter as stronger manufacturing output helped the economy remain one of the world’s best performers. The country’s GDP grew by 7.3 percent in the three months through this month from the same period last year, up from a revised 6.82 percent in the previous quarter, the General Statistics Office (GSO) in Hanoi said yesterday. Economic growth for the full year was 7.1 percent, it said, compared with the median estimate of 6.9 percent in a Bloomberg survey of 12 economists. “Manufacturing is a bright spot of the economy,” GSO Director-General Nguyen Bich Lam said at a briefing. Lam said he expects growth to remain strong next year as free-trade deals boost exports. Manufacturing this year rose 13 percent from last year, while realized foreign direct investment rose 9 percent. Exports increased 13.8 percent, with sales of electronics goods surging. Vietnam posted a trade deficit of US$200 million this month.
RUSSIA
Economy could slow further
The economy could hit some speed bumps next year and inflation could rise, due to risks of new sanctions, a weaker ruble and a planned tax increase, a Reuters monthly poll showed yesterday. Economic growth has been below the global average in the past few years, hampered by a weak and volatile currency, a drop in oil prices and sanctions imposed by the EU and the US from 2014, after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. After expanding by 1.7 percent this year, GDP was seen growing by 1.4 percent next year, the consensus forecast of 17 analysts and economists showed. That is below the World Bank’s estimate that the global economy grew 3.1 percent this year. “The next year will be tough. Economic growth will slow amid an increase to the value-added tax, higher inflation and lending rates,” Renaissance Capital chief economist Oleg Kouzmin said.
AVIATION
Vinci to take over Gatwick
Vinci SA has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Gatwick Airport for £2.9 billion (US$3.66 billion) as the French construction company expands its portfolio of aviation infrastructure with a major London hub. The purchase of the 50.01 percent stake from a group of investors including sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi and Australia is to be completed in the first half of next year, the French company said in a statement yesterday. Existing shareholder Global Infrastructure Partners is to manage the other 49.99 percent. With 45.7 million passengers this year, Gatwick is to become the largest airport in Vinci’s global network. Gatwick has been under pressure due to intensifying competition from London’s other airports.
TECHNOLOGY
NEC to buy Denmark’s KMD
Japan’s NEC yesterday said that it would buy Denmark’s largest IT firm KMD for US$1.2 billion, as part of its effort to expand its European and global businesses. Under the plan, the information technology giant is to buy all the shares of KMD Holding APS for 8 billion krone by the end of February, NEC said in a statement. “Through this acquisition, NEC will acquire a business model that leverages platforms in the digital government domain as it aims to expand business from northern Europe to the whole of Europe and globally,” it said. The acquisition is to be finalized after NEC completes the necessary procedures, including getting approval from the European Commission.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure