AUTOMAKERS
Jose Munoz leaves Nissan
Nissan Motor Co chief performance officer Jose Munoz, who took a leave of absence a week ago, has resigned, the first high-profile departure at the Japanese automaker publicly acknowledged as related to the arrest of former chairman Carlos Ghosn. Munoz said in a statement on LinkedIn yesterday that he made the decision after serious thinking, because the company was “involved in matters that have and will continue to divert its focus,” referring to Ghosn’s case. Nissan confirmed the resignation, effective immediately.
CHINA
Premier explains tax cuts
Tax cuts for smaller companies are mainly intended to support employment and ensure economic stability, Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) was quoted as saying in a statement posted to the government’s Web site yesterday. The State Council, or cabinet, anounced on Wednesday that it would further reduce taxes for smaller companies.
AVIATION
Vietnamese carrier launches
Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways, after repeated delays, is to start commercial flights on Wednesday, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The carrier set minimum ticket prices at 149,000 dong (US$6.39) each. The carrier would initially operate 37 domestic routes, the company said in a separate statement. Bamboo Airways would also launch international flights to Asian countries this year, starting with Japan, Korea and Singapore, it said.
TOURISM
Portugal mulls Brexit plan
Portugal wants to exempt British tourists, a major revenue source, from entry visa requirements if Britain crashes out of the EU without a negotiated deal, Lisbon said on Friday. “We are working ... on creating obstacle-free corridors that will allow fluidity for British citizens entering the national territory” at airports, Portuguese Minister of the Interior Eduardo Cabrita told reporters. About 2.6 million British tourists fly into Portugal every year, and many retire there. Lisbon has urged Britons living in Portugal to register at their town halls before March 29, the day Britain is due to leave the European bloc.
BANKING
BNP to shut trading arm
BNP Paribas SA, the biggest French bank, is shuttering its 2.5 billion euro (US$2.87 billion) proprietary trading arm, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Opera Trading Capital division of the lender, which makes risky bets with shareholders’ funds, struggled to make a profit last year amid market volatility, one of the people said. BNP Paribas has told its employees and begun informing prime brokers and counterparties about the plan, the people said.
INTERNET
German HuffPost to close
The German version of the news and views Web site HuffPost is shutting down. German publisher BurdaForward on Friday said that HuffPost Deutschland would cease operations on March 31. BurdaForward had licensed the German version of the site in 2013, running its news and revenue streams. The firm said it was ending its cooperation with HuffPost “because the partners are now pursuing different business strategies.”
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