GERMANY
Corporate tax cap mulled
The government is looking to cap its corporate tax burden at 25 percent as the nation seeks to help smaller businesses amid signs the economy is lurching into a recession. The proposal was made yesterday by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier as part of a package aimed at supporting the so-called Mittelstand — small and medium-sized businesses that account for nearly 60 percent of the nation’s jobs. According to Deloitte, Germany’s overall tax burden on companies is about 30 to 33 percent. Altmaier did not specify the impact of the tax cut on government revenue.
INDIA
FDI, online sales eased
New Delhi has decided to liberalize foreign direct investment (FDI) in domestic manufacturing, coal mining and digital media, and will also allow single-brand retailers to start online sales to infuse capital into the country and boost its economy. Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that the Cabinet on Wednesday approved 100 percent FDI in coal mining and associated infrastructure. He said it also approved 100 percent FDI in contract manufacturing and up to 26 percent investment in digital media. The government also relaxed the 30 percent local sourcing requirement in single-brand retailing and permitted online sales without the prior opening of brick-and-mortar stores. “Online sales will lead to the creation of jobs in logistics, digital payments, customer care, training and product skilling,’’ Goyal said.
HOTELS
HK unrest prompts moves
The unrest in Hong Kong is prompting businesses to relocate conferences and other major meetings to locations such as Thailand and Singapore, hotel billionaire William Heinecke said on Wednesday. “Some conferences have been canceled in Hong Kong and moved,” said Heinecke, the chief executive officer of Bangkok-listed Minor International PCL. The trend is “significant,” he said, adding that it is helping offset the slowdown in Chinese tourist arrivals in Thailand. “If the protests in Hong Kong persist, more tourists could opt to visit Thailand instead, benefiting hoteliers such as Minor,” said Maria Lapiz, managing director at Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand) PCL in Bangkok.
GAMING
Caesars drops Japan plan
Caesars Entertainment Corp said it would not pursue a license for a casino in Japan and would focus instead on its current business plan, including a merger with Eldorado Resorts Inc scheduled to close next year. Caesars management made the decision out of sensitivity to the Japanese government and business partners, who must make decisions this year to advance the casino process, chief executive officer Tony Rodio said in a statement. A casino in Japan is expected to cost upward of US$10 billion, market watchers said.
NORWAY
GDP up 0.2% in Q2
The nation’s economic growth accelerated in the second quarter, keeping up momentum as the central bank ponders whether to raise interest rates again as soon as next month. Mainland GDP, which excludes oil and shipping, expanded 0.7 percent in the quarter, Statistics Norway said in a statement yesterday. That was up from a revised 0.5 percent in previous quarter. A Bloomberg survey of 13 economists predicted a quarterly expansion of 0.8 percent, in line with the central bank’s forecast.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
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
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks