QATAR
Investors to get residency
The government on Monday announced that it would grant residency to foreign investors for the first time, state media reported, the latest in a series of measures designed to diversify the economy. Foreigners investing an unspecified level of “non-Qatari capital” in the economy would be eligible for renewable five-year residency permits, Qatar News Agency reported. Real-estate developers active in the nation’s property market would also be eligible for the scheme.
CHINA
Tech plans rollback urged
The World Bank and a government agency have urged Beijing to roll back plans for government-led technology development that are fueling a tariff dispute with Washington. The appeal yesterday came in a report on technology industries as “new drivers” for the economy that was commissioned three years ago, before the trade dispute erupted. It urges Beijing to open markets, and reduce subsidies and government involvement in technology industries that it says might hamper development instead of promoting it.
SWITZERLAND
Growth forecast cut to 0.8%
The economy is expected to expand less quickly than previously anticipated, a knock-on effect of the a US-China trade dispute that is weighing on demand across major economies. GDP is seen expanding 0.8 percent this year, compared with the government’s previous forecast of 1.2 percent, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said, while keeping its prediction for next year unchanged at 1.7 percent. No major sporting events being held this year contributed to the cut in the growth outlook, the agency said.
TELECOMS
Axiata to pursue mergers
Axiata Group Bhd is pursuing mergers as a key strategy, despite an abrupt end to its plan to form an Asian mobile giant with Telenor ASA, its top executive said. Malaysia’s largest telecom could see mergers happening for its Indonesian and Malaysian operations within three to five years, chief executive Jamaludin Ibrahim said in an interview. “Consolidation is key to future-proof us in the medium term given the challenges in the industry,” Jamaludin said in Kuala Lumpur. “The cancelation of the merger does not deter us from looking at other possibilities.”
TELECOMS
Tycoon resigns, twice
Thai telecommunications tycoon Pete Bodharamik, who has more than US$1 billion of shareholdings, has resigned his positions at two listed firms after being fined US$1.9 million for insider trading. Pete quit as chief executive of Jasmine International PCL, one of the top Thai broadband providers, and as chairman of broadcaster Mono Technology PCL, stock market filings showed yesterday. The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement that it had imposed a civil sanction of 59 million baht (US$1.9 million) on Pete.
AVIATION
Boeing raises PRC forecast
China needs to spend US$2.9 trillion on new aircraft and ground services over the next two decades — 7 percent more than last year’s estimate — as an expanding middle class and infrastructure improvements drive demand for air travel, Boeing Co said yesterday. The nation’s carriers need 8,090 new airplanes costing nearly US$1.3 trillion over the next 20 years, Boeing said. They also need to spend another US$1.6 trillion on services, it said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day