HONG KONG
Relief measures promised
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday pledged HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) in new relief measures to prop up the economy, as it grapples with months of pro-democracy protests that have hurt business confidence in the territory. The proposed new spending brings the global financial hub’s total stimulus to HK$35 billion since this summer, when protests escalated and have since taken a heavy economic toll, especially in the tourism and retail sectors.
MEXICO
Chinese loans cover refinery
Chinese banks are providing US$600 million in financing for the construction of a new oil refinery at the Dos Bocas Port in the southeastern state of Tabasco, Chinese Ambassador to Mexico Ambassador Zhu Qingqiao (祝青橋) told reporters on Monday. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (中國工商銀行) and the Bank of China (中國銀行) are participating in financing for the refinery, one of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s flagship infrastructure projects, Zhu said. It was unclear what kind of financing the banks would provide for the project.
RETAIL
SML Group seeks buyer
SML Group Ltd, a closely held garment label maker for fashion brands and retailers globally, is exploring a sale of the business that could fetch about US$500 million, people familiar with the matter said. Hong Kong-based SML is working with Citigroup Inc to seek a buyer for the business, the people said. The company makes woven and printed labels, price tickets, hangtags, and zippers and buttons, its Web site said.
TELECOMS
Vodacom in talks with Cell C
Vodacom Group Ltd is in talks with Cell C Pty Ltd about taking on the smaller rival’s contract-paying mobile phone subscribers, a move that would strengthen its position as South Africa’s telecom market leader, people familiar with the matter said. The unit of the UK-based Vodafone Group PLC would gain about 1 million high-paying subscribers from the deal, the people said. The carrier could also cut jobs and close some stores after slimming down operations, they said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Flight tax cut to help Flybe
The government could cut air passenger taxes on all domestic flights to help rescue struggling regional airline Flybe, the BBC reported yesterday. British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid is to meet later with representatives from the Department for Transport and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to discuss the tax and a possible deferring of Flybe’s bill, the corporation said. A possible deal could allow Flybe to defer a payment of more than £100 million (US$129.72 million) for three years, Sky News said.
STOCK MARKETS
Yum China eyes HK listing
Yum China Holdings Inc (百勝中國控股) is working with China International Capital Corp (中國國際金融) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc on preparations of its proposed second listing in Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said. The operator of Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants in China is working with the banks on the share sale, which could take place as soon as this year, the people said. Yum China is considering a listing in Hong Kong that could raise as much as US$2 billion, International Financing Review reported last week, citing unidentified people.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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