■ Japan
Economy worsening: official
The Japanese government left its assessment of the economy unchanged yester-day after three straight months of downgrades but admitted conditions were worsening as private demand slumps. "While movements of an incipient recovery can be seen in some areas, the state of the economy has weakened somewhat," the Cabinet Office said in its report for this month. The announce-ment came two days after the Bank of Japan left its economic assessment unchanged for the third straight month, saying a pick-up in exports had triggered hopes for a grad-ual recovery. One official offered a downbeat view of the economy yesterday, saying the trend was down-wards. "Though we have not changed the statement of the overall assessment, the actual economic conditions are worsening from the previous month," he told a briefing.
■ Trade
Lamy worried by US stance
Europe's trade chief said on Tuesday he was concerned that the US was taking an increasingly hard line against international trade rules. Pascal Lamy has led several disputes against the US, most recently over steel tariffs in March last year. The two have also sparred over a EU ban on gene-tically-modified foods and subsidies to farmers. "My feeling is that the situation which the [US] administra-tion is facing is becoming more and more compli-cated," Lamy said in a speech to a gathering of parliamentarians from NATO state at the European Parliament. He said there was a tough battle between the White House and Con-gress for control of trade policy. "The result is that we are seeing a fairly hard line forming on Capitol Hill against the submission of the United States to decisions by the WTO," he said.
■ Automobiles
Chery to make cars in Iran
SAIC Chery Automobile Co, a venture 20 percent owned by China's biggest vehicle maker, will make passenger cars in Iran this year, becoming the first Chinese automaker to move offshore as domestic competition heightens. Chery and Iranian car parts-maker SKT Co will build a factory in northeastern Iran with the capacity to manufacture up to 30,000 A11 passenger cars, Chery spokesman Li Huiyou said. The cars will run on 1.6-liter engines, he said. Chery and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp are seeking fresh markets abroad as Ford Motor Co, Mazda Motor Corp and other foreign automakers crowd into a China market where car sales growth is expected to slow to about 20 percent this year from 50 percent last year. Chery, based in Anhui Province, plans to double car sales to 100,000 units this year, or to 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), Li said. It will collect an undisclosed fee from the Iranian venture through selling SKT its technology and compo-nents, Li said.
■ Telecoms
Singapore firm fined for ad
The mobile arm of Singa-pore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) was fined for placing misleading informa-tion in its newspaper advertisements last October after complaints from rival operators, regulator Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) said. The IDA said on its Web site that "SingTel Mobile had breached" a section of the Telecom Competition Code and ordered the operator to pay a fine of S$ 5,000 Singapore dollars (US$2,873).
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