World Business Quick Take

■ Telecoms
Nokia sees strong growth
Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, said on Thursday that it expected the global mobile phone market to grow by more than 10 percent next year. The Finnish company also forecast that the number of mobile subscriptions would surpass three billion in 2008, two years earlier than the target date of 2010 it predicted in February. Nokia said it expected "the mobile device industry volumes in 2006 to grow more than 10 percent from the 780 million units we estimate for 2005, and the mobile device market to also grow in value in 2006." The forecasts came as Nokia held its Capital Markets Days in New York on Thursday and yesterday. Regarding its own financial outlook for the next one to two years, Nokia said its operating margin target remained stable at 17 percent.

■ Automotive
Nissan creates smart paint
Nissan Motor said yesterday it had created a paint that repairs scratches on its own, restoring a car's surface to normal within a week. The Japanese automaker said the paint contains a newly developed resin that can stop scratches from marking the car's outer layer. Wear and tear due to everything from fingernails to roadside objects will disappear in one day to one week depending on the temperature and the seriousness of the scratch, Nissan said in a statement. The "Scratch Guard Coat" paint, which protects for three years, will debut on a sports-utility vehicle which is set for a makeover, Nissan said. The paint also helps prevent scratches in the first place.

■ Electronics
Pioneer to cut 600 jobs
Troubled Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp will cut 600 jobs in Japan as part of a revival plan that will also better integrate the company's television and audio equipment units, a newspaper reported yesterday. The job cuts will come through early retirements and are in addition to the 2,000 worldwide job cuts Pioneer announced in March, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, citing a restructuring blueprint that company executives compiled Thursday. Pioneer spokesman Kesanobu Yamagishi would not comment on the report but confirmed that the company is drafting a comeback plan that will be unveiled on Thursday. He could not say whether additional job cuts are being considered.

■ Trade
Trade area gets boost
Seven South Asian countries have finalized an agreement to set up a free trade area, the Indian government said yesterday, a move predicted to more than double the size of the regional market. The landmark deal to create a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was signed in Islamabad in January last year during a summit of regional leaders, with this coming January 1 set as a deadline for implem-entation. However the deal by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), was expected to become fully operational only by 2016. "The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement has been finalized," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said. The statement was issued after "receiving intimation from Kathmandu about the deliberations of the Committee of Experts on SAFTA which met there from 29th November-1st December 2005 to resolve the outstanding issues ... so as to complete the negotiations," Nath said.