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World Business Quick Take

■ Aviation
UK seeks special treatment
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is to ask US President George W. Bush for special treatment for Britain before a European vote on the proposed "Open Skies" deal to free up the transatlantic aviation market, the Sunday Times reported yesterday. It said the deal would force Britain to open up London's Heathrow, the world's busiest and most lucrative international airport. Airline industry sources quoted by the newspaper said Blair is likely to speak to Bush tomorrow and urge Washington to commit to liberalize its aviation industry before opening up Heathrow.

■ Automobiles
Chrysler sale controversial
A DaimlerChrysler AG supervisory board member said he would oppose a deal leading to a breakup of the Chrysler Group, the firm's troubled US arm. Helmut Lense, one of the 10 employee representatives on DaimlerChrysler's 20-member supervisory board, told the Detroit News he would prefer to see a manufacturing company, such as another automaker, take control of Chrysler in the event of a sale, the newspaper reported on Saturday. "We wouldn't support a solution such as a private equity firm that would cut out choice bits," said Lense, chief employee representative of a plant in Stuttgart, Germany, that builds engines, suspensions and transmissions.

■ Environment
China to revamp green tax
China, the world's biggest energy user after the US, will accelerate plans to revamp the natural resources tax mechanism to encourage conservation and reduce waste, its top economic planner said. "The natural resources tax reform is on our agenda and the pace will be hastened within the next five years," Ma Kai (馬凱), Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a forum in Beijing yesterday. An increase in natural resource tax will take place in tandem with the reform of the pricing system as it will affect industries and society, Ma said.

■ Software
Kaspersky mulls listing
Kaspersky Lab, the Russian company that has built an international reputation in computer security software, is considering listing on a Western stock exchange, company head Natalja Kaspersky said yesterday. Speaking to reporters at the Cebit Fair in Hannover, Germany, Kaspersky said there were no definite plans for an initial public offering and said the timing was not yet right. She cited next year's Russian presidential election as one reason. The lack of a high-tech market in Russia means that Western stock exchanges would be considered for the IPO, Kaspersky said. "Ours would not really fit among the oil and gas shares [in Russia]," she said.

■ Automobiles
BMW, Google link up
BMW has reached an agreement with Google to link the premium car maker's navigation system with Google Maps for faster and more comfortable route planning. The new service, provided initially only in Germany as part of the BMW Assist navigation system, enables motorists to transfer address and telephone number data found on Google Maps directly onto the vehicle. Users need only click onto an Internet site to search for a local company or service operator. Data is then stored in the "My Info" function of the BMW Assist Menu.

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