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World Business Quick Take

■ ENERGY
Itochu invests in gas
Japanese trading house Itochu Corp plans to invest some ¥100 billion (US$850 million) in developing natural gas in the US, a report said yesterday. This year Itochu intends to spend roughly ¥25 billion on gas development, including concessions in 15 gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico that it formally obtained on Friday, the Japanese business daily Nikkei Shimbun reported. It did not specify its sources. The investment through 2010 comes as the US is accelerating efforts to encourage the use of natural gas as an alternative energy source to reduce its reliance on oil.

■ AVIATION
Asian carriers challenged
Asian airlines are likely to see a drop in earnings over the next two years because of growing competition from Middle Eastern firms and regional low-cost carriers (LCCs), an industry group said yesterday. A renewed focus on the region by European and North American rivals could also hurt the Asian carriers' bottom line, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation said in a summary report. "Long-haul profitability will be weakened by rising competition from Middle East carriers and an intensified focus on Asia by European and North American airlines, as well as increasing long-haul activity by the region's LCCs," said Peter Harbison, the center's executive chairman.

■ MANUFACTURING
Philips starts Polish factory
LG.Philips LCD Co, a major manufacturer of liquid-crystal-displays, said yesterday that it began full-scale production at its new factory in Poland to meet growing demand in Europe. The plant, located in Kobierzyce, near Wroclaw, will produce screens mainly for large LCD televisions, LG.Philips said in a statement. It is the company's second overseas factory. The plant will assemble the screens from LCD panels produced at LG.Philips' two plants in South Korea by adding backlights and other basic components, spokeswoman Sue Kim said. The screens will be sent to customers with nearby factories.

■ FINANCE
PRC pushes city banks
China will push all city commercial banks to fulfill the mandated capital adequacy ratio of 8 percent by the end of next year, the nation's banking regulator said. Assets at China's city commercial banks total 2.6 trillion yuan (US$336.5 billion) to date, from 700 billion yuan in 2000, Tang Shuangning (唐雙寧), vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said yesterday at a conference in Beijing. China's 113 city commercial banks had profits of 18.1 billion yuan last year, compared with 1.3 billion yuan in 2000, according to Tang.

■ TRADE
Bush, Lula discuss Doha
US President George W. Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met on Saturday outside Washington for talks that included the revived Doha round of negotiations of the WTO. The talks restarted in January after a six-month lull, following disagreements over farm subsidies. Bush said he remains willing to cut subsidies to the politically influential US agricultural industry in return for improved access to markets in other countries. Lula said that the Doha round is key to "our struggle against poverty." He said that the talks with Bush left him with "much optimism."

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