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World Business Quick Take

■ AUTOMOBILES
Proton eyes 'Islamic cars'
Malaysian national carmaker Proton plans to team up with companies in Iran and Turkey to produce "Islamic cars" for the global market, a news report said yesterday. Proposed by Iran, the collaboration would include installing features in automobiles such as a compass to determine the direction of Mecca for prayers, and compartments for storing the Quran and headscarves, Proton managing director Syed Zainal Abidin told Malaysia's national news agency Bernama.



■ BANKING
Landsbanki enters Asia
An Icelandic bank is aiming to become the first in its nation's history to open a branch in Asia, the latest step in the country's economic expansion. Landsbanki, the country's second-largest bank by market capitalization, has opened a regional office in Hong Kong which it hopes to convert to a branch early next year. "If the 20th century was the century of America and Europe, I am sure the 21st century will the century of Asia," chief executive officer Sigurjon Arnason said. The bank's Hong Kong operation will focus on providing finance to small and medium-sized companies.



■ CHINA
Promotional event turns bad
Four people were trampled to death and 31 were injured in a promotional event at a supermarket owned by Carrefour SA in the Shapingba district of Chongqing. Carrefour confirmed the deaths and said it was reinforcing security in all of its stores in China. The accident took place at the entrance of the shopping mall, the company said. The trampling began when some shoppers slipped, a statement said. Authorities have shut the supermarket and ordered an investigation, it said. The government has set up a crisis management team and will "severely punish the companies or people found responsible for the incident."



■ TRADE
Farmers protest FTA
Tens of thousands of South Korean farmers and workers rallied in Seoul yesterday, demanding that a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US be scrapped. "We will thwart [the passage] of the FTA as it would deepen the polarization of our society," said Woo Moon-sook, a spokeswoman for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of organizers of the rally. Trade chiefs from the two countries signed the accord in June. The proposed agreement must be endorsed by legislatures in both capitals before it goes into effect. Both sides said the accord will boost growth, but certain constituencies, such as farmers in South Korea and labor groups in the US, have opposed it.



■ TELECOMS
Disney makes phone deal
US media and entertainment giant Disney will launch cellphone carrier services in Japan early next year by leasing local tele-communications networks, a press report said yesterday. The Japanese unit of Walt Disney Co has reached a basic agreement with Japanese Internet and telecom conglomerate Softbank Corp to tie up in cellphone operations, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Under the deal, the US firm will lease telecom networks from a Softbank unit, Softbank Mobile Corp and start providing nationwide service. Disney will also join forces with Softbank to develop handsets and consign their output to other companies, the report said.
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