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World Business Quick Take

■ CONSTRUCTION

Hyundai inks Libyan deal

Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co, South Korea's biggest builder by market value, said it signed a US$713.5 million contract with General Electricity Company of Libya to build a thermal power plant. Construction of the Al Khallj facility, 20km west of Sirte city, will take 52 months, Seoul-based Hyundai Engineering said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Hyundai Engineering first announced the order in October. South Korean contractors, including Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co and Hyundai Engineering, won a record US$39.8 billion in overseas orders last year as countries in the Middle East invested more in new refineries and power plants to benefit from surging oil prices and economic growth.



■ REAL ESTATE

Brixton invests at Heathrow

Brixton Plc, the UK's largest industrial landlord, said it bought five warehouses at Heathrow airport outside London for £71.6 million (US$142.3 million). It bought two units at Heathrow Gateway with a total space of 33,000m2 from an unidentified buyer for £63.75 million, the London-based company said yesterday in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service. It also bought three warehouses from funds run by Clerical Medical Investment Group Ltd for £7.85 million.



■ MACROECONOMICS

India's trade deficit rises

India's trade deficit increased by nearly US$2 billion in November from a year ago despite a surge in exports, official figures showed yesterday. The deficit for November was US$7.4 billion, compared with US$5.5 billion in the same month a year before, the data showed. Exports grew 26.8 percent to US$12.4 billion in November even though the rupee has strengthened significantly over the last year. Imports rose 29.2 percent to US$19.8 billion. Oil imports rose 16.7 percent from a year ago to US$5.8 billion. Non-oil imports rose 35.3 percent to US$14 billion.



■ INVESTMENT

Billionaire borrows less

T. Ananda Krishnan, Malaysia's second-richest man, is borrowing US$1.2 billion to help fund the buyout of Maxis Communications Bhd, 20 percent less than the maximum sought, said Lim Ghee Keong, group treasurer of an investment company controlled by the billionaire. Binariang GSM Sdn, Krishnan's special-purpose company, decided not to exercise an option to increase the loan to US$1.5 billion after getting enough funds from a 12 billion ringgit (US$3.6 billion) bond sale last month, Lim, the group treasurer of Usaha Tegas Sdn, said yesterday.



■ POLLUTION

German cities ban dirty cars

Three German cities began implementing a new air pollution system on Tuesday that bans the dirtiest vehicles from their centers. Drivers in Berlin, Cologne and Hanover are now required to display a colored badge showing the level of pollution caused by their vehicle, with a scale of red, yellow and green. Some vehicles, notably an estimated 1.7 million old diesel cars and vans, will not qualify for even the most polluting red badge and will be prohibited from driving in central areas. Drivers without a badge caught in the city center will face a 40 euro (US$60) fine and will be docked a point on their driving license. The system is to be extended to about 20 German cities in the course of the year, including Stuttgart and Munich.
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