Print

Mail

wiki links

World Business Quick Take

■ AUTOMOBILES

License plate costs millions

Without batting an eyelid, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) businessman dished out a record US$14 million for a car license plate at a charity auction in the UAE on Saturday. "It is not huge compared to my family's fortune," Saeed Abdel Ghaffar Khouri said after bidding 52.2 million dirhams (US$14.2 million) for an Abu Dhabi license plate bearing the single number "1." "The price is fair. After all, who among us does not want to be number one," Khouri said. Emirates Auction which organized the sale said on its Web site that it had been expected to set a new world record for the most expensive car license plate in the world. Funds from the auction will be given to charities, including one that will set up a hospital for casualties from road accidents.

■ BANKING

Bank urged to cut rates

An influential think-tank yesterday urged the central Bank of Korea to cut interest rates quickly to prevent market instability stemming from wide interest rate gaps with the US. In a report published yesterday, the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) noted that foreigners have been snapping up South Korean bonds to capitalize on the country's high interest rates compared with those of the US. "In light of foreigners' rush to the local bond market, the Bank of Korea should cut the interest rate in a pre-emptive manner," the think tank said. "If the interest rate gap between South Korea and the United States lasts for a long period, it could come as a destabilizing factor for the local bond market." Should foreign investors suddenly withdraw funds from the local bond market, it would throw the market into chaos, it warned. Citing inflation concerns and uncertainty about the global economy, the bank last Wednesday kept its key interest rate unchanged for a sixth straight month.

■ TRADE

Bush talks cotton

US President George W. Bush told West Africa's cotton producers that US subsidies to US cotton growers were a matter for Washington, Beninese President Boni Yayi said on Saturday. Yayi was speaking at a joint press conference with Bush, who spent three hours in the small west African country at the beginning of a five-nation tour of the continent. Bush "considers that the question of these subsidies was an American matter, and told me that he was well aware of the importance of this sector in the life of our people," Yayi said. The US leader advised West African countries to grow cotton and process it for added value.

■ AUTOMOBILES

Plastech deal extended

A tentative deal for auto parts supplier Plastech Engineered Products Inc to continue sending parts to Chrysler LLC has been extended. The deal was set to expire on Friday. But Chrysler spokesman Kevin Frazier says it has been extended to Feb. 27. Both companies are awaiting a ruling expected tomorrow from Bankruptcy Judge Phillip Shefferly on Chrysler's efforts to retrieve equipment from Plastech. Dearborn-based Plastech filed for bankruptcy protection on Feb. 1 after Chrysler said it was severing business with it. Four Chrysler plants closed briefly when Plastech stopped shipping parts, but Plastech resumed sending parts under the tentative deal. Plastech supplies about 500 components for nearly all Chrysler's vehicles.