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Business Quick Take

■ AVIATION

JAL to receive ?150 billion

Japan Airlines Corp said yesterday it will receive a capital injection of approximately ?150 billion (US$1.4 billion) from heavyweight investors as part of its rehabilitation efforts. Asia's largest carrier will issue preferred shares to 14 companies, including trading houses Mitsui and Co and Sojiz Corp along with banks such as the Development Bank of Japan and Mizuho Corporate Bank. "The capital generated will be used to bolster the JAL business restructuring activities ... helping to speed up, for example, fleet renewal and product and service quality enhancements," a company statement said.



■ INVESTMENT

South Asia FDI to rise

Robust near-term economic growth should drive strong foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into South Asia despite corruption, poor infrastructure, rigid labor laws and civil unrest, the Asian Development Bank said yesterday. FDI flows into the Indian sub-continent had risen rapidly since 2004, growing by 132.9 percent in 2006 to US$24.3 billion as economies moved away from the failed closed socialist model, the lender said in a study. However, its share of FDI stock remained low at just 6.5 percent of South Asia's gross domestic product (GDP), compared to Southeast Asia's 39.5 percent of GDP and East Asia's 29.1 percent of GDP.



■ INTERNET

Baidu sued over music

China's top search engine Baidu.com (百度) has been sued by a local music industry group for alleged copyright violation, according to a statement released by the group. On its Web site yesterday, the Music Copyright Society of China quoted an official accusing Baidu.com Inc of "providing music listening, broadcasting and downloading services in various forms on its Web site without approval, and through unfettered piracy, earning huge advertising revenue on its huge number of hits."



■ ENERGY

Toshiba may tie up with IHI

Japan's Toshiba Corp and heavy machinery manufacturer IHI Corp are in talks over a possible business tie-up in energy systems, including nuclear power plant construction, a report said yesterday. IHI may spin off its energy plant business into a new company that would then be partly owned by Toshiba, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported, citing unnamed company sources. The two companies aim to challenge industry leader Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it said. Toshiba, however, denied the report. "It is not true that Toshiba is in such negotiations with IHI in an attempt to integrate the energy businesses," it said.



■ CHINA

Pension fund healthier

China's national pension fund had assets of 516.2 billion yuan (US$72 billion) at the end of last year, a rise of 42 percent from a year earlier, state media reported yesterday. Xinhua news agency, which gave the figure, was quoting Dai Xianglong (戴相龍), the head of China's National Social Security Fund. The fund achieved returns of 110 billion yuan last year, partially thanks to a bull run in the stock market, the state-owned Central China Television (CCTV) reported on its Web site. The fund is studying plans for its fixed-income and equity investment strategy in coming years, including detailed rules on how much of the fund should be invested in stocks, according to the CCTV report.
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