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World Business Quick Take

■ INVESTMENT

S Korea raises FDI target

South Korea aims to attract more than US$12 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year, up from US$10.5 billion pledged last year, Minister of Knowledge Economy Lee Youn-ho said yesterday. "External conditions have deteriorated, but we'll do our best to achieve the target," Lee said. He said the government would carry out a three-year plan to improve the climate for foreign investors, one of President Lee Myung-bak's key goals since taking office on Feb. 25. The previous administration had forecast pledged FDI would remain around US$10 billion this year.



■ BEVERAGES

Pernod buying vodka maker

French liquor group Pernod Ricard SA is buying Vin & Sprit, the maker of Absolut vodka, for 55 billion kronor (US$9.24 billion), the Swedish government said yesterday. The deal ends months of speculation over who would take over the state-owned liquor group, which is being sold by the government as part of a privatization effort. The Swedish government said the French company, behind brands such as Chivas whisky and Mumm champagne, intends to keep Vin & Sprit based in Sweden. It said the deal includes the whole company, except for Vin & Sprit's 10 percent share in US spirits company Beam Global Spirits & Wine, which would be sold under a previous agreement with Beam shareholders.



■ AVIATION

Malaysia chooses Boeing

Malaysia Airlines has agreed to purchase 55 narrow-body aircraft from the US-based Boeing for 9.6 billion ringgit (US$3 billion), the Edge Financial Daily said yesterday. The Boeing 737-800 series costs about US$70 million each, but Malaysia Airlines, being a bulk buyer, could receive a discount on the price, the daily said, citing sources from the industry. It said the national carrier would probably seal the deal for the Boeing planes, ending months of speculation on which plane manufacturer it would choose for its aircraft acquisition program to replace its existing fleet. The airline opted for Boeing because of technical reasons, the report said.



■ AUTOMOBILES

Report says Hinduja in talks

Indian conglomerate Hinduja is in talks to buy a controlling stake in France's automotive supplier Valeo for up to US$1.5 billion, a newspaper report said yesterday. Officials from Hinduja's bus and truck maker Ashok Leyland met representatives from Valeo in Paris last week to discuss the offer, the Indian Business Standard newspaper said. A Hinduja group spokesman in Mumbai said the report was "speculative" and declined further comment. Valeo has 125 production sites and a presence in 28 countries.



■ BIOTECHNOLOGY

Study finds cancer clues

Researchers have uncovered new genetic clues for diabetes and cancer of the colon and rectum, papers published on Sunday in the journal Nature Genetics said. A consortium of researchers, sifting through data from six major studies, found six previously unknown genetic variants that boost the risk of Type 2 diabetes, the more common of the two forms of the disease and one that is spreading fast in developed economies. Separately, investigators found that people with specific variants of genes located on Chromosomes 8, 10 and 11 were at increased risk of colorectal cancers.
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