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World Business Quick Take

■JAPAN

Need for BOJ help dropping

The need for emergency measures by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to support cash-strapped companies is decreasing as the global financial crisis abates, a member of the bank’s policy board said yesterday. “The role of abnormal measures has been receding as corporate financing conditions are improving,” BOJ board member Miyako Suda said, adding that she was keeping an open mind on whether the steps should be extended beyond this year. She said the financial crisis was “gradually approaching an end.”



■PHARMACEUTICALS

Merck buys Suzhou Taizhu

German drug and chemical maker Merck KGaA said yesterday it had bought Chinese pigment company Suzhou Taizhu Technology Development Co (蘇州泰珠科技發展公司) in a deal that gives it more clout in a fast-growing market. Merck said that it has bought Taizhu’s production site in Taicang, near Shanghai, as well as the company’s entire sales and marketing organization in China and abroad for a total 28 million euros (US$40 million). Taizhu had total revenues of more than 14 million euros last year and has 300 employees, Darmstadt-based Merck said.



■HOTELS

Marriott eyes Asia expansion

Hotel group Marriott International announced yesterday it was planning 21 new hotels in Asia, despite the impact of the global economic slowdown on travel and demand. The company already has 37 hotels under construction across the region, meaning that it will have built 58 new hotels by 2013, creating an estimated 24,000 jobs. The 58 hotels now under development will add more than 16,000 rooms to Marriott’s Asia-Pacific portfolio, bringing the company’s presence in the region to 154 hotels offering 51,500 rooms in 18 countries by the end of 2013.



■AVIATION

Airbus forecast jumps 4%

Airbus SAS, the world’s biggest planemaker, forecast a jump of 4 percent or more in global air travel next year after Boeing Co said the market was unlikely to rebound before 2011. The European planemaker expects a decline of less than 4 percent this year, followed by, at worst, unchanged demand next year, according to a presentation by Laurent Rouaud, its market research head, at the Hong Kong air show yesterday. Boeing said earlier at the same show that traffic may drop as much as 8 percent this year, without giving a precise forecast for next year. “2010 will be a year of economic recovery, but 2011 will be the year for air-travel recovery,” said Randy Tinseth, Boeing’s marketing chief. Airbus forecast an increase of 6 percent or more in 2011.



■AVIATION

Qantas mulls selling stake

Australian flag carrier Qantas said yesterday it was considering selling its stake in Fiji’s Air Pacific as it moves to fly its budget offshoot Jetstar to the Pacific island nation. Qantas said it was in talks with the Fiji government about offloading the 46 percent stake in Air Pacific as it seeks to fend off rival Virgin Blue’s plans to expand services to the popular tourist destination. “This shareholding is under review,” Qantas said in a submission to the Australian government’s International Air Services Commission. “Qantas had held discussions with the Fiji government,” it added, saying the potential sale was part of a larger review of the company’s holdings due to changing market conditions.
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