■AUTOMOBILES
BMW invests in S Africa
German automotive giant BMW announced yesterday it was investing 2.2 billion rand (US$220 million) to build its new 3 Series in South Africa, after obtaining assurances from the South African government on continued manufacturing incentives. Announcing the investment in Johannesburg, BMW South Africa’s managing director Bodo Donauer said: “It will secure BMW car production in South Africa for the foreseeable future.” From 60,000 vehicles a year, BMW South Africa’s production will jump to 87,000 vehicles. From its plant outside Pretoria BMW SA exports to the US, Japan, Australia and other leading car markets as well as sub-Saharan Africa.
■RETAIL
Gazprom to sell groceries
Russian energy giant Gazprom is set to open a chain of supermarkets, which would become the country’s fifth-biggest food retailer, the Kommersant daily reported yesterday. The chain would be formed on the basis of 400 stores and cafeterias which presently serve only Gazprom employees, the newspaper said, citing a company which is organizing the rebranding campaign. “The plan was to further expand the chain by opening new sites,” Irina Vedenetskaya, executive director of the Coruna branding agency, told Kommersant in an article headlined “Gaz-food.” Vedenetskaya said her agency had worked out a rebranding campaign where the company stores would become a chain called “Naraskhvat,” a Russian expression which can be translated as “to sell like hot cakes.”
■INSURANCE
Aviva to complete IPO
Aviva PLC, the UK’s second-biggest insurer by market value, expects to complete an initial public offering (IPO) of its Dutch insurance unit next month. More information about the proposed transaction is expected to be published in a prospectus this month, the London-based insurer said in a statement yesterday. On that basis, the IPO would be completed next month, Aviva said. Aviva is selling part of its 92 percent holding in Delta Lloyd Group, which traces its roots back to 1807, to raise cash. The company plans to sell a minority of its stake, it said today. Aviva said on Thursday it could sell 30 percent of the business.
■EQUITIES
Strategists retain ‘hold’
Credit Suisse Group AG strategists reiterated a recommendation to hold more global equities than are reflected in benchmarks and raised their earnings-per-share estimate for next year for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to US$76 from US$71. The S&P 500 could end this year at 1,100 because a growing US economy and expanding earnings will spur investors to allocate more money to equities, the strategists wrote in a report yesterday.
■BANKING
Standard adds executives
Standard Chartered PLC, the London-based bank that makes most of its money in emerging markets, added executives in equity sales and research to its expanding Asian operations. Tim Andrew and David Murray, formerly of Deutsche Bank, will join Standard Chartered as global head of cash equities and global head of equities research respectively, an internal memo said on Friday. The appointments are the latest step in the lender’s plans to bolster its Asian operations. The bank completed the acquisition of Cazenove Asia Ltd from JPMorgan Cazenove Ltd in January to help it build an equity capital markets and institutional brokerage business.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from