■FINANCE
Dubai markets link up
Dubai’s two stock markets are moving closer together by linking their trading platforms in a bid to boost the number of shares changing hands. Shares listed on the NASDAQ Dubai stock exchange began trading on the more active Dubai Financial Market at the start of the local business week yesterday. NASDAQ Dubai officials say the new system will give individual investors better access to its stocks. The electronic NASDAQ Dubai exchange has struggled to attract investors. Its most-traded stock is DP World, the global port operator run by indebted state conglomerate Dubai World.
■AVIATION
Emirates, Etihad skyrocket
Emirates and Etihad, the two major carriers of the United Arab Emirates, plan to create almost 60,000 new jobs over the next decade to meet their rapid growth, a newspaper reported yesterday. “It took us 25 years to get to 40,000 employees, but in the next 10 years, we will double that to 80,000,” the National quoted Rick Helliwell, vice president of recruitment at Emirates, as saying. He said the Dubai-based carrier, the largest in the Middle East, would require 60,000 new employees over the decade, after factoring in current staff who retire or move on. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, which currently has 8,000 employees, will need to increase its workforce to 27,000 staff by 2020, when all its planes on order have been delivered, the paper said.
■BANKING
Chinese lending down
Chinese banks issued 603.4 billion yuan (US$89.1 billion) in new loans last month, down from May, the central bank said yesterday, as Beijing gradually works to cool the economy. Bank lending in May had reached 639.4 billion yuan, but the government has rolled out a series of measures to restrain the supply of credit over concerns of an asset bubble in the booming economy. The figures meant lending for the first half of the year reached 62 percent of the government’s annual target, indicating credit growth will likely slow in the coming months, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
■AVIATION
BA may make Spain move
British Airways (BA) PLC will try to grow in Madrid’s Barajas airport after a merger with Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA if it can’t continue to expand in London’s Heathrow, El Pais quoted chief executive Willie Walsh as saying. The company is also aiming to reduce its unit labor costs by 44 percent over the long-term, Walsh was quoted as saying in an interview with the Madrid-based newspaper.
■INVESTMENT
Dubai World ditches plan
A property arm of the struggling state conglomerate Dubai World is backing out of a plan to build luxury homes in Malaysia as it looks to shore up its finances. The cash-strapped company’s Limitless division is selling off its stake in a partnership with Malaysia’s Bandar Raya Developments to develop waterfront land in the southern city of Nusajaya. Limitless will generate about US$23.8 million in the deal, according to a regulatory filing on Malaysia’s stock exchange. Limitless said in a statement yesterday that it continues “to review our business activity to reflect market conditions.” The company’s parent, Dubai World, needs cash as it works to pay back US$23.5 billion in debt.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source