■ Disclosure
WEF head resigns
The World Economic Forum (WEF) said its chief executive, Jose Maria Figueres, quit after admitting that he broke the organization's rules covering disclosure of outside interests. Figueres, who was president of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998, failed to inform the forum that he received consulting fees of US$906,355 from November 1999 to October last year, the organization said. A spokesman for the forum, which is the host of an annual meeting of business and government leaders in the Swiss Alps, said Figueres' resignation was not linked to bribery-related allegations made in Costa Rica.
■ Macroeconomics
Canada's GDP inches up
Driven by strong growth in manufacturing and retailing, Canada's gross domestic product increased 0.5 percent during August, Statistics Canada said. The rise followed a 0.2 percent increase a month earlier. The government agency said that manufacturing activity rose 1 percent, partly because of a 3.8 percent increase in automotive production and a 2.1 percent rise in the manufacturing of car and truck parts. Retailing was up 1.1 percent, helped by sales of new and used autos and auto parts and services.
■ Automakers
Mitsubishi, Nissan eye deal
Scandal-hit Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors plans to jointly develop and manufacture mini vehicles with Nissan Motor, public television network NHK reported on Thursday. The report said Mitsubishi, reeling from defect cover-ups and sagging sales, is considering forming in April next year a 50-50 joint venture with Nissan, the second-largest carmaker in Japan and which is controlled by Renault of France, to develop mini vehicles. Mitsubishi is in talks with Nissan to produce mini vehicles under Nissan's brand name at Mitsubishi's Mizushima plant in Okayama Prefecture in western Japan, NHK said, quoting sources involved in the talks. The two firms are also considering shifting a total of 4,500 employees to the new company to jointly manufacture mini vehicles in the future, NHK said. Spokesmen at Mitsubishi and Nissan said they were unable to confirm the report. Mitsubishi, the fourth-largest carmaker in Japan, and its truck-making affiliate are struggling to recover lost business after admitting to defect cover-ups which forced it to conduct massive vehicle recalls this year.
■ Conglomerate
Snecma, Sagem to merge
French electronic equipment maker Sagem SA and state-controlled aircraft engine maker Snecma said on Friday they plan to merge in a US$5.7 billion deal that will create a new aerospace, defense and telecom-munications group. Sagem chairman Mario Colaiacovo and Snecma's chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Bechat presented the plan separately to their boards on Thursday, both companies said. The tie-up would lead to the privatization of Snecma, in which the government still holds a controlling stake after selling off just over one-third of its capital in an initial public offering earlier this year. France's finance and defense ministers, Nicolas Sarkozy and Michele Alliot-Marie, welcomed the deal. As Snecma's biggest shareholder, the government will "examine with interest" the terms of Sagem's offer, the ministers said.
■ Restructuring
Shanghai assets for sale
Shanghai is selling off assets of more than 40 state-owned companies, including electronics firms, a hotel and a stake in a major brokerage, hoping to bring in more foreign financing and expertise, the city says. According to the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, a combined 6.1 billion yuan (US$734 million) in state-owned assets were put on sale this week, including 32 companies owned by Shanghai Electric (Group) Corp, the country's biggest industrial equipment maker. China is keeping majority stakes in many strategic industries. But the government is encouraging the sale of small and medium-sized state-owned companies to help finance the reform of inefficient state enterprises -- relics of decades of communist-style central planning. Foreign acquisitions of some companies are also being sought as a way to gain international managerial expertise and advanced technology.
■ Free trade
Macau, China expand pact
Macau and China have expanded a free trade agreement, stripping tariffs off 190 types of Macau goods, while increasing preferential access to industries in China. The new tariff-free products range from chemicals to clothing, the Macau government said in a statement posted on its Web site late Friday. The removal of tariffs takes effect on Jan. 1 next year. China also opened up airport operation, information technology and job referral services, while further improving access for Macau companies in 11 sectors where they already enjoy preferential treatment. The original trade deal eliminated tariffs on 273 Macau goods and opened up 18 sectors.
■ Internet
Malaysia pushing broadband
Malaysia might open its broadband services industry to foreign companies if domestic operators continue to lag behind in wiring up more homes, a newspaper reported yesterday. Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik said the government was unhappy that only 1 percent of Malaysian households have broadband services, The Star daily reported. "We are considering several measures to increase the broadband penetration rate and they include opening up the industry to foreign players," Lim was quoted as saying. "People in other countries have gone far ahead of us ... what's wrong with us?" He said the low number of broadband users had hindered development programs, but gave no details, the report said. The government has targeted a 5 percent to 6 percent increase in the number of broadband users in this country of 25 million people by 2008.
■ Energy
Russian gas giant approved
Directors at Russian natural gas giant Gazprom approved the creation of an oil holding company on Friday, setting the stage for the creation of a state-controlled oil and gas giant and cementing the government's influence in the politically important oil sector. The decision by the company's board to set up Gazpromneft paves the way for state oil companies Rosneft and Zarubezhneft to be rolled into the new company together with Gazprom's existing oil assets. The Gazprom-Rosneft merger is intended to increase the Russian government's 39.3 percent share in Gazprom to a controlling stake -- a prerequisite to loosening foreign ownership limits on Gazprom shares, which are coveted by foreign investors.
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
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