SOUTH KOREA
Lee talks up economy
President Lee Myung-bak used a national day radio address yesterday to bolster faith in Asia’s fourth-largest economy amid a global economic slowdown and sluggish factory output at home. Lee said that national debt at a third of GDP was well below the 98 percent average of other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nations, while foreign currency reserves exceeded US$300 billion and the nation’s current account was in surplus. “It would not be desirable for the nation to be overwhelmed by a crisis mentality,” Lee said.
TELECOMS
Moody’s downbeat on Nokia
A plan to provide 1 billion euros (US$1.33 billion) to Nokia Siemens Networks is negative for Nokia Oyj’s credit rating, Moody’s Investors Service said in its Weekly Credit Outlook report. Nokia and Siemens AG will each provide 500 million euros to their 50-50 joint venture, Nokia said in a statement on Thursday. “The capital injection, which we expected, is credit negative for Nokia as it reduces cash balances at the parent level, which are key to its rating,” Moody’s said. “The credit implications are much more pronounced for Nokia, whose liquidity is a key rating factor.”
BANKING
Wenzhou tightens credit
Wenzhou City Government in China has set a upper limit on the lending rates charged by private non-bank institutions as part of its efforts to control systemic risk in the banking sector, the government said in a statement on its Web site on Wednesday. Private non-bank institutions can only extend loans at an interest rate that does not exceed four times the benchmark lending rate, the statement said.
BANKING
Citigroup may be penalized
Citigroup Inc may be penalized by regulators in Japan for the third time since 2004 after its Japanese retail banking unit possibly breached rules by failing to fully explain product risk to customers, two people familiar with the situation said. The penalties imposed on Citigroup Japan’s retail banking division by the Financial Services Agency may include temporary suspensions of operations at some outlets, said the people, who declined to be identified as the discussion is private.
MINING
Nickel Asia suspends unit
Nickel Asia Corp, the Philippines’ largest nickel producer, said yesterday it suspended mining operations and nickel ore loading activities at its Taganito Mining Corp (TMC) unit following an attack by an armed group. Nickel Asia, partly owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, did not say when the mine at Claver in the Philippines’ Surigao del Norte province would reopen. “We understand that certain equipment of TMC, as well as our affiliate, Taganito HPAL Corporation, were burned,” the firm told the stock exchange.
MEDIA
Pittnam is CC Media CEO
On the heels of organizing a two-day concert in Las Vegas that kicked off Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio online radio service, media veteran Bob Pittman was named CEO of its parent company, CC Media Holdings Inc. An expert at boosting brands, Pittman is the former CEO of MTV Networks and was chief operating officer of America Online Inc. He joined the firm in November with a US$5 million investment and the job of chairman of media and entertainment platforms.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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