JAPAN
World’s top creditor nation
The country kept its position as the world’s largest creditor nation for the 22nd straight year last year, government data showed yesterday, as the US dollar’s gains helped inflate the value of overseas assets, including foreign debt and property. The nation’s net overseas assets stood at ￥296.3 trillion (US$2.9 trillion) at the end of last year, according to the finance ministry. It was followed by China, which had net overseas assets of ￥150.3 trillion last year. Germany ranked third with ￥121.9 trillion, followed by Switzerland at ￥84.7 trillion and Hong Kong with ￥63.4 trillion.
HONG KONG
Housing crisis bites
More than 170,000 people in the city are living in cramped subdivided apartments, a government-commissioned study has found, underlining the scale of the city’s housing crisis. The study was carried out from January to last month by Policy21, a survey organization comprising academics from the University of Hong Kong. The Census and Statistics Department last October estimated 64,900 people live in subdivided apartments, cubicles, caged bed spaces and cocklofts, which are usually about 3.72m2 big.
CLOTHING
Uniqlo pushes safety
The operator of Japanese cheap-chic clothing chain Uniqlo said yesterday it was pressing ahead with its own safety inspections in Bangladesh, while it considered joining a global pact on protecting workers. Fast Retailing, which operates the brand, said no decision had yet been made on the accord, which was promoted by international labor groups after a Bangladesh building collapse last month that killed 1,129 workers. The Bangladesh deal binds retailers to having independent building and fire safety inspections, and to pay for repairs.
CURRENCIES
Digital money boss nabbed
The founder of the Liberty Reserve digital currency business has been arrested in Spain on money-laundering charges, Costa Rican authorities said. Officials in the Central American nation said in a statement that Arthur Budovsky was detained as part of an investigation that also involved US authorities. Police raided three homes and five businesses linked to the Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve, and seized papers and digital documents that will be turned over to US authorities, the statement said. A Russian citizen was also arrested in the case in Costa Rica on Friday last week and will be extradited to the US.
FRANCE
Consumers gloomy: index
French consumers are deeply pessimistic, being as gloomy as they have ever been since 1987, a monthly index compiled by the national statistics institute INSEE showed yesterday. The index, which measures household confidence, fell to 79 points this month from 83 points last month. This reading is equal to the lowest level reached since 1987, in July 2008, at the height of the financial crisis. Households also believe that the unemployment rate, now at 11 percent, will rise.
VENEZUELA
Chevron joins oil venture
Chevron Corp has agreed to lend US$2 billion to a joint venture with Venezuela’s state oil company to boost production in an oil field in Zulia state. Venezuela’s PVDSA oil company owns 60 percent of the venture, Petroboscan, and Chevron 40 percent. Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez says financing will help boost production in the Boscan field from 107,000 barrels a day to 127,000 barrels.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
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