MALAYSIA
Saudi firms sign agreements
Local firms and their Saudi Arabian counterparts yesterday signed preliminary agreements for seven deals worth more than US$2 billion. The deals, valued at 9.74 billion ringgit (US$2.19 billion), are to cover joint ventures and cooperation in several sectors, including oil and gas, Muslim finance, Shariah-compliant products, the halal industry and manufacturing, Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed said at a news conference. State oil company Saudi Arabian Oil Co was yesterday also expected to sign a deal with Petroliam Nasional Bhd to invest US$7 billion in an oil refinery and petrochemical project in southern Johor.
INFRASTRUCTURE
US$26 trillion needed: ADB
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said developing countries in Asia and the Pacific will need to invest up to US$1.7 trillion per year, or US$26 trillion through 2030, to meet their infrastructure needs and maintain the region’s growth momentum — more than double the previous estimate in 2009. A substantial infrastructure gap remains, as more than 400 million people still lack electricity, 300 million have no access to safe drinking water and about 1.5 billion lack basic sanitation, the ADB said in a report released yesterday.
PETROLEUM
Pemex halves annual losses
Mexico’s state-run energy giant Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) on Monday reported losses of US$14.3 billion for last year, halving its losses in 2015, and said austerity measures were starting to pay off. Pemex, which has not posted a profit since 2012, has struggled through a period of low oil prices and sweeping energy reforms launched by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Pemex said it last year slashed operation costs by 26 percent and maintained production at 2.15 million barrels per day. Seeking to stave off a financial catastrophe, Pemex shelved US$3.6 billion in investments early last year and implemented US$5.5 billion in budget cuts.
CHINA
Illicit forex operation busted
The government said it has broken up an underground banking operation that conducted US$7.3 billion in illegal foreign currency transfers, trumpeting the bust as a sign of its resolve to stem massive capital flight. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange late on Monday said in a statement that it had investigated six companies suspected of illegal forex transfers in Shenzhen. An unspecified number of other firms were found to have used false documentation, fabricated trades and other methods to funnel money out of the country, the regulator said. The country’s vast foreign exchange reserves last year fell to less than US$3 trillion for the first time in six years, as authorities spent heavily to prop up the yuan and reduce on outflows.
MOBILE
Unlimited data on horizon
Netflix Inc chairman and CEO Reed Hastings on Monday said that telecoms would offer data plans that give users unlimited video streaming to meet the rising popularity of watching TV and movies on mobile devices. The trend would take place in the next 10 to 20 years, Hastings said at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, the industry’s largest annual trade fair. He said he believed telecoms would eventually create a two-tier system, where video data is unlimited to meet the growing demand for watching TV series and movies on mobile devices.
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar
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