VIETNAM
Jet tax cut may be extended
The Ministry of Finance said that it is proposing that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc extend a 30 percent cut in the jet fuel environmental tax through next year to help struggling airlines. The proposal follows the National Assembly’s approval earlier this month of the government’s plan to provide financial support to national carrier Vietnam Airlines JSC. The government is weighing providing the airline with loan guarantees and allowing its investment arm, State Capital Investment Corp, to invest in the carrier, state broadcaster VTV has said.
ENERGY
Rebels hit Aramco plant
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) yesterday said that a strike by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on its plant in Jeddah tore a hole in an oil tank, triggering an explosion and fire that was quickly extinguished. The energy giant took reporters to the distribution facility where damage to the tank was visible the day after the attack, with the top rim left blackened by fire and the railings above buckled from the heat. Aramco said that the company was assessing whether the tank could be repaired.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Shareholder rules eased
The country has abolished the need for firms to have Emirati shareholders, local media reported, in a major shake-up of foreign ownership laws aimed at attracting investment into an economy reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline in oil prices. The amendments to the 2015 commercial companies’ law remove key provisions requiring that a firm be chaired by an Emirati national and for the board of directors to be majority Emirati, the National newspaper said. The rules come into effect on Tuesday next week, Gulf News said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis to buy back shares
Novartis AG plans to repurchase as much as US$2.5 billion of shares as the Swiss drugmaker expects its pipeline of new drug candidates to fuel sales growth. The pharma giant expects key data and advances on five experimental cancer medicines that are in mid to late-stage clinical trials next year, Novartis said ahead of a presentation to investors yesterday. Novartis said that it is on track to deliver US$2 billion in cost savings by year-end and another US$2 billion in the mid-term.
BANKING
Credit Suisse eyes charge
Credit Suisse Group AG expects to book a US$450 million impairment charge on its stake in York Capital Management as the US firm winds down most of its hedge fund strategies. The charge, which could still change, would be booked in the fourth quarter, the Zurich-based bank said yesterday. Credit Suisse agreed in 2010 to take a stake of about 30 percent in the firm founded by Jamie Dinan, offering to pay at least US$425 million to give clients access to its investments.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Europe plans to cut prices
The European Commission wants to make it easier for patients to access cheaper, generic medicines, a draft EU document seen by Reuters showed, in a move that could cut the revenues of big pharmaceutical firms. The EU executive outlined its strategy for the sector in a document due to be published today, with the goal of making drugs more affordable and preventing the shortages seen in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Commission will consider targeted policies that support greater generic and biosimilar competition,” the document says.
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
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
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
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
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