■ Telecoms
Nokia sees strong growth
Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, said on Thursday that it expected the global mobile phone market to grow by more than 10 percent next year. The Finnish company also forecast that the number of mobile subscriptions would surpass three billion in 2008, two years earlier than the target date of 2010 it predicted in February. Nokia said it expected "the mobile device industry volumes in 2006 to grow more than 10 percent from the 780 million units we estimate for 2005, and the mobile device market to also grow in value in 2006." The forecasts came as Nokia held its Capital Markets Days in New York on Thursday and yesterday. Regarding its own financial outlook for the next one to two years, Nokia said its operating margin target remained stable at 17 percent.
■ Automotive
Nissan creates smart paint
Nissan Motor said yesterday it had created a paint that repairs scratches on its own, restoring a car's surface to normal within a week. The Japanese automaker said the paint contains a newly developed resin that can stop scratches from marking the car's outer layer. Wear and tear due to everything from fingernails to roadside objects will disappear in one day to one week depending on the temperature and the seriousness of the scratch, Nissan said in a statement. The "Scratch Guard Coat" paint, which protects for three years, will debut on a sports-utility vehicle which is set for a makeover, Nissan said. The paint also helps prevent scratches in the first place.
■ Electronics
Pioneer to cut 600 jobs
Troubled Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp will cut 600 jobs in Japan as part of a revival plan that will also better integrate the company's television and audio equipment units, a newspaper reported yesterday. The job cuts will come through early retirements and are in addition to the 2,000 worldwide job cuts Pioneer announced in March, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, citing a restructuring blueprint that company executives compiled Thursday. Pioneer spokesman Kesanobu Yamagishi would not comment on the report but confirmed that the company is drafting a comeback plan that will be unveiled on Thursday. He could not say whether additional job cuts are being considered.
■ Trade
Trade area gets boost
Seven South Asian countries have finalized an agreement to set up a free trade area, the Indian government said yesterday, a move predicted to more than double the size of the regional market. The landmark deal to create a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) was signed in Islamabad in January last year during a summit of regional leaders, with this coming January 1 set as a deadline for implem-entation. However the deal by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), was expected to become fully operational only by 2016. "The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) Agreement has been finalized," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said. The statement was issued after "receiving intimation from Kathmandu about the deliberations of the Committee of Experts on SAFTA which met there from 29th November-1st December 2005 to resolve the outstanding issues ... so as to complete the negotiations," Nath said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
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