■TELECOMS
Vodafone eyes T-Mobile
The UK’s Vodafone, the world’s biggest mobile phone company by revenue, is exploring a bid to buy T-Mobile UK, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Citing people familiar with the situation, the daily said Vodafone was considering making an offer or setting up a joint venture, in a move that would give it a 40 percent share of revenue paid by mobile phone users in the UK. Vodafone has a market share of about 25 percent, compared with 27 percent for O2, owned by Spain’s Telefonica, 22 percent for France Telecom’s Orange, 15 percent for T-Mobile and 8 percent for Hutchinson Whampoa’s 3.
■TRADE
Canada, Jordan sign FTA
Jordan and Canada signed a free-trade agreement yesterday aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Jordanian exports, the state-run Petra news agency reported. The agreement, which is the first between Canada and an Arab country, will eliminate customs on goods of Jordanian origin exported to the Canadian market immediately after it comes into effect later this year, the government-run news agency reported. Jordan will reduce customs on Canadian goods during a five-year period. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached 61 million dinars (US$86 million) last year.
■AVIATION
Incheon airport to expand
South Korea will spend more than US$3 billion expanding Incheon International Airport to help it compete better with regional rivals, officials said yesterday. Work on the 4 trillion won (US$3.12 billion) project will start in 2011 and finish by 2015, the ministry of land, transport and maritime affairs said in a statement. A second passenger terminal will be built and existing facilities including the cargo terminal expanded. The airport, now capable of handling 44 million passengers and 4.5 million tonnes of cargo per year, will be able to handle 62 million passengers and 5.8 million tonnes annually once the expansion is complete, the ministry said.
■VIETNAM
Firm buys hotels abroad
Vietnam’s leading travel service company will buy five hotels overseas to expand its operations and develop its brand internationally, a company official said yesterday. “Taking advantage of falling property prices in the economic crisis, we decided to buy hotels overseas to expand our operations and develop our brand name into an international one,” said Nguyen Huu Tho, general director of Saigontourist Holding Company. “This is the first time a Vietnamese tourist company plans to buys hotels overseas.” Tho said the company had hired US law firm Baker & McKenzie to help complete negotiations for a 252-room hotel located in Fisherman’s Wharf, a popular tourist destination in San Francisco, California. Saigontourist would purchase four other hotels in Tokyo, Berlin, Hong Kong and Moscow after the first deal was completed.
■FRANCE
Recession to slow down: IMF
The French recession will slow down this year and the country will begin a return to “sluggish” growth early next year, the IMF said on Sunday. “The economic contraction is expected to slow in the remainder of 2009, followed by a sluggish return to growth beginning in early 2010,” the IMF said in a report following consultations with France, the fourth-largest contributor to the international body. But the fund cautioned that “the country remains in deep recession, and short-term policies to support recovery are essential.”
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS