Business

SOCHI, Russia — President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would aim to double trade with Africa over the next five years, at the opening of a summit aimed at reviving Moscow’s ties with the continent.

“We currently export to Africa $25 billion worth of food — which is more than we export in arms, at $15 billion. In the next four to five years, I think we should be able to double this trade, at least,” he told African leaders at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“In Africa, there are very many potential partners with good prospects.”

Putin said the current level of trade between Moscow and the continent was “not enough”. 

“African countries are attracting ever more attention from Russian businesses,” the president added, highlighting a number of major Russian companies that were already working on the continent. 

Dozens of African leaders are in Sochi for the first Russia-Africa Summit, as Moscow seeks greater influence on a continent where the West and China have a firm foothold.

The two-day event will see more than 3,000 delegates prepare deals and discuss topics from nuclear technology to mineral extraction.

DOHA — Qatar announced on Tuesday a major expansion of its Hamad International Airport, almost doubling the number of visitors it can receive as the Gulf state prepares to host the 2022 World Cup.

Work on the first phase of the expansion is scheduled to start next year and be completed two years later, expanding capacity from 35 million to 53 million passengers, annually.

The second phase is due to be completed after 2022 and will enable the airport, inaugurated in 2014, to handle up to 60 million passengers per year.

The decision to revamp the only international airport in gas-rich Qatar comes despite a fall in the number of tourists visiting the emirate as a result of a two-year boycott mounted by neighbouring countries.

"The expansion... is a vital part of the future success of the Qatar Airways group, and of course of the country's preparations to host the 2022 World Cup and beyond," said the carrier's CEO Akbar Al Baker.

The cost of the expansion project was not revealed.

Qatar has been under a land, air and sea embargo since June 2017 by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as Egypt, over its alleged support of radical groups.

Doha has categorically denied the accusations.

London-based Capital Economics said last month that the number of visitors to Qatar had dropped by 20 per cent from pre-boycott levels "reflecting weak arrivals from the rest of the Gulf".

In the first year of the blockade, flights to Doha dived 25 per cent and Qatar Airways flights sank 20 per cent, according to Capital Economics.

Qatar Airways reported last month that it posted $639 million in losses in the fiscal year ending in March, attributing the loss to closure of some major destinations.

To ward off the impact of the boycott, Qatar implemented an economic diversification plan and opened Hamad Port last year to boost trade and facilitate export-import services.

Qatar on Tuesday opened a new temporary passenger terminal at Doha Port, as it works to increase the number of cruise ships making calls in the Gulf state.

Authorities said the terminal will serve until the completion of a port expansion plan due in 2022. 

Projects related to the World Cup, estimated at dozens of billions of dollars, have not been affected by the boycott.

Qatar expects to host some 1.5 million visitors during world football's premier event.

LONDON — The pound hit a fresh five-month peak above $1.30 on Monday on renewed Brexit optimism after Prime Minister Boris Johnson requested another extension to Britain's scheduled departure from the European Union.

At about 08:30 GMT, the pound reached the highest level since May at $1.3012. 

It later stood at $1.2984, unchanged from late in New York on Friday.

The euro was stable at 85.99 pence.

"Markets [are] starting to price in a best case scenario in terms of the deal getting passed this week and then a short extension to pass any necessary legislation," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson told AFP.

"Whether that optimism turns out to be premature is another matter; only time will tell."

Johnson was on Monday attempting again to push his EU divorce deal through parliament and avoid the political damage of delaying Brexit beyond next week.

Brexit extension 'more likely'  

Lawmakers on Saturday mandated the prime minister to break his promise and send a letter to Brussels asking for more time.

"The main driver [for the pound] is hope of a Brexit extension being more likely, which could result in a better exit deal potentially to be negotiated than is currently on offer," said Accendo Markets trader Samuel Springett.

The pound had already struck five-month highs last week on optimism over Johnson's Brexit agreement with Brussels.

The option of extending the three-and-a-half year crisis past the October 31 Brexit deadline is now in the hands of the 27 remaining EU member states.

Since spiking above $1.30 in the morning London session, sterling has since slid back underneath.

Yet, the currency is attracting demand as traders buy on the dips, according to Maurice Pomery, who is head of trading firm Strategic Alpha.

"Markets are still trying to get to grips with what is going to happen with Brexit," he said.

"The pound topped out after taking out $1.30 today but UK bonds stalled at Thursday's lows," Pomery told AFP.

"Dealers seem to be watching bonds closely as we have seen decent moves down — with yields higher — across the board.”

"The market seems to believe a no-deal is now off the table so we may yet see further gains in the pound."

Elsewhere, Asian equity markets mostly rose but there was little major movement in reaction to China's top trade negotiator Liu He saying at the weekend that Beijing and Washington had made "substantial progress" towards wrapping up a partial trade deal announced earlier this month.

The deal offered China a temporary reprieve from tariffs planned for mid-October, while Beijing said it would hike purchases of US agricultural goods.

But it did not roll back any of the duties already imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars in exports to the US, nor address another round of levies due in December.

DUBAI — With solid strides made in the world of manufacturing, South Korea is working to reach more clients and to expand its markets, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Therefore, Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo (KBEE) 2019 was held at Dubai World Trade Centre last week so that Korean businessmen would have the opportunity to meet with as many clients as possible.

Organised by Korea Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), KBEE attracted businessmen from several MENA countries, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, along with Jordan.

Representatives of Korean cosmetic, food and beverage, fashion, broadcast, medicine and education businesses, among other services, attended the event. They displayed their products and provided information to customers at B2B and B2C meetings.

“Dubai, from a long time, has been the region’s business hub. That’s why we host the occasion here,” Kwanseok Lee, regional president of KOTRA MENA, told The Jordan Times.

“This is the first time in MENA,” he noted, as KBEE, a government event that is part of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) which refers to the global popularity of South Korea’s cultural economy exporting pop culture, entertainment, music, TV dramas and movies.

“We will take part in Dubai Expo 2020,” Lee said. 

A buyer from Bahrain, Abdel Rahman Al Koheiji, said he is interested in animation and tele-medicine products, noting that he has more than one business. 

“Korean products are good. That is why I am here, but I wish the exhibition would have been bigger,” he conceded. 

Noting that KOTRA’s choice of Dubai as this year’s KBEE’s venue is wise, he said, “In Dubai, all people come from worldwide. Dubai is well-known and serves as a platform for world businesses.”

Another buyer, Ehab Al Malahmeh from Jordan, said, “We are interested in seeing the goods they have… They want to export while we want to import the best. So it is beneficial for both sides.”

While Mohamad Abou Chaer, a Lebanese visitor, representing a Saudi company, said he was looking for “meso foundation”. 

“There is a new kind. Instead of putting foundation on daily basis, you put it once a month,” he said. 

“Koreans are very innovative in this field,” he added.

Sameh Gad, an Egyptian buyer who has also come from Saudi Arabia indicated that there is a good interest in Korean brands.

“This is the first time it is entirely Korean products. We are looking to see what is available, to see new things and new additions in the market.”

Noting that business has been slow, in general, he expressed hope that things would get better. 

MoU

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between a Korean cosmetics company and a Jordanian medical Company during KBEE 2019, according to Ahmad Barqawi from KOTRA-Amman.

Under the MoU, signed between betunia and ELOU  Co. Limited, the two sides have agreed to cooperate for an initial $10,000 trial order over a year, Barqawi indicated. 

K- Beauty Brand Seminar 

KBEE 2019 hosted a Korean-Beauty Brand seminar, during which speakers asserted Korea’s compliance with safety regulations, saying that Korea has become a global beauty leader, and encouraging buyers to opt for Korean cosmetics products.

Speakers, including Junwoo, a Korean makeup artist, focused on the importance of skin care and cleansing, as a first and most important step in applying makeup, drawing the audience’s attention, mainly women, businessmen and media people, to the many different kinds of  cleansing, hydrating and brightening facial masks Korean manufacturers produce. 

“Make-up trend in Korea is the natural,” he told the audience.

Paul Lee, general manager of Innisfree, which is described as one of the most famous beauty brands in Korea, was one of main speakers at the seminar.

He asserted his company’s interest in Middle East markets, noting that it is currently exporting to many world countries.

Innisfree products are reasonable, he said.

Korea, located in northeast Asia, has an AA national credit rating, and it has become the world’s 12th largest economy and 6th largest exporter. 

Difficult times

Manufacturers recognise that the world of business has become very competitive, so taking part in such exhibitions to acquaint buyers with products, especially new ones, is of great importance, according to Seetha R who has an MBA in marketing.

“We have new platforms coming out everyday, but our role as a distributor… our role is diminishing. We have to restructure ourselves,” she said.

Many are trying to eliminate middlemen, she explained, adding that at her company, business people are looking for strategies.

“It is a difficult time, she said, adding that there has been a silent recession. But now it is coming out more loudly,” she said.

“It is always difficult to stay afloat. You have to have the best, for acquisition and sales,” she elaborated.

“Nobody would want to take risks. They are playing it more safe these days, because of the conditions… of the media industry, especially in the media industry,” she added. 

A Jordanian businessman, who preferred to remain anonymous, expressed concern about slow economic changes. He said many people in Jordan are working just to keep themselves busy, citing low salaries and the difficulties a person usually goes through to land a job.

K- Pop

On the sidelines of the trade event, a K-pop concert featuring groups, SF9 and Seventeen was held at the World Trade Centre in Dubai.

Long queues of young people lined up ahead of the concert to get tickets, and many fans showed up the following day at the signing ceremony. 

This is all part of the Korean wave, spreading Korean products and culture. They go in parallel, according to a KOTRA representative. Moreover, visitors had the chance to taste some kinds of Korean fruit, like Korean pears and dishes. 

NEW YORK — A Boeing pilot behind the 737 MAX certification in 2016 told a colleague a key flight handling system was "running rampant" during simulator tests, according to documents reviewed on Friday by AFP.

The Boeing employees quipped about problems during simulations of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, a flight-handling mechanism that is believed to be at the centre of two MAX crashes that killed 346 people.

Boeing's chief technical pilot of the 737, Mark Forkner, said the MCAS system's performance during the simulator tests was "egregious" and that "I basically lied to the regulators [unknowingly]," according to the instant messages.

Forkner's lawyer, David Gerger, told AFP on Saturday, "If you read the whole chat, it is obvious that there was no 'lie'. The simulator was not reading right and had to be fixed to fly like the real plane. Based on everything Mark knew, he thought the real plane was safe."

The messages — which Boeing knew about for months before sharing with the Federal Aviation Administration — raised fresh questions about the company's knowledge of problems with the MAX long before the crashes and about whether it has been transparent with regulators during investigations.

Shares tumbled on Friday as aviation experts said the revelations could further delay the plane's return to service. 

The crashes and the FAA's certification of the MAX are under investigation from a number of authorities, including the Department of Justice and congressional committees that have scheduled hearings with Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg later this month.

In both the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, the MCAS pointed the plane sharply downward based on a faulty sensor reading, hindering the pilots' ability to control the aircraft after takeoff, according to preliminary crash investigations.

The FAA, based on its interactions with Forkner and others at Boeing, believed during certification that the MCAS system would activate only in rare cases and did not pose a threat to plane safety. 

The FAA criticised Boeing for learning of the messages "some months ago", but not disclosing them to safety regulators until Thursday. 

"Last night, I reviewed a concerning document that Boeing provided late yesterday to the Department of Transportation," FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a letter to Muilenburg.

"I understand that Boeing discovered the document in its files months ago. I expect your explanation immediately regarding the content of this document and Boeing's delay in disclosing the document to its safety regulator."

Further delays? 

The FAA said it flagged its concerns to lawmakers on Capitol Hill and the Department of Transportation's inspector general.

A Boeing spokesman said Muilenburg called Dickson to respond to "the concerns raised in his letter" and to assure the agency that the company is "taking every step possible to safely return the MAX to service".

Boeing furnished the messages earlier in the year to "the appropriate investigating authority", the company's spokesman said.

"Boeing has also been voluntarily cooperating with the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee's investigation into the 737 MAX. As part of that cooperation, today we brought that document to the Committee's attention as well. We will continue to cooperate with the Committee, and all other authorities, as they move forward with their investigations."

Maria Cantwell, the senior Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, said regulators "must receive full cooperation and all relevant documents so a full and thorough investigation can take place", adding that the reports about the messages and the lack of timely disclosure are "deeply troubling".

News of the messages comes as the FAA has taken the lead among international regulators in overseeing the recertification of the MAX in a process that has dragged on much longer than originally expected.

The messages add to the pressure on Muilenburg ahead of an October 30 congressional hearing. Boeing last week stripped Muilenburg of his title as chairman, a move that analysts said could be a precursor to his removal as chief executive.

In recent days, American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines have pushed back their target dates for returning the MAX to service, with the three carriers pulling all flights for the aircraft through January or February 2020.

Michel Merluzeau at AirInsight Research said the latest disclosures could lead to further delays.

"Today's disclosure is potentially going to impact return to service again and likely to lead to prolonged uncertainty for the programme and lead to consequences at the enterprise level," Merluzeau said. "This is frankly sobering news."

Shares of Boeing tumbled 6.8 per cent to finish at $344.

WASHINGTON, DC — Policymakers across the world must resolve cross-border trade tensions, mitigate risks and support growth, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday as she warned that trade tensions are posing a mounting risk to the global economy and financial markets.

“The global economy has experienced a synchronised slowdown and growth remains weak. Escalating trade disputes, entrenched policy uncertainty, and adverse geopolitical developments have taken a toll on confidence investment and growth,” Georgieva said in her Global Policy Agenda released on Thursday in Washington.

Georgieva, the Bulgarian economist and former World Bank chief executive, said on Thursday the outlook remains precarious as trade conflicts, policy uncertainty and geopolitical threats undermine confidence, investment  and growth.

The International Monetary Fund highlighted trade tensions as a reason in reducing its 2019 global growth forecast announced this week to 3 per cent. The World Bank cut its 2019 forecast in June to 2.6 per cent and projected a slow rebound to 2.7 per cent in 2020 and to 2.8 per cent in 2021.

To enhance confidence, she called for coordination on international taxation, preserving the post-crisis reforms to global financial regulation and preserving excessive low-income country debt building.

She warned that trade disputes could spill over to monetary, exchange rate, or financial sector policies, threatening global financial stability and jeopardising hard-won economic gains.

“The focus must be on reversing tariff increases and finding lasting solutions to trade disputes, including by removing domestic distortions and strengthening the multilateral trading system,” she added.

According to projections announced by the fund this week, world trade volume growth will crater this year to 1.1 per cent from 3.6 per cent in 2018, though it also sees some recovery next year.

“There are significant risks," Georgieva said. “Growth could be derailed if trade disputes lead to further cross-border restrictions, including on technology, or incite broader monetary, exchange rate, or financial sector policy actions."

Georgieva stressed that domestic policies should focus on more resilient, adaptable and inclusive economies.

The global economic outlook is likely to worsen further unless policy makers resolve uncertainty about trade and Brexit, World Bank President David Malpass said.

“I think there are possibilities for improvement in the outlook into 2020,” Malpass told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. Those would include greater clarity on US-China trade and Brexit, and growth-boosting policy changes in certain countries, he said.

 “As we look at the data today, we will probably be looking at a further downgrade,” Malpass said.

That said, “there are always possibilities for good news” .

SEOUL — A flaw with Samsung’s top-end Galaxy S10 fingerprint system that allows the smartphone to be opened by a third party will soon be fixed, the tech giant said on Thursday.

A user in the UK told the Sun newspaper earlier this week her Samsung device could be unlocked by someone else simply by putting on a screen protector and applying an unregistered fingerprint.

“This means that if anyone got hold of my phone they can access it and within moments could be into the financial apps and be transferring funds,” she was quoted as saying by the British paper.

Samsung’s spokesperson in Seoul said the company will soon roll out a fix, but did not say what caused the recognition problem.

“We are investigating this issue and will be deploying a software patch soon,” she told AFP.

The world’s biggest smartphone maker has touted the phone’s in-display fingerprint sensor as “revolutionary”.

“When you place your thumb on the screen, it sends ultrasonic pulses to detect the 3D ridges and valleys of your unique fingerprint to quickly and accurately recognise you,” the firm has said about the specific technology.

Kakaobank, South Korea’s Internet-only bank, has told its customers to use passwords and pattern locks when using its mobile banking services until the problem is fixed.

Samsung is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung Group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in the world’s 11th-largest economy, and crucial to South Korea’s economic health.

But it has a history of humiliating setbacks with major products, most notably a worldwide recall of its Galaxy Note 7 devices in 2016 over exploding batteries, which hammered its reputation.

Its first foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, was launched last month months after faulty screens forced an embarrassing delay of its release.

BEIJING — China's economy expanded at its slowest rate in nearly three decades during the third quarter, held back by cooling domestic demand and a protracted US trade war, according to an AFP survey of analysts.

Gross domestic product (GDP) figures due on Friday are expected to show that the Chinese economy expanded 6 per cent in July September, compared with 6.2 per cent in the second quarter, the poll of 13 economists predicted.

The reading would mark the worst quarterly figure since 1992 but be within the government's target range of 6-6.5 per cent for the whole year. The economy grew at 6.6 per cent in 2018.

Beijing has stepped up support for the economy with major tax and rate cuts and has scrapped foreign investment restrictions in its stock market.

In its latest measure to shore up growth, the central bank said on Wednesday it was pumping 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) into the financial system through its medium-term lending facility to banks, which is designed to maintain liquidity in the market.

But the efforts have not been enough to offset the blow from softening demand at home.

The trade conflict and weak domestic demand prompted the International Monetary Fund to lower its 2019 growth forecast for China from 6.2 per cent to 6.1 per cent on Tuesday.

The long-running trade war with the US has also chipped away at the Chinese economy.

This week, China reported weaker-than-expected import and export figures for September after Washington imposed new tariffs that month, triggering a tit-for-tat response from Beijing.

"Trade conflict with the US remains a wild card," said Tommy Wu from Oxford Analytics.

"Elevated US-China tension will continue to weigh on the external outlook, despite the delay of additional US tariff imposition on a range of consumer goods... And we think that a US-China trade deal remains unlikely any time soon."

A partial US-China deal announced by President Donald Trump last week offers a temporary reprieve from further tariff hikes.

But this initial agreement — which included increasing purchases of US farm products and protections for intellectual property — will take weeks to finalise and does not tackle thornier issues such as Chinese subsidies to state firms.

Fresh support

Tariffs already in place on hundreds of billions of dollars in two-way trade will also remain.

Negotiators will hold phone talks this week and the next.

To give its economy a shot in the arm, Beijing pushed forward a raft of stimulus measures earlier this year including higher tax reimbursement rates for exporters dealing with US tariffs.

It also boosted bank lending and increased spending on major infrastructure projects including roads and railways.

The policies buoyed the economy in March and brought in 6.4 per cent growth for the first quarter, but their impact was short-lived and Beijing was still not out of the woods, analysts said.

"In the near term, slowing IP [intellectual property] growth and rapidly falling pork production will likely drive real GDP growth to less than 6 per cent for the first time since the quarterly series was first released in 1992," said Lu Ting of Nomura bank.

Policymakers are likely to take further action, analysts said.

Premier Li Keqiang on Monday told provincial governors that the country should step up efforts to enhance the economy's resilience, address downward pressure, and increase employment.

"We predict the People's Bank of China is likely to loosen credit conditions further, which might involve lower policy interest rates," said Xu Xiaochun, an economist at Moody's.

"However, any further loosening will be tempered by the ongoing need to keep debt risks in check following previous excesses."

But he added: "Ensuring demand does not dip too far in the short run is a more imminent priority, whereas the danger of elevated debt is a more distant problem."

WASHINGTON — The world economy is slowing to its weakest pace since the global financial crisis, as the US-China trade war undercuts business confidence and investment, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
It warned that the outlook is beset by risks, and urged policymakers to work to find resolutions to trade disputes, since there are limited tools to respond to a new crisis.
"With a synchronised slowdown and uncertain recovery, the global outlook remains precarious," International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath said in her introduction to the latest forecasts.
The IMF for the past year has every three months cut projected growth for 2019 as trade conflicts worsened.
In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) it trimmed the estimate by another two-tenths, to 3 per cent. The report also lowered the 2020 forecast by a tenth to 3.4 per cent.
"At 3 per cent growth, there is no room for policy mistakes and an urgent need for policymakers to cooperatively deescalate trade and geopolitical tensions," Gopinath said.
In addition, the trade conflicts and a slowdown in auto sales worldwide means trade growth has slowed sharply, falling in the first half of the year to its weakest since 2012, with an estimated increase of just 1.1 per cent this year after a 3.6 per cent jump in 2018.

Running low on ammo

While the US economy also has been hit by uncertainty — largely created by President Donald Trump's trade offensive — the world's largest economy remains a bright spot on the global stage, the report said.
After upgrading its US outlook in July, the latest WEO reversed course, and cutting the US forecast this year to 2.4 per cent — still above trend, but two-tenths below the July forecast.
In 2020, the IMF projects US GDP to expand by 2.1 per cent, unchanged from the prior report.
"For the United States, trade related uncertainty has had negative effects on investment, but employment and consumption continue to be robust, buoyed also by policy stimulus," Gopinath said.
Major central banks have taken steps to soften the blow to growth by lowering interest rates, without which the downturn would have been worse, she said.
However, she cautioned that monetary policy "cannot be the only game in town" and governments, notably in countries like Germany, should take advantage of low rates to make investments to support growth.
"With central banks having to spend limited ammunition to offset policy mistakes, they may have little left when the economy is in a tougher spot," Gopinath warned.
The US-China trade war alone is estimated to shrink the world economy by 0.8 per cent in 2020, the IMF said.
The fund warned that risks to the outlook predominate, and the uncertainty around trade policy — which causes businesses to hold off on investments and undermines confidence — will take a larger chunk out of growth than the tariffs themselves.

 Slowing auto sales 

"To forestall such an outcome, policies should decisively aim at defusing trade tensions, reinvigorating multilateral cooperation, and providing timely support to economic activity where needed," the report said.
But trade is not the only reason for the global slowdown: The report notes that in China's economy, for example, growth is moderating as intended amid slowing domestic demand.
Other major economies like Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa are slowing this year due to "idiosyncratic reasons" but are expected to recover in 2020.
"A notable feature of the sluggish growth in 2019 is the sharp and geographically broad-based slowdown in manufacturing and global trade," the IMF said, which in addition to the higher tariffs and trade uncertainty is the result of the contracting auto industry.
That slowdown has had an impact in Germany, China and India, the report said.

ABU DHABI — President Vladimir Putin visited Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, seeking to attract over $1.3 billion worth of investments in Russia's economy.
Putin, who came to the United Arab Emirates a day after signing a key oil deal with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, was greeted by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
A dozen agreements worth more than $1.3 billion, notably in the energy, advanced technology and sectors, are expected to be sealed during the visit, according to the Russian sovereign wealth fund.
As Putin made his way to the presidential palace, jets painted the sky white, blue and red — the colours of the Russian flag — and ceremonial cannon salutes were fired.
The streets of Abu Dhabi were lined with Emirati and Russian flags, while road signs typically displaying warnings for motorists greeted Putin in Arabic and Russian.
"The United Arab Emirates welcomes the visit of the Russian president," read the signs.
"Among the Gulf countries, the UAE is the leader in terms of trade with Russia," Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told the press a few days ahead of the visit.
In 2018, trade between the two countries had reached up to $1.7 billion.
"Relations with the Emirates are very advanced, and they are constantly improving," Russian Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters in Riyadh on Monday.