Business

BEIJING — Taiwan tech-giant Foxconn plans to build an $8.8-billion factory in China, state media said Saturday, amid reports its billionaire boss is cooling off on future US investments.

Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, will spend the vast sum on an industrial complex in the sprawling southern city of Guangzhou.

The factory will make large-screen liquid crystal displays (LCD), the firm said at an event in the Chinese city on Friday. It will be operational by 2019.

"We have in China a government that knows how to be efficient and supports new technology," said Foxconn President Terry Gou in an interview with China's 21st Century Business.

"As to whether we'll invest in the US in the future I've no idea. As a matter of fact, the new administration isn't in office and its new policies aren't in place," Gou added.

Foxconn employs around a million workers at its factories across China and has operations in more than 10 countries.

In the US, it has a plant in Virginia for packaging and engineering which employs over 400 people. 

Earlier this month Foxconn confirmed it was in talks over a new US investment, while Japanese telecom giant SoftBank shares soared after President-elect Donald Trump unveiled a $50 billion deal with the two firms.

Trump announced the agreement — which he said would bring 50,000 jobs — in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York.

Gou said he would only divulge details after discussions with relevant US authorities, but made no mention of it during the factory announcement Friday.

The Guangzhou plant will be jointly run by Foxconn and Japan electronics firm Sharp, which Foxconn has a 66 per cent stake in.

DUBAI — Dubai-based port operator DP World said Thursday it has acquired an additional 23.94 per cent stake in South Korea’s Pusan NewPort Company (PNC), giving it a majority shareholding.

The purchase from Samsung Corporation brings to 66.03 per cent DP World’s stake in PNC, which operates the largest terminal at the port of Pusan, the company said in a statement.

“We expect the port of Pusan to remain an important part of our global network and this investment further underlines our commitment to South Korea,” DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said in the statement. 

PNC is a joint venture led by DP World together with Samsung, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction and a number of other Korean construction companies.

It commenced operations in 2006.

The port is situated on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula and is South Korea’s leading port city and gateway to the Pacific Ocean.

DP World operates 77 marine and inland terminals across six continents, with container handling being its core business.

In 2015, it shipped 61.7 million TEU, 20-foot equivalent units used to measure containers, across its portfolio.

ALEPPO, Syria — Midnight means lights out in Syria's Aleppo: as the clock strikes 12, overworked power generators shut off across the city, plunging war-ravaged neighbourhoods and heritage sites into darkness.

It will take many months and millions of dollars to breathe life back into Aleppo's devastated water, electricity, and transportation networks.

Four years of fighting have transformed it from Syria's industrial and commercial powerhouse to a divided and dysfunctional city.

"We sold our vacuum cleaner — what's the point in having one if we don't have electricity?" asked Umm Fayez, a housewife who lives in the central district of Furqan.

"It's been two years since we used our washing machine. We wash everything by hand, but the water is too cold now and I can't take it anymore," the mother-of-two told AFP, sitting in the dark amid piles of dirty laundry.

Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad declared full control over Syria's second city last week, after a landmark evacuation deal ended years of clashes.

Rocket fire, air strikes and shelling partly or totally destroyed more than half Aleppo's infrastructure and buildings, according to a "preliminary, optimistic evaluation" by local authorities.

Water shortages 

The main power station at Safirah to the southeast has been off line for two years because of the fighting.

Aleppo's residents are forced to rely on noisy generators that supply electricity through a web of thick cables snaking through scarred streets.

But they are shut down at midnight to save diesel supplies.

Umm Fayez's husband walks home every night from his sweetshop using a small torch to guide the way through pitch-black darkness.

"We have two projects that will re-establish electricity to Aleppo," an electricity ministry official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said new power lines would be laid from the neighbouring province of Hama within a year, but that it would cost more than four billion Syrian pounds, or about $8 million (7.6 million euros).

Residents are also impatient for water shortages to end, with the main pumping station currently operating at just a third of its capacity.

"We can only pump water to 20 per cent of Aleppo. Before the crisis, it was 70 per cent," said Issa Korj, chief mechanic at the Suleiman Al Halabi water plant.

He said it would take "many months" to repair the facility, but even then, water provision was likely to remain a problem for residents.

Most of the water pumped to Aleppo comes from the Euphrates Dam in the adjacent province of Raqa, which is held by the Daesh terror group. 

"They regularly cut off the water," said Fakher Hamdo, who heads Aleppo's water administration.

He added that global economic sanctions imposed on Syria since 2011 make spare parts nearly impossible to import.

‘Aleppo is one' 

But before any major rebuilding projects can begin, local authorities must clear away barricades and sand berms that had divided Aleppo between the rebel-controlled east and the government-held west.

Bulldozers can already be seen in the bombed-out streets, clearing rubble and dismantling metal barriers.

"The municipality immediately mobilised to open up the main thoroughfares," said city administrator Nadim Rahmoun.

"Opening up the roads will allow us to pump life back into the city with economic and social activity and public services," he added.

Aleppo's Old City — a renowned UNESCO World Heritage site — is at the heart of this effort.

The district witnessed some of the most brutal moments of the battle for Aleppo, and restoring its celebrated buildings will pose major challenges.

Municipal teams are carefully sorting through the rubble, setting aside original centuries-old stonework that will be used in the restoration.

In the nearby district of Aqyul, Abduljawad Najed, 32, had to negotiate heaps of sand to check on his brother's house. 

"It took more than an hour and a half," he said.

After the barricades were cleared, the same journey took Najed 10 minutes.

"Things were much easier and I was able to come by car," he said, loading some household effects into his small pick-up.

Najed's enthusiasm was shared by furniture store owner Zakariya, 42.

"Thank God, all the roads are now linked together. Aleppo is one again," he said.

WASHINGTON — US consumer confidence posted sharp gains in December, hitting its highest level in 15 years, according to survey data released on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped 4.3 points for the month to 113.7, easily surpassing an analyst forecast and extending gains made in November to reach the highest point since August 2001.

The monthly jump was solely due to an increase in survey respondents' expectations for business, income and employment in the coming six months, the board said in a statement.

Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators, said the Expectations Index also hit a 13-year high at 105.5, with post-election optimism most pronounced among older consumers.

"Consumers' assessment of current conditions, which declined, still suggests that economic growth continued through the final months of 2016," Franco said in the statement. 

The share of consumers saying business conditions were good fell 0.5 points to 29.7 per cent, but those saying things were bad rose by a greater degree, 2.1 points to 17.3 per cent.

Views on the current jobs situation were more stable: the share of people saying jobs were "plentiful" fell 0.9 points to 26.9 per cent, while those who said jobs were hard to get rose 1.3 points to 22.5 per cent.

The short-term outlook was much rosier. Expectations for business conditions jumped 7.2 points to 23.6 per cent and those foreseeing more jobs moved up 5.9 points to 21 per cent.

"Looking ahead to 2017, consumers' continued optimism will depend on whether or not their expectations are realised," Franco said.

AMMAN — Airport International Group (AIG), the Jordanian company responsible for the rehabilitation, expansion and operation of Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) said QAIA welcomed 488,215 passengers during November, registering a 9.1 per cent rise compared to the figure recorded in the same month last year. 

The airport also registered 5,278 aircraft movements (ACM) compared to 5,173 in 2015, indicating a 2 per cent year-on-year rise, according to an AIG statement. 

Cargo figures dropped 5.6 per cent as QAIA handled 8,130 tonnes as opposed to 8,612 tonnes during the same month of last year, the statement added.  

The increase in airport traffic during November raised the 2016 year-to-date (YTD) passengers to 6,871,408. 

Additionally, YTD ACM increased by 2.9 per cent to settle at 67,831 ACM, while YTD cargo traffic figures went up 1.5 per cent to reach 92,255 tons. 

“We’re excited about the growth we witnessed in November, and we’re looking forward to closing the year with even higher numbers than last year. 2016 has been great for QAIA, filled with achievements across the board, and we look forward to adding one final triumph to its record during the final month of the year,” AIG CEO, Kjeld Binger said.

CAIRO — Egypt targets a 5 per cent economic growth in the year to June 2018, the finance ministry said on Sunday as the government seeks to revive an economy battered by political turmoil.

Egyptian authorities have battled high unemployment, inflation and a collapse in tourism income since the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who led the 2013 military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first elected civilian president, vowed to get the economy back on track after his election the following year.

In a statement Sunday, the finance ministry said it aimed to "raise growth for 2017/2018 to 5 per cent" and to create "real, productive jobs that help lower unemployment to 11 per cent and raise citizens' incomes”.

Consumers have been hit by surging price hikes since November when Cairo floated its currency and slashed fuel subsidies as part of an economic reform package linked to a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan.

The Egyptian pound had been pegged at 8.83 to the dollar, but has since weakened to more than 19 pounds to the dollar.

Egypt's inflation rate jumped to 19.4 per cent in November from 13.6 per cent the previous month, according to the central bank.

Despite its woes, the government has projected 5.2 per cent GDP growth in the year to June 2017.

Economic output grew 4.3 per cent in the year to June 2016, the ministry of planning said in November.

The finance ministry hopes to bring unemployment — which officially stood at 12.6 per cent from July to September — down to 11 per cent in the year to June 2018.

The ministry said it also wants to cut its budget deficit to 9.5 per cent of the GDP in the year to June 2018, down from 12.2 per cent the previous year.

It said it hopes to cut public debt to 94 per cent of the GDP in the year to June 2018, with a medium-term target of 80 per cent.

"The government will continue to implement a structural reforms package to support productive sectors especially industry and exports, while attracting investments," the ministry said.

It said it would press ahead with implementing a value-added tax and "policies to rationalise spending”.

Neanwhile, Sisi on Saturday said that the military's economic activity accounted for no more than 2 per cent of the country's output, dismissing suggestions that the military could control as much as half of the economy.

Speaking at an event celebrating the expansion of a military-owned company, Sisi said the military made up 1.5-2 per cent of economic output which he said was 3-4 trillion Egyptian pounds ($160 billion-$213 billion).

That would put the military's share of economic activity at between $2.39 billion and $4.26 billion.

"It has been said that the military's economy is worth 20 or even 50 per cent of the economy. I wish. We have nothing to hide; the military accounts for between 1.5 and 2 per cent of the economy," Sisi said, adding that the military paid taxes on all projects and that they were subject to regulations and auditing.

"We would love for it to be 50 per cent."

Sisi, a former general who took office in 2014, has promised to revive the economy, which has struggled since a 2011 uprising scared away investors and tourists, Egypt's main sources of foreign currency.

He has called in the military to assist in major infrastructure projects and with distribution of subsidised commodities to keep a lid on rising prices amid an acute shortage of dollars.

The economic weight of the military, which produces everything from bottled water to macaroni, has long been a topic of speculation in Egypt but official comment on the scope of its economic activities is rare.

LONDON — Britain’s economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, revised official data showed Friday, indicating no impact yet from the nation’s looming exit from the European Union.

Gross domestic product expanded by 0.6 per cent in the three months to the end of September, up from the previous estimate of 0.5 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

Activity was greater than expected due to upward revisions on the output of the business services and finance industries, it added.

“Robust consumer demand continued to help the UK economy grow steadily in the third quarter of 2016,” noted Darren Morgan, the head of the GDP at the ONS.

“Growth was slightly stronger than first thought, though, due to greater output in the financial sector.

“New figures on services also suggest that growth in that predominant sector of the economy continued into October, helped in large part by another strong showing from the retailers.”

The ONS, meanwhile, revised down its growth estimates for the first and second quarters by 0.1 percentage points, to 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.

“The fundamentals of the UK economy are strong, but there remain challenges ahead,” a treasury spokesman said.

Economists point to an economy intact since the June 23 referendum in favour of Britain leaving the EU — but some also warn of looming trouble.

“The latest set of UK national accounts leave the economy looking even stronger after the referendum than previously estimated,” said economist Ruth Gregory at research consultancy Capital Economics.

AMMAN — Investors’ confidence decreased to 87.31 in September from 91.4 points in August, according to the monthly — published Jordan Investor Confidence Index. The index, published by the Jordan Strategy Forum, seeks to measure investors’ confidence, relying on three factors, in particular.

These are the strength of the Jordanian dinar and the monetary system, confidence in the real economy, and confidence in the Amman Stock Exchange.

Confidence in the monetary system fell by 0.75 points to 89.60 despite a minor increase in Central Bank of Jordan’s foreign reserves which reached JD 11,838 million in September 2016. Moreover, the number of registered companies decreased to 685 in September from 785 companies in the previous month.

This was accompanied by a decrease in the capital of these registered companies to JD 5.6 million in September from JD13.9 million in August, according to a statement of the forum. 

WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday put a division of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba back on a blacklist of "notorious markets" known for selling counterfeit goods and violating intellectual property rights.

The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which removed Alibaba from its annual list four years ago, included the company's online platform Taobao in its latest release, saying it is not doing enough to curb sales of fake and pirated goods.

"The Taobao.com e-commerce platform is an important concern due to the large volume of allegedly counterfeit and pirated goods available and the challenges right holders experience in removing and preventing illicit sales and offers of such goods," the agency said.

Although inclusion on the blacklist carries no penalties, it deals a blow to Alibaba's reputation after the company has struggled to improve its image and boost international sales.

China's largest online retailer said it is "disappointed" by the decision, saying it has improved policing of the goods for sale on its platforms.

"In 2016 alone, we proactively removed more than double the number of infringing product listings than in 2015," Alibaba Group President Michael Evans said in a statement. "The decision ignores the real work Alibaba has done to protect IP rights holders and assist law enforcement to bring counterfeiters to justice."

He suggested the "current political climate" in the United States may have more to do with USTR's decision.

In response to a question about the decision during regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she hoped that trade difficulties with the US can be solved "in a proper way through friendly consultations".

"The two countries should provide a fair and impartial trade environment for the activities of each other's companies," she added.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly accused China of stealing intellectual property, part of what he calls the country's economic war against the United States.

Alibaba and its Taobao site have long been accused of providing a platform for the sale of counterfeit goods.

Alibaba was suspended from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition watchdog in May.

AMMAN — Six Jordanian companies have so far completed the procedures deemed necessary to start exporting their products to the European market under the Jordanian-EU agreement on simplified rules of origin, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yarub Qudah said on Monday, urging Jordanian businessmen to work further to maximise their benefit from the deal. 

Speaking at a meeting organised by the Jordan Europe Business Association (JEBA), he explained that the government has taken steps to assist the industrial sector, encouraging Syrian refugees to work at the developmental and industrial estates, covered by the deal, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Under the deal, Syrian refugees have been exempted from work permit fees and they will continue to have a refugee-status and receive aid from the UNHCR in the event of working in accordance with the law. 

The deal seeks to provide more job opportunities for Jordanians through the expansion of industrial projects and drawing new investments, the minister said, pointing out that only 15 per cent of factories’ workforce should be Syrians.

As more local products enter the European market, more jobs will be created, he reiterated, addressing the attendees.  

When the total number of Syrians with work permits reaches 200,000, all industrial estates will be able to benefit from the EU deal under the “relaxed” rules of origin.

In cooperation with concerned bodies, the industry and trade ministry has drawn up a plan to promote the local products that are meant to be exported to the European markets, Qudah noted.

At a meeting for Jordanian businessmen with their EU counterparts, scheduled for January 25, industrialists will have a chance to meet with importers and discuss deals, he said, calling again on Jordanian industrialists to benefit from the Jordanian-EU agreement. 

During the meeting, Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Shamali briefed the attendees on the agreement.

The Kingdom’s exports to the EU totalled JD144 million in 2002 and rose to JD206 million in 2014, but dropped to JD123 million in 2015, while its imports from the EU rose to JD3.1 billion in 2015 from JD1 billion in 2002, according to Petra. 

According to JEBA President Jamal Fariz, who attended the meeting, the exporting process to the EU can still be improved.  

However, failure to promote local products as much as needed, in addition to excluding agricultural and food products from the deal, will pose challenges for the private sector when exporting to Europe, he noted.