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Bloomberg Finance ministers from Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Peru met investors in New York in an attempt to reassure the markets of the stability of their economies after a slump in commodity prices and economic malaise in Brazil. The four countries, which formed the Pacific Alliance in 2011 to integrate their economies, explained to investors how they’ve have been responding ...

Bloomberg Not many people in Brazil look back on the crisis-plagued years from the late 1980s to the early 1990s as a golden era. But the people of Franca do. The country’s capital for men’s footwear is among large sections of Brazil that watched their manufacturing sectors atrophy in the emerging-market frenzy and commodities boom of the 2000s. Now the ...

Beijing / Bloomberg China’s exports saw their heaviest fall in nearly seven years in February, diving more than a quarter as feeble global trade offset the weaker yuan and raised pressure on Beijing to ramp up domestic demand. The below-forecast reading is the latest data to raise fears of a “hard landing” in China and comes days after Beijing cut ...

Tokyo / DPA The number of foreign technical intern trainees who fled from workplaces last year reached the highest level ever at 5,803, greatly surpassing the previous year’s figure, according to a Justice Ministry survey. The government believes that poor working conditions have resulted in the incidents in many cases. To counter this situation, the government plans to take legislative ...

Tokyo / Bloomberg The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has made no progress in increasing the proportion of women in management positions in the past two years. Women held 4 percent of management posts in 2015, which was unchanged from 2013, according to a comparison of a statement released Tuesday and one from 2014. The central bank, in the statements, said ...

Hanoi / Bloomberg 500 Startups is starting a $10 million fund dedicated to Vietnam as the Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded by Dave McClure backs more of the country’s technology startups. Growing Internet use by its young population, where the number of mobile phones exceeds the number of residents, provides an attractive bet in the nation that gave rise ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg Indian billionaire Ajay Piramal is a man on a shopping mission. His firms are training their sights on distressed assets discarded by indebted businesses and banks struggling with bad loans. His unlisted real estate unit, recently flush with cash from Warburg Pincus & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is looking to buy land parcels from ...

Bloomberg Mark Carney was accused of jeopardizing the Bank of England’s credibility in the European Union debate as he faced a fiery line of questioning from U.K. ­legislators. While the BOE governor has spent months trying to avoid the political battle — a task lawmaker Andrew Tyrie compared to bomb disposal — some members of the Treasury Committee said BOE ...

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller sought to win over workers to restructuring measures aimed at lifting margins at the embattled German carmaker’s namesake brand and helping weather the emissions-cheating scandal. After nearly six months of crisis and recent revelations that senior managers missed warning signs, workers are fighting to avoid footing the bill. That put Herbert Diess, ...

Bloomberg France’s lawmakers will vote on a plan to impose penalties and jail time on technology executives who deny access to encrypted data during a terrorist investigation, helping security services and prosecutors force companies such as Apple Inc. into cooperation. The amendment was submitted by the opposition party The Republicans and, while the government hasn’t officially supported the measure, it ...