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Bloomberg South Korea’s virus-hit economy suffered the worst contraction since the global financial crisis in the first quarter, with a darkening outlook for global trade suggesting the country may fail to grow this year. Gross domestic product shrank 1.4% in the three months through March from the prior quarter, slightly above economists’ forecast of a 1.5% contraction, according to the ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s ride-hailing and food-delivery giant Gojek has acquired a mobile point-of-sale startup called Moka for about $130 million, according to people familiar with the deal. The transaction, which has been under negotiations since last year, was completed about a month ago, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private. It hasn’t been announced ...

Bloomberg Europe’s economy suffered a massive blow in April when government restrictions to contain the coronavirus left companies scrambling to stay afloat. An estimate of private-sector activity in the euro area plunged to just 13.5 from 29.7 in March, IHS Markit said on Thursday. The drop was far sharper than economists had anticipated and marks the lowest reading for the ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a Europe-wide economic stimulus program to be financed by the European Union’s budget, making a national appeal that helping its partners would be good for Germany. “A European growth program could support an upswing over the next two years and we’ll work for that,” Merkel said in a speech to the lower house ...

Bloomberg The coronavirus pandemic is putting untold pressure on the supply chains that produce and transport the world’s food. Yet there’s one vital factor even harder to control than panic buying — the weather. A period of extreme weather that devastates harvests could force countries to deploy more protectionist food policies, creating a ripple effect through global trade. Concerns over ...

Bloomberg Whatever the state of Kim Jong-un’s health, he has already put North Korea in its strongest position to resist US pressure in decades. Eight years after Kim filled the power vacuum left by the death of his reclusive father, Kim Jong Il, North Korea is more secure and less isolated. The 36-year-old supreme leader has achieved two key marks ...

DUBAI / WAM DP World has launched cutting-edge online logistics tools and services, covering sea, land and air shipping around the world. According to a press statement, the connected ecosystem of platforms will enable freight forwarders and any business, to book shipments of cargo from and to anywhere in the world, by any combination of sea, land and air. The ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has issued a directive, on an exceptional basis, extending to 28 May the deadline of submitting VAT returns and the payment of due tax for the tax period ended March 31, enabling taxable persons to meet their tax obligations without facing any difficulties. “This comes in light of the Federal Tax ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Etisalat Group on Wednesday announced its consolidated financial statements for the three months ending March 31, while also approving an interim dividend payout of 25 fils per share. In a statement the telecommunications group noted that its consolidated revenues amounted to AED13.1 billion representing a year over year increase of one percent while consolidated net profit ...

Sharjah / WAM Sharjah Asset Management (SAM) and Sharjah Cooperative Society have announced that they will create a digital platform and a smart application to help facilitate shopping operations and make delivery of items easier for the customers of Sharjah Cooperative Society. This came as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed electronically by Waleed Al Sayegh, CEO of ...