New Delhi / Bloomberg Apple Inc. may be closer to opening stores in India after the government eased onerous local sourcing requirements on retailers. The world’s second-most populous country on Monday announced the easing as part of a raft of measures intended to boost foreign direct investment and expand the leeway afforded multinational corporations. It loosened policies that require …

  Kuala Lumpur / Tribune News Service Logistics operators in south Thailand have lost almost 100 million baht (US$2.8 million) over the past six to seven months as container trucks take six to eight hours to cross the border into Malaysia from Songkhla’s Sadao district, the Association of Southern Logistics and Transportation said. This was because the Malaysian checkpoint is …

  Tokyo / AP The Japanese government said on Tuesday that Mitsubishi Motors Corp. overstated mileage on its vehicles by up to 16 percent, but stopped short of slapping further penalties on the company. The Transport Ministry said the figure came from its own mileage tests to look into the cheating by the Japanese automaker on its minicar models, tiny cars …

  New Delhi / Tribune News Service Healthcare providers in India are expected to spend $1.2 billion on information technology (IT) products and services in 2016, an increase of 3.4% over 2015, according to research firm Gartner, Inc. The spending includes expenses on internal services, software, IT services, data centre, devices and telecom services, the research firm said. “IT services, …

  Sydney / AFP Severe coral bleaching on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could cost it more than a million visitors a year and huge sums in lost tourism revenue, a survey said on Tuesday. The World Heritage-listed reef which teems with marine life experienced an unprecedented bleaching earlier this year that saw much of it whiten and almost a quarter …

New Delhi / Bloomberg India retained restrictions that prevent overseas airlines from raising stakes in local carriers even as it unveiled new rules to attract foreign investors into the world’s fastest growing major aviation market. The government will allow foreign entities such as funds and portfolio investors to fully own local airlines, removing an earlier cap of 49 percent, it …

  Tehran / Bloomberg Iran Air, the Islamic Republic’s state carrier, signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing Co. for narrow- and wide-body aircraft in the first transaction by the US planemaker since sanctions were lifted in January. The purchase includes a mix of 737 and 777 models, Iran Air said in a statement on its website. The carrier will …

  RIYADH / Tribune News Service The SaudiGulf (Saudia Khalijiyah) airline will begin its domestic flights in the Kingdom this coming September, and is expecting to launch international flights to Dubai by the end of the year. Sources reveal the company is preparing on Wednesday to receive its airline operating license in the presence of Minister of Transportation Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, …

  Beijing / Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will acquire a 5 percent stake in Asian e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. in a deal that will reshape the U.S. retail chain’s operations in China. As part of the agreement, JD.com will take ownership of Wal-Mart’s Yihaodian online marketplace, the companies said in a statement. The Chinese branch of Sam’s Club also will …

  Kuala Lumpur / Bloomberg AirAsia Bhd. is considering hiring BNP Paribas SA, Credit Suisse Group AG and RHB Capital Bhd. to help sell its aircraft leasing unit as part of plans to raise funds and strengthen its finances, the group’s Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said. Asia’s biggest discount carrier also plans to garner between $75 million and $100 …