October, 2019

• 28 October

  Taiwan tourist numbers to fall first time since 2013

  

  Bloomberg China’s ban on individual travel to Taiwan could see visitors to the island fall for the first time since the devastating SARS outbreak of 2003. The number of mainlanders travelling to the island plunged 46% in September, according to data from Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau. China banned individual travellers from heading to Taiwan in July, although tourists are still allowed ...

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• 28 October

  HK’s biotech IPO craze continues as Ascentage Pharma surges 57%

  

  Bloomberg Ascentage Pharma Group International went from Hong Kong’s hottest initial public offering this year to a huge debut as investors continue to embrace unproven Chinese healthcare companies. The developer of cancer and hepatitis B therapies soared as much as 57% on Monday before paring the gain to 9.9% at the close. The firm’s retail portion of its offering was ...

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• 28 October

  Indonesian startup wants to improve farm data with blockchain

  

  Bloomberg The lack of reliable crop data is a chronic problem for Indonesia and a start-up is on a mission to change that by using blockchain technology. A Jakarta-based startup HARA is using blockchain to collect and manage farm data, from soil and crop conditions to pest infestation, cultivation process, land ownership and grains transaction in a bid to help ...

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• 28 October

  Jakarta suspends export of nickel ore

  Bloomberg Indonesia suspended exports of nickel ore with immediate effect after a planned halt to shipments from the beginning of next year led to a rush to beat the deadline. The mineral meant for exports during the rest of the year will be absorbed by domestic companies with smelters, Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board Chairman Bahlil Lahadalia told reporters in Jakarta. ...

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• 28 October

  Volkswagen CFO outlines road map for $222 billion ambition

  

  Bloomberg Days before production starts on Volkswagen AG’s cornerstone electric vehicle, the German manufacturer is stepping up a campaign to more than double the market value and gain investor recognition for the industry’s most ambitious technology push. In an internal newsletter sent last week, Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter prodded managers to get behind a goal to reach a valuation ...

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• 28 October

  Activist Elliott praises AT&T’s three-year plan

  

  Bloomberg AT&T Inc shares rose after the company won plaudits from Elliott Management Corp with a three-year plan to do much of what the activist shareholder has pressed for, including separating its chairman and chief executive officer roles. AT&T said it would reach earnings of $4.50 to $4.80 a share by 2022, compared with analysts’ current estimate of $3.39 a ...

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• 28 October

  Burned in 2008, Americans are refusing to tap home equity

  

  Bloomberg Once-popular loan Americans use to finance home renovations and college tuition is slowly dying, slashing a lucrative source of revenue for the nation’s largest banks. Home equity lines of credit, open-ended loans that homeowners tap for cash using their properties as collateral, exploded in the run-up to the housing crash a decade ago, doubling in volume from 2003 to ...

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• 28 October

  Tapping Australia shale would worsen carbon emissions: Study

  

  Bloomberg Opening up a potentially huge shale gas region in Australia’s Northern Territory would increase the country’s already-hefty greenhouse gas emissions making it a “particularly dangerous” contributor to climate change, according to a new study. The report, commissioned by environmental lobby group Lock The Gate, tested a range of scenarios for development of the McArthur Basin and Beetaloo sub-basin, which ...

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• 28 October

  Pakistan’s tycoons offer to take over former Barrick mine

  

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s top business tycoons have offered to take over a disputed copper and gold deposit that was once explored by Barrick Gold Corp. and Antofagasta Plc, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials at the provincial Balochistan government are said to have met with a consortium of four business groups including tycoons Arif Habib and Muhammad Ali Tabba ...

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• 28 October

  Impeachment probe: Trump gets no respite after US raid

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump scored one of the biggest successes of his presidency with the killing of an IS leader, yet the battlefield victory isn’t likely to blunt the momentum of Democrats moving closer to impeaching him. The inquiry led by three House committees resumed with another slate of witnesses, even as the country absorbs Trump’s dramatic announcement of the ...

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