June, 2016

• 9 June

  Saudi ACWA eyes South African ventures despite currency concerns

  

    Reuters Saudi-based ACWA Power expects to win further business in South Africa this year as the power plant developer rides out concerns about the country’s currency to tap into its need for more electricity, the firm’s chief executive said. South Africa’s economy has been hit hard by a significant fall in the rand’s value against the dollar, while businesses ...

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• 9 June

  Hong Kong is world’s most competitive economy

  

    Hong Kong / Tribune News Service In a landmark for Asia, Hong Kong has been named the world’s most competitive economy for 2016, moving from second place last year to push the United States into third spot behind Switzerland. But while Asia might top the world in business, a separate report has shown the Nordic nations lead in life ...

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• 9 June

  Solar-power expansion to ease peak power prices in Japan

  

    Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan’s peak power prices may ease as the country’s solar-power expansion taps scorching summers to displace fossil fuels. The resource-poor country, which has boosted solar capacity more than sevenfold since 2011, may follow a similar path as Germany, where electricity prices fell along with fossil fuel use during high consumption periods, according to Trevor Sikorski, an ...

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• 9 June

  S Korea cuts interest rate to record low 1.25%

  

    Seoul / AFP South Korea on Thursday cut its key interest rate to a record low 1.25 percent in a surprise move to address concerns over the impact of corporate restructuring on the sluggish economy. The Bank of Korea’s 0.25 percentage point reduction was the first in 12 months but there had been little hint of such a move, ...

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• 9 June

  Auction of wind projects in India to spur trading

  

    New Delhi / Bloomberg India will introduce competitive auctions for wind farms this year in a bid to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal for 60 gigawatts of capacity by 2022. Varsha Joshi, joint secretary at the new and renewable energy ministry, said the auctions for 1 gigawatt of capacity will start in two months and have a minimum ...

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• 9 June

  Japan abetting illegal ivory trade, say conservationists

    Tokyo / AFP Conservation activists on Thursday showed undercover video they say suggests that a “huge loophole” in Japanese law enforcement is hindering efforts to rein in illegal ivory trading. Experts say most illegal ivory heads for China, where it is seen as a status symbol. By some estimates the country accounts for as much as 70 percent of ...

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• 9 June

  European Union’s big post-Britain opportunity

  

    An overwhelming majority of respondents in a recent Pew Research poll, 70 percent, believe that Britain leaving the EU would be bad for Europe. It’s not that hard, however, to make the opposite case — that Brexit would open up opportunities that would drive the bloc’s popularity back up in the remaining member states. Will Britain Leave the EU? ...

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• 9 June

  Robots look like China’s latest investment bubble

    Adam Minter The story first turned up in mid-May: Foxconn, Apple’s favorite manufacturer, was replacing 60,000 of its workers with robots. Everyone from the BBC to Apple fan sites soon reported the ground-shifting news. There was just one problem: It was mostly false. Last weekend, a Foxconn spokesperson told Chinese media that the company hadn’t laid off anyone, much ...

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• 9 June

  As South China Sea verdict nears, Washington must stand with Manila

  

    J. Randy Forbes SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS With tensions rising in the South China Sea, the United States’ alliance with the Philippines may be approaching one of its most important moments in its 65-year history. Over the past few years, the world has watched as China has steadily worked to achieve de facto control of the islands and waters ...

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• 9 June

  Saudi woos foreign firms to build 1.5 mn housing units

  

    JEDDAH / Reuters Saudi Arabia will offer foreign and local property developers partnership deals in a vast housing construction programme that aims to build 1.5 million homes over the next seven or eight years, the housing minister said. “We are preparing five or six types of partnership between the ministry and the developer,” Majed al-Hogail told a news conference ...

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