EIU Country Analysis

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] The nation#;s six major banks plan to raise a total of #.# trillion yen in new capital this fiscal year, with public offerings accounting for Y# trillion yen of the total

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The collapse in #### of American International Group (AIG), the world#;s largest insurer, has cast the spotlight on the entire

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] The number of hungry in the world has reached a "historic high" of more than one billion people, the UN food agency said Friday, blaming the global financial crisis for the surge. The

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] Nokia Siemens Networks has agreed to buy the wireless operations of Canada#;s Nortel Networks Corp. in a $### million (EUR### million) deal as the more than century-old Nortel looks for buyers for the

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The financial services industry in Vietnam remains underdeveloped, despite its rapid growth in recent years. Demand for financial services is generally

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [New York Times] Satyam Computer Services said on Sunday it would rebrand itself as Mahindra Satyam, its latest step in efforts to recover from India#;s worst corporate fraud scandal. Tech Mahindra, a unit of the tractor

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The government operates a crawling peg of the Vietnamese currency, the dong, against the US dollar. The State Bank of Vietnam

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Chattanooga Times (TN)] [Editorial] Having incurred black eyes for the massive Kingston ash spill and its recent decision to appeal a federal court order to slash air pollution at four of its dirtiest coal-fired plants, TVA

FROM THE ECONOMIST A new telecoms revolution in the offing THE Horn of Africa is one of the last populated bits of the planet without a proper connection to the world wide web. Instead of fibre-optic cable, which provides

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Russia has been trying to join the WTO for ## years. So why has it suddenly called a halt to negotiations? Russia has halted its World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession in order to form a

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Asia In Focus] The BANK OF CHINA (BOC) (SSE:######, SEHK:####), the nation#;s third-largest bank by market value, will expand services in Latin America through a new deal with the INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Canadian Press DataFile] Retail sales fell #.# per cent in April to $##.# billion, partly offsetting three straight increases. Statistics Canada reports sales declined in five of eight sectors, led by a #.# per

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] Shopaholics and tourists can rejoice: Croatia#;s highest court has annulled the government#;s ban on Sunday shopping, upholding complaints from retailers who say they are losing money in times of financial crisis. The Constitutional

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Mexico#;s central bank (Banco de Mexico, or Banxico) reduced its benchmark overnight interest rate by ## basis points to #.##% on June ##th; this was less than the ##-basis-point cuts made

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Financial Express (India)] Ajay Banga, Citigroup Inc#;s most senior executive in Asia, left the US bank for a role at MasterCard Inc that puts him in line to succeed chief executive officer Robert Selander. Banga, ##

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Asia Pulse Businesswire] The Chinese government stopped some of Google China#;s searching businesses and asked to clear up its so-called lewd information Friday, according to the country#;s Internet watchdog. The office for crackdown on

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [New York Times] Nestle USA recalled its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough on Friday after health officials linked the dough to infections from the bacteria E. coli in as many as ## people in ## states. The

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Telecoms and Technology Report for this country The software industry has developed strongly in recent years, and this trend will continue in the forecast period as the

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [BestWire Services] Prudential Financial Inc. has exercised the option to sell its minority stake in the retail brokerage formerly known as Wachovia Securities to Wells Fargo & Co., the bank that owns most of the business. In a

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Mexico#;s new-vehicle sales fell ##.#% in March from the year-earlier month to ##,### cars and trucks, continuing a decline that began in ####. For the first quarter of ####, sales

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Gulf News (United Arab Emirates)] A top Philippine government official said that one of President Gloria Arroyo#;s key aims in her state visit to Japan was to secure technical assistance in reviving the country#;s mothballed

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] Auto-parts supplier Visteon Corp. says it is making good progress in obtaining the financing needed to see it through Chapter ## bankruptcy. An attorney for Visteon said Friday that the Van Buren Township, Mich

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Customs authorities have started to put into effect a new ruling to ban the import of cars that are more than five years old. According to officials quoted by Arab News, a Jeddah-based newspaper

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] NEC Electronics Corp.#;s (####.TO) planned merger with Renesas Technology Corp. slated for early #### will create a semiconductor firm that aims to lead the global market in chips that control high

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Toronto Star, The (Ontario, Canada)] Toronto Star News The trucking sector is a barometer of economic health. When the economy is thriving, manufacturers and retailers are shipping more goods overland. When it suffers, ##-wheelers are parked

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, on medical leave since January for treatment of an undisclosed condition, received a liver transplant about two months ago in Tennessee, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The

Industry Report Telecoms and technology Vietnam June #### Economist Intelligence Unit ## Red Lion Square London WC#R #HQ United Kingdom Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is a specialist publisher serving companies establishing and managing operations across national borders

FROM THE ECONOMIST What Japan needs is more bankruptcies, not fewer. JAPAN has long practised a form of familial capitalism. In good times industrial collusion, overseen by bureaucrats, is practically official policy. The so-called "convoy system" lets corporate stragglers

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country Currency behaviour. The UK currency, sterling, floats freely and its value is determined in the foreign-exchange market. London has the

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country Since #### (and particularly since ####) Vietnam has moved to a diversified system in which state-owned, joint-stock, joint-venture

FROM THE ECONOMIST Why Russia is turning its back on the World Trade Organisation IT HAD become almost a ritual. Every year Russian officials promised that by the end of the following year their country would complete the negotiations to

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] The new iPhone went on sale Friday morning, greeted by much smaller lines and less hoopla than previous models. A few hundred people were in line just before the # a.m. local time opening

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] Japanese electronics-media giant Sony pledged Friday a strong comeback as a global high-tech leader after it suffered its worst ever annual operating loss. "We#;re making good progress in our restructuring

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Israel plans to introduce a #;green#; car tax regime, but some car dealers are crying foul. The Israeli government is overhauling the tax regime on cars with the stated aim of encouraging drivers to buy

FROM THE ECONOMIST Mergers between fund managers will not bring fees down. Customers could. ECONOMISTS tend to think that an industry divided between hundreds of players, each with a tiny market share, should be fiercely competitive, with prices cut to

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] Struggling consumer electronics retailer Laox Co. is holding discussions with leading Chinese retail chain operator Suning Appliance Co. on an equity deal that would make it the first big Japanese retailer to become

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The Banco Central de Chile (BCC, the central bank) cut its target interbank interest rate by another ## basis points in June, to #.##%, as inflation eased and economic activity fell further. The annual

Industry Report Financial services United Kingdom June #### Economist Intelligence Unit ## Red Lion Square London WC#R #HQ United Kingdom Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is a specialist publisher serving companies establishing and managing operations across national borders

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] Turkey#;s health ministry on Saturday reported its first case of swine flu in someone who was not infected abroad, and said new cases had brought the total here to ##. A total

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT African will post its weakest growth in ## years, but start to recover later this year. African growth is likely to be at its lowest level since #### this year, but GDP is set to

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Guardian (UK)] Lord Carter is cross. The communications minister believes those who condemned the groundbreaking final report on Digital Britain he unveiled last week have simply not read it. Billed as the most comprehensive review of the

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [New York Times] Shopping as we know it is on the brink of major change. Hammered by the recession, some of the nation#;s biggest retailers are seizing the moment to reinvent their business strategies. And the

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] Israeli industrial and financial group Koor said on Monday it will spend ### million euros (### million dollars) to buy a three percent stake in the French retail giant Carrefour. "This investment was

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] Herbert Allison, the former head of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, has been confirmed to oversee the government#;s $### billion bank bailout program. The Senate voted Friday to confirm Allison as the Treasury Department

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The UK has long been a major international centre for investment and private banking and has one of the largest commercial

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Asia Pulse Businesswire] The Indonesian government will propose to the House of Representatives a bill calling for exemption of farmers and handicraft makers with an annual turnover of up to Rp### million (US$##,###) from value

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] The German lower house of parliament on Friday passed a law banning under-##s from going to solariums because of the risks of developing skin cancer. According to the country#;s ADP dermatological

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The accord, which has not been subjected to legislative scrutiny, stipulates a number of types of business that will be open to Chinese direct investment from late June. A relaxation in visa regulations for businessmen

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Financial services report: Overview The financial services industry in Vietnam remains underdeveloped, despite its rapid growth in recent years. Demand for financial services is generally weak, with about one-half of all personal savings held

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Cardline] HSBC Bank plc has sold its ##% ownership in HSBC Merchant Services to joint venture partner Global Payments Inc. for $###.# million. The deal closed today. The two companies created the payment-processing entity in

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Slovakia#;s government has moved to cut the price of drugs sharply. As a result of a change in categorisation enacted in April ####, starting in October over half of all medicinal products sold in

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Asia Pulse Businesswire] The South Korean government said Friday that it will impose tougher sanitation rules for food imported under an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) arrangement between local companies and their overseas suppliers. The rules that aim

Initial conditions: In the aftermath of the second world war, the Philippines was one of the most prosperous countries in Asia and had strong growth potential, owing to a large domestic market, relatively high standards of education and a plentiful

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Business Times (Malaysia)] Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), the country#;s biggest fixed-line phone company, expects its wholesale business to contribute ## per cent of its total revenue in three years. Wholesale revenue, which grew by #

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Irish Independent (Ireland)] Ireland#;s plans to reverse a six-year separation of the Financial Regulator from the Central Bank, and the European Commission#;s push to set up three new pan-EU authorities to oversee financial

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Economic Times (India)] Switzerland-based bank UBS is believed to have put its business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) units up for sale. The bank, which has centres in Poland and Hyderabad, is in

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. and other Chinese carmakers are using the global automotive slump as an opportunity to raise their profiles by launching strategic moves that could make them a major driving force

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Telecoms and Technology Report for this country The mobile-phone sector will grow significantly in ####-##. There were an estimated ## mobile subscriptions per ### population

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Telecoms and Technology Report for this country Internet use is expanding rapidly: the number of users has more than doubled in the past three years. There were

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Monday that it expects to garner some EUR## billion ($##.# billion) worldwide in new orders because of more government-backed orders aimed at reducing energy consumption. Siemens said

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] General Motors Corp.#;s Venezuela affiliate temporarily shuttered a local assembly plant on Friday, suspending all car production in Venezuela and boosting fears that the closure could further slow sputtering economic growth. GM suspended operations

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] Stock exchange operator NYSE Euronext said Friday it has invested £### million in a rebranded stock exchange in Qatar, reducing the size of its planned investment in the energy-rich Persian Gulf. NYSE Euronext said

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Daily Telegraph (UK)] ROYAL Bank of Scotland is expected to unveil an improved £#.#m remuneration package for chief executive Stephen Hester this week after reportedly winning the backing of its major investors. UK Financial Investments - which

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Irish Times (Ireland)] NIGERIA IS to lift a ban on foreign takeovers of its banks, breaking a decades-old legacy of protectionism to open Africa#;s biggest untapped market for financial services to international competition. Lamido Sanusi

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Toronto Star, The (Ontario, Canada)] The trucking sector is a barometer of economic health. When the economy is thriving, manufacturers and retailers are shipping more goods overland. When it suffers, ##-wheelers are parked and their engines

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] Fast Retailing Co. (####), which operates the Uniqlo chain of clothing stores, is on a roll. Thanks to a product strategy focused as much on quality as on aggressive pricing, Uniqlo is enjoying

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] The auto industry is entering a new era now that major players have collapsed and green vehicles are hot. Against this breathtaking backdrop, newcomers with innovative business models are entering the race. As

FROM THE ECONOMIST The biggest emerging economies are rebounding, even without recovery in the West THE inaugural summit of the BRICs--Brazil, Russia, India, China--came and went in Yekaterinburg this week with more rhetoric than substance. Although Russia#;s

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Marketwatch] AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores are no longer places just to buy mobile phones. The two companies are now branching out into small laptop computers and probably won#;t stop there. New York-based Verizon

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The financial sector--banking, insurance, fund management, securities trading, derivatives and venture capital--plays a key role in the UK economy

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev vowed Sunday to invest in farming despite the financial crisis in a bid to make the country more self-sufficient. In a Russian television interview, Medvedev said farmers would

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Marketwatch] Steve Jobs, on extended medical leave from his CEO post at Apple Inc., underwent a liver transplant two months ago in Tennessee, according to a report Saturday in the Wall Street Journal. The report goes on

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [San Jose Mercury News (CA)] It#;s been a long time coming, but the humble Web browser is finally entering a golden age. Some ## years after creation of the World Wide Web and more than ##

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The global economic crisis led to one of the biggest falls on record of equity markets in #### and early ####

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] Convenience store sales on a same-store basis rose #% on the year to ###.# billion yen in May, marking the ##th consecutive month of year-on-year growth, according to data

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [AFP World News (English)] British insurance giant Aviva on Monday said it has agreed to sell its Australian life and pensions business to National Australia Bank for £### million (### million US dollars, ### million euros). "The

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The UK is among the leading markets in the world for fund management, along with the US and Japan. According to

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country The fund-management business has grown rapidly in recent years, and in #### there were around ## domestic investment fund-management

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [The Fly on the Wall - Live News Feed] On the eve of an international meeting bringing together ### African researchers to discuss progress on research for neglected tropical diseases, or NTDs, Merck & Co., and the not-for

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [BNamericas (English)] Brazilian federal energy company Petrobras#; (NYSE: PBR) total oil and gas production, including international operations, averaged #.##Mboe/d in May, up #.#% from the year-ago month. Production rose #.#% from the

FROM THE ECONOMIST The downturn is claiming victims that never appear on a balance sheet NINE months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the world#;s economic crisis is still usually discussed as though it consisted of dire bank balance

FROM THE ECONOMIST The Kirchners#; economic nationalism is leading their country down a blind alley. IT IS only a mid-term election, for half of the lower house of Congress and a third of the senate. But when Argentines vote

FROM THE ECONOMIST Barack Obama#;s plan for regulatory reform is not bold enough. FINANCIAL regulation in America has two problems: there is both too much of it and too little. Multiple federal agencies oversee the financial system: five for

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Financial Services Report for this country Demand. The insurance sector in Vietnam is still small compared with that in many other Asian countries, but it has expanded

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT STMicroelectronics needs to move fast in order to survive the downturn intact. Earlier this year, Geneva-based STMicroelectronics looked better placed than most to ride out the current economic storm. The fifth-largest chip maker

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [ADP Spain News] Biotechnology company Proretina Therapeutics, headquartered in Spanish northern region of Navarra, secured EUR #.# million (USD #.###m) in fresh funds. Spanish savings bank Caja Navarra, venture capital firm Clave Mayor, Inverady and

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [BNamericas (English)] The prospect of new regulation on cards in Brazil is generating uncertainty in the market, but until the regulation materializes the market is still likely to see major growth, Laura Lyra Schuch, who covers the

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Philippine Daily Inquirer] FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH OF the first hybrid car in the country, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) Corp. is now seeking incentives from the government to enable it to cut the price of the environment-friendly

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Slovakia#;s economy ministry has agreed to provide state support of some EUR##m to Kia, a unit of car-making major Hyundai (South Korea), for its planned EUR###.#m investment in a new engine plant

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The following is an extract from our full Telecoms and Technology Report for this country The global economic downturn is likely to create only short-term problems for the domestic information technology (IT) industry. Although

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT After cutting rates, the euro-zone#;s central bank considers other methods. But it will remain more cautious than other monetary authorities. The European Central Bank (ECB), having slashed interest rates to #% (a likely

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Marketwatch] The U.S. Federal Reserve, concerned about potential conflicts of interest in the giant system of repurchase agreements, is considering a major change in the method by which these overnight dollar-denominated loans are handled, the

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Hindustan Times (India)] After months of deliberation, the Delhi Development Authority has finally allotted land to BSES, the private electricity distributor, to make a ####-MW power plant in West Delhi. The DDA#;s technical committee, in

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT To make it easier for mainland companies to finance their overseas subsidiaries, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) is preparing to ease some of its outbound rules. From August #st, mainland companies would be

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Nikkei English News (Japan)] Nissan Motor Co. (####) is eager to catch up with the competition in environmentally friendly vehicles by launching overseas production of electric cars, but needs to address several issues if it wants this

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Sunday Times (Perth, Australia)] DEPENDING on who you talk to, it is either reckless eco-terrorism or a bold project that will deliver jobs and wealth to the Kimberley. One thing is certain -- a plan to build

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT Telecoms and technology report: (Forecast closing date: June ##nd ####) Telecoms and technology report: Overview Vietnam#;s telecommunications industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years, and this is particularly true in the case of

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [Associated Press] The pharmaceutical industry has agreed to spend $## billion over a decade to defray the cost of health care reform and improve coverage for the elderly, causing President Barack Obama to say the nation is

FROM DIALOG NEWSEDGE [MarketWatch Bullets] Brit Insurance Holdings said Monday that it has approached the board of Chaucer Holdings with a proposal to buy the group in an all-stock deal. Brit said it would exchange #.## new Brit