Briefs

PHDA gets Halal certification status

LAHORE: Department of Islamic Development Malaysia has approved the Punjab Halal Development Agency (PHDA) as recognised International Halal Certification Body in Pakistan.

After getting this status, the PHDA is now eligible to conduct Halal audits and award Halal Certifications to products complying the criteria mentioned in the Malaysians Halal Standards worldwide on behalf of Malaysia.

To avail the unique title, the PHDA requested Malaysia authorities previous year. A few months back a Malaysian team conducted audit of the PHDA and after consultation with the government and relevant authorities they appointed the PHDA as authorised International Halal Certification Body in Pakistan.

 

PR to procure 55 locomotives from US

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways will procure 55 locomotives from the United States on finalization of a competitive bidding process. An agreement worth $213.689 million has been signed with a US company to procure these locomotives which will be delivered by the next year, a senior official of the Ministry of Railways told APP. Besides, he said a project for rehabilitation of 27 locomotives was under execution at Risalpur factory, adding 15 locomotives had been turned out for train operation while another 12 were under rehabilitation. He said Pakistan Railways purchased 63 locomotives from the foreign countries since 2008.

 

KCCI elections on September 26

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will hold elections for the new body on September 26, a statement said on Friday. KCCI spokesman said the election commission has already declared 15 members, nominated by the Businessmen Group (BMG) successfully unopposed. The successful members include Younus Sommro, Asif Nisar, Shamim Ahmed Firpo, Mohammad Saqib, Ali Raza Sheikh, Rehan Hanif, Sohail Amin, Munir Ahmed, Ahmed Azeem Alavi, Mohammad Hanif Ayoob, Danish Iqbal, Abdul Rehman Naqvi, Mansoor Ahmed, Safdar Ali and Shamsul Islam Khan.

 

Bombardier reports big loss

Montreal: Canadian plane and train maker Bombardier Inc reported a slightly bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as revenue fell in its business jets unit and margins weakened in its commercial aircraft division. Revenue in the company's business jets division, a key source of cash flow, declined nearly 19 percent to $1.47 billion in the second quarter.

Revenue from Bombardier´s commercial jets business rose more than a quarter to $764 million, but margins were negative as the company spends heavily on its CSeries aircraft program. Bombardier said free cash flow usage dropped to $490 million from $808 million. The company had $3.34 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of June.

Bombardier reported a net loss of $490 million, or 24 cents per share, for the quarter ended June 30 compared with a profit of $125 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 6.7 percent to $4.31 billion.

 

China to buy 51pc stake in Piraeus Port

ATHENS: China COSCO Shipping, which owns the world's fourth largest container fleet in terms of capacity, is expected to wrap up the purchase of a majority stake in Greece´s largest port, Piraeus Port (OLP), next week, sources close to the matter said on Friday.

Under a deal signed in April between COSCO and Greece´s privatisation agency (HRADF), COSCO will buy 51 percent of Piraeus for 280.5 million euros ($312.5 million). COSCO will acquire a further 16 percent stake for 88 million after five years, and once it completes mandatory investments of 300 million euros.

The transfer of the 51 percent stake to COSCO through the Athens Stock Exchange will likely take place on Wednesday, an official close to the process told Reuters. Another official said that once COSCO acquired the 51 percent stake, a new board at Piraeus Port would be formed.

Greece´s parliament approved the sale in June, overcoming some last minute snags which triggered complaints from the local COSCO representative that parts of the deal submitted to the legislature reneged on the initial deal.

       

Toyota developing new taxi for Japan 

TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp is developing a next-generation taxi for the Japanese market and it has formed a partnership with the country's hire-taxi federation to explore uses for new technology, the company said on Friday.

The partnership comes as Japan´s biggest automaker invests heavily in automated driving, car sharing and other connected mobility technologies, while Japan´s powerful taxi industry has opposed efforts by ride-hailing app Uber to expand into the country.

Toyota´s new taxi, which is being developed in cooperation with the Japan Federation of Hire-Taxi Associations, will focus on being accessible to the elderly, families with children and foreign tourists. It would become available in 2017, it said.

The automaker said that it would collaborate with the association, which represents more than 15,000 taxi operators nationwide, to use taxis in Tokyo to collect and analyse information on road traffic, and apply the results to technologies including automated driving.

Toyota produces the majority of the country´s taxis. It has said it plans to market a vehicle which can drive autonomously on highways by 2020.The tie-up is the latest in a series of new partnerships Toyota has inked in the past year, including with Uber, while the company has also set up a $1 billion artificial intelligence research institute.

       

Nissan plans to sell battery operations

TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co is discussing with Panasonic Corp and overseas companies including Chinese firms the possible sale of its controlling stake in a car battery manufacturing venture, the Nikkei daily reported on Friday.

The Japanese automaker wants to sell its 51 percent stake in Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, which is jointly owned by NEC Corp, because it would be cheaper to buy batteries for its electric vehicles including its Leaf model from other makers, the newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information. The report "is speculation, and is not based on any announcement by us", Nissan said in an email. Spokesmen for Panasonic and NEC declined to comment. The Japanese car maker and Renault SA, under Carlos Ghosn, who heads both companies, have bet more heavily on electric cars than mainstream competitors.

 

China to fine-tune policy as needed

BEIJING: China's central bank on Friday reiterated it will fine-tune policy in a preemptive and timely way, but added that cuts to bank reserve requirements could put downward pressure on the yuan and foreign reserves.

The People´s Bank of China will stick to its long-standing prudent stance and keep the yuan currency basically stable, the bank said in its second-quarter monetary policy implementation report.

China´s economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, easing worries of a hard landing. But concern about debt and a buildup of cash on company balance sheets has led to speculation that further monetary easing would be limited, especially as China gets less return for each unit of credit growth. The focus in the last five months of the year is expected to be on structural reform and fiscal measures to boost growth.