Despite the record-high results, the R&D investment level of the nation's petrochemical industry is still miserably low. According to industry sources on August 28, the amount of R&D investment of Lotte Chemical, which achieved a record-high sales revenue of 7,849.4 billion won in the first half, fell short of 44.5 billion won. This is only 0.57 percent of the total sales. Even last year when the company posted the highest operating profit (2,547.8 billion won) among all petrochemical...

SK Engineering & Construction has won a large-scale petrochemical plant project in Thailand. The company said on August 29 that it clinched a deal worth US$210 million to build polyol plant within the Hemaraj industrial zone in Thailand's Rayong. This followed news that the company signed a $1.6-billion project to modernize an oil refinery in Iran earlier this month. The plant, located 150 kilometers southeast of Thailand's capital Bangkok, is commissioned jointly by PTT Global Chemical, ...

The negotiation to sell off Kumho Tire to China's Double Star Tire broke apart. The creditors including Korea Development Bank held a shareholders meeting and decided not to accept a request by Double Star to lower the price. A Korea Development Bank official explained, "As Double Star made demands we can't accept including an additional 10-percent discount from the original price of 800 billion won, we had to say no to the offer." In July this year, the Chinese tire maker began making dem...

Moon Jae-in South Korean President and Vladimir Putin Russian President met on September 6 in Far Eastern Federal University in Russia's Vladivostok to discuss issues including the current North Korea nuclear crisis and economic cooperation between Russia and South Korea for 2 hours and 40 minutes. The two leaders agreed that the North's nuclear tests are "unacceptable" but differed in how it must be handled including cutting crude oil supplies to North Korea. President Moon said, "When ...

POSCO Daewoo has opened Lotte Hotel Yangon on September 8 in Myanmar's capital Yangon. The five-star hotel, located near Inya Lake in the central business district of the city, consists of a 15-story hotel building (343 rooms) and a 29-story long-term serviced apartment building (315 rooms). POSCO Daewoo is responsible for the overall management while Lotte Hotels and Resorts taking charge of daily management. On the opening day, Myanmar Minister of Hotels and Tourism Ohn Maung, Chief Ministe...

Central bank governors of three East Asian countries including China, Japan, and Korea will get together and discuss issues such as debt and macroeconomic soundness. But the issue of the Korea-China currency swap deal which will expire on October 10 won't be one of the official agendas in the meeting. Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will meet in Incheon's Songdo for two days on September 13-14 in th...

The government is pushing forward with a plan worth US$8 million to help out vulnerable people in North Korea. Meanwhile it won't raise a lawsuit against China with the World Trade Organization in relation to the latter country's retaliatory measures after Korea's decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile defense system in its soil. Baek Tae-hyun, spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification, said on September 14, "We are reviewing a plan to give $8 milli...

Private-sector power generators are complaining mightily about the government's pressure on them to switch coal-fired power plants they are building into ones based on liquefied natural gas. That's largely because the government is mum about the sunk cost and other costs to retrofit the plants estimated to be as high as 2.6 trillion won. According to private-sector power generation industry sources on September 17, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy requested to POSCO Energy, SK Gas,...

The approval rating of the Moon Jae-in government has hit a low of 67.1 percent largely due to North Korea nuclear issues. The rating has fallen for three consecutive weeks. As for the approval rating of the ruling Minjoo Party has declined for four weeks in a row to 49.3 percent. Pollster Realmeter said on September 18 that a survey commissioned by CBS-TV revealed that the ratio of those who thought positively about the way the current government has performed was 67.1 percent, down by 2.0 p...

MBI, a Korean manufacturer specializing in making transmissions, will build an electric car plant in Hanoi, Vietnam, jointly with local firm N&G Group. The two companies will invest a total of US$1 billion for the next seven years. The companies said on September 21 that the heads of the two companies signed an agreement to establish a joint venture called Viko Motors in South Hanoi next month. Earlier in June this year, MBI was promised by the Vietnamese government and the Hanoi city gov...

The government has decided to give support to North Korea worth US$8 million in programs helping its vulnerable people including children and pregnant women indirectly through international organizations. It, however, has not decided when to start sending money and exactly how. This is interpreted as a choice to deflect criticism that it is undertaking an aid project at a time when North Korea is causing an international storm by launching a series of missile tests. On September 21, the gover...

Practice Statement No. 31: Implications for formal sale processes 1. Introduction On 7 July 2017, the UK Takeover Panel published Practice Statement No. 31, which sets out how the Panel Executive will apply certain aspects of Rules 2.4, 2.6, 21.2 an...

Takeover Panel Public Consultation Paper (PCP) 2017/2: Statements of intention and related matters   1. Introduction On 19 September 2017, the Code Committee (the “Code Committee”) of the UK Takeover Panel (the “Panel”) ...

In May 2017, David Webb, an activist investor and former director of the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited, issued a report titled "The Enigma Network: 50 stocks not to own". This report mapped out a complex web of cross-shareholdings between ...

In a somewhat timely judgment, bearing in mind the May bank holidays, the Court of Session (the Scottish Court of Appeal) has clarified that it is not necessarily unlawful for an employer to not provide alternative leave days for part-time workers w...

Gordon Brown has announced that the Government plans to introduce legislation giving new rights to agency workers and working parents in the next parliamentary session.  In addition, all workers are to be given the right to ask for time off wor...

The Ukrainian government promised that all medical personnel would be tested for COVID-19 once every five days, but doctors have told RFE/RL that has not happened. Medics also said that there were shortages of protective gear and that government promises of increased pay have not been met.

Together with the German Marshall Fund and its Frontlines of Democracy Initiative, RFE/RL experts spoke about the amplified challenges now facing Putin and the Kremlin and the potential consequences for Russia’s future.

Russia registered more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases for the sixth day in a row -- an indication the spread of the virus inside the country remains serious despite a stringent lockdown-- as the Communist party leader called for the release of non-violent criminals from prison .

The top members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee say an increase in violence in Afghanistan has raised questions about the Taliban’s commitment to an agreement it signed with the United States in February.

A 97-year-old Russian World War II veteran has been inspired by the fund-raising efforts of Captain Tom Moore. She says she can't walk around a garden to gather donations like the 100-year-old British veteran did, but she is posting war stories online every day to raise money for the families of Russian medics who have died fighting COVID-19.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has ordered a probe into the drowning of several Afghan migrants last week after reports that Iranian border guards allegedly forced them into a river.

The Serbian government has protested to the European Union after one of the bloc's educational websites described inventor and electricity trailblazer Nikola Tesla as a "famous Croatian."

By RNZ The cost of mandatory quarantine on both sides of the Tasman means a New Zealander living in Brisbane will not be reunited with his dying mother in Auckland.A close friend of the man - both of whom RNZ has agreed not...

A "mass of surfers" have converged on one of Wellington's most popular surf beaches.A Wellington local, who wanted to be known only as Brendan, said he was in the area for work when he decided to stop and see what was happening...

A man involved in a $2.5 million meth bust in Hawke's Bay has had his three and a half year prison sentence dropped to 12 months of home detention.Uriah Whetu Monty Wirihana received a prison sentence of three years and seven months...

COMMENT: Want to know how the PM felt about the idea of making the lockdown even tougher on the back of surveys indicating public support for such measures? Or why the Finance Minister lost the battle to open the wage subsidy...

There are two new cases of Covid-19 today, one confirmed and one probable, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.Both cases are linked to the St Margaret's Hospital & Rest Home in Auckland.The confirmed case is a household...

Police are warning Kiwis not to flout the law after hordes took to the beach today despite the country still being at alert level 3. The day started with a "mass" of surfers converging on Wellington's Lyall Bay, and as the weather...

More revelations have been uncovered from the Government's coronavirus document dump, while new cases remain low as Cabinet prepares to decide when to move to alert level 2. Get all the important news and read the full stories in...

Pr�t� cette saison � l'AS Monaco apr�s...

Le volume des dettes des compagnies p�troli�res aupr�s de l'�tat, s'�l�ve � 67 millions de dollars (l'�quivalent de 194 millions de dinars), a r�v�l� le minist�re de l'�nergie, des Mines et de la Transition �nerg�tique. ......

Encore un soutien venu de l'ext�rieur...

Le milieu international tunisien du Zamalek, Ferjani Sassi, est dans le viseur du club de Malatyaspor qui �volue en Superlig. ......

Le pr�sident malgache avec la d�l�gation bissau-guin�enne lors de la remise des dons de Covid-Organics, le 1er mai dernier. ......

Alger -Le nombre de fonctionnaires...

Alger -Le ministre des Travaux publics et des...

The Amakhosi forward continues to receive rave reviews with his former Cape Town City teammate joining in the praises ......

The Wekundu wa Msimbazi winger has been out for a considerable period as he was injured during international duty for the Taifa Stars ......

The defender was part of the Harambee Stars squad which held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in Calabar in 2013 ......

Opinion on the way forward regarding the fate of the PSL campaign is still divided and the Amakhosi legend has weighed in with his views ......

South Africa's net death rate has decreased amid the Covid-19 pandemic over the past five weeks, despite the 186 deaths thus far, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says. ......

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has won bipartisan praise for rallying supplies for his ravaged hospitals and helping slow the coronavirus, is coming under increasing criticism for not bringing that same level of commitment to a problem that has so far stymied him: nursing homes.

Keynote speaker – Challenges in the Food & Drink Industry   Annus horribilis; the year of the chicken On Tuesday 2 December, Eversheds hosted its annual Food and Drink conference, which opened with a keynote speech by the hugely ...