Dr Al Gurg said: “I am truly humbled to accept this recognition on behalf of my countrywomen in the United Arab Emirates…reports Asian Lite News
The Chairperson and Managing Director of an over six-decade-old Dubai conglomerate has been awarded France’s highest civilian honour during a special ceremony held at the residence of the French Consul General on Tuesday, May 16.
Dr Raja Easa Al Gurg, of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, was awarded the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur – Chevalier (Knight) in recognition of her outstanding achievements and contribution in the fields of business and industry. On behalf of President Emmanuel Macron, she received the honour from His Excellency Nicolas Niemtchinow, French Ambassador to the Emirates.
The award was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in May 1802 and its more prominent recipients reads like a roll call of cultural and historical figureheads, from Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein to Alexander Graham Bell, Marie Curie, Audrey Hepburn, JK Rowling, and Jeff Bezos.
Dr Al Gurg said: “I am truly humbled to accept this recognition on behalf of my countrywomen in the United Arab Emirates. It is a great honour to be placed along with the past and present honourees whom I have long admired and respected. In a larger sense, this award is a true spotlight on the countless leaders, who work tirelessly to make an impact in the global community. In joining their ranks, I hope to continue my efforts to further strengthen the close bonds between the UAE and France. Emirati-French ties have a historic legacy in economic and cultural domains and my efforts will be to further broaden these collaborations.”
Lenovo was second with a 15.7 per cent share despite witnessing a decline of 37.5 per cent YoY….reports Asian Lite News
HP Inc led the India traditional PC market, inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations, with a share of 33.8 per cent in the first quarter this year, a new report showed on Tuesday.
While some government and education orders helped its commercial segment clock a share of 34.7 per cent, strong demand in offline channels helped its consumer segment, as it held a share of 32.6 per cent there, according to an IDC report.
Lenovo was second with a 15.7 per cent share despite witnessing a decline of 37.5 per cent YoY. The vendor struggled in the government segment even though this quarter was driven by government orders, according to the IDC report.
Vickram Bedi, Senior Director (Personal Systems) HP India, told IANS that they sincerely thank customers and partners for their unwavering trust in HP, which has allowed them to maintain the leadership in India’s PC market.
“We take immense pride in equipping our customers with the tools they need to stay digitally connected, whether for work, learning, leisure, or entertainment. Given our leadership across both consumer and commercial segments, it brings us great satisfaction to be able to provide this support when they need it the most,” Bedi added.
With the shift towards hybrid work, PCs have become essential tools for staying connected and productive.
“As the dependence on PCs continues to grow, we at HP remain committed to focusing on consistent, insights-based innovation and developing products that deliver the best-in-class experience for users across all segments,” Bedi added.
Overall, the India traditional PC market continued to drop shipping only 2.99 million units, a decline of 30.1 per cent year-over-year (YoY) in the first quarter.
While the demand for desktops was positive, the notebook category witnessed another weak quarter as it declined by 40.8 per cent YoY.
The consumer segment declined by 36.1 per cent YoY primarily due to slowing demand and low market sentiment, and the commercial segment declined by 25.1 per cent YoY due to reduced/delayed procurement by enterprises and SMEs, the report mentioned.
“Channel partners across tiers for almost all vendors have been carrying heavy inventory for the last two quarters. Hence, shipments in the consumer segment decreased significantly in 1Q23 as they focused on clearing off aging inventory,” said Bharath Shenoy, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India.
Dell came third with a share of 13.9 per cent. The vendor focused on correcting channel inventory in consumer and SME segments, leading to a drop in market share, the report noted.
India Week will take place across the UK, starting from May 7th – 12th 2023, bringing together more than 100 business leaders from across India. Political leaders from seven parties across eight states, have confirmed their attendance at the largest India-related conference in Europe this year, reports Riccha Grrover for Asian lite International.
Ideas for India 2023 is an annual get-together of change-makers, policy and business leaders for high-level discussions on public policy, including how one India is rising, and another is facing once-in-a-generation challenges.
Over 800 attendees from 10+ countries across the week expected to attend the second edition of Ideas for India conference and Inaugural India Week 2023. These events would be the place to engage in high-level discussions on the New India. India’s economic growth rate is the highest amongst major economies today, as China struggles with a bloated infrastructure sector, local government bad debts, a zero-Covid policy and an ageing population. India’s inflation rate is lower than that of the UK, the US and other major economies.
As the Western world diversifies its supply chains and geopolitical dependencies away from China, India stands to benefit. At the same time, India’s institutions are under strain. Media freedom, civil liberties, rights for minorities and democratic, institutional structures that have served India well since Independence, are under threat from nationalism and associated forces.
Speakers confirmed include: Dr Raghuram Rajan (Former Governor, Reserve Bank of India), Rahul Narwekar (Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly), Rohit Pawar (Member of Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Member of Parliament, Maharashtra), Kartikeya Sharma (Member of Parliament, Haryana), Riniki Bhuyan Sarma (MD, Pride East Entertainment), Pradyot Manikya (Chairman, Tipra Motha, Tripura), Jayesh Ranjan, IAS (Principal Secretary of the Industries and Commerce, and IT Departments, Telangana), Mohammed Ali Ashraf Fatmi (National Spokesperson, JDU, Bihar), Abhinandan Sekhri (Co-Founder, Newslaundry), Arunabha Ghosh (CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water). The Chief Minister of a leading state in India is also expected to attend.
They will be coming especially for the flagship “Ideas for India” conference, organised alongside non-profit think tank Bridge India.
The events start with an exclusive CEOs’ Golf Weekend on 7-8 May 2023 at Rutland Hall & Spa in Leicestershire, where more than 20 CEOs from India are expected to fly in especially. Thereafter, there is the Education Innovation Conference in Oxford, organised in partnership with WBR, and including Prof Jonathan Michie OBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and leadership from over 40 higher education institutions in India.
Finally, the flagship Ideas for India conference in London on 11-12 May 2023 will include an invite-only dinner at the House of Commons and a formal dinner the next evening to celebrate closer UK-India ties.
Discussions during Ideas for India will include on bilateral relations with the UK, India’s growth as a geopolitical power, investment opportunities in India, the importance of federalism, and a special focus on the North East.
Pratik Dattani
Pratik Dattani, MD at EPG says: “India is the world’s fastest-growing economy today, ahead of China. Its progress in financial inclusion, technology, renewable energy, infrastructure building, and the geopolitical leadership it offers the Global South, is admirable. I’m delighted that such a wide range of policy and business leaders have chosen to come to India Week in the UK. It underlines the importance of the UK as a global gateway for India, ahead of the Free Trade Agreement that is being negotiated between the two countries.”
Global advisory firm EPG’s India Week is its annual global flagship event, which gathers together change-makers, policy and business leaders for high-level discussions on pertinent topics, including the UK-India Free Trade Agreement.
Bridge India is an independent, progressive non-profit think tank dedicated to discourse on public policy and registered with the Charity Commission of England & Wales. It is based in London, with members across the UK and Europe.
Economic Policy Group (EPG) is an economic and strategy consulting firm based across the UK, India and Uganda, which offers market entry advisory services and strategic communications to businesses and governments around the world.
The store is expected to provide a much-needed boost to the local economy and create employment opportunities for the youth of the area….writes Zubair Qureshi
In a bid to provide quality clothing to the residents of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, a new family cloth and readymade store called “Heaven of Fashion” was inaugurated by SHO Lar Gulzar Ahmad.
The store is located near the police station in Lar and was opened in the presence of many local dignitaries.
The initiative was taken by a local resident of Chanthan Gulabpora Lar, Zulfane Pathan, who recognized the need for a quality clothing store in the area.
Speaking about the opening of the store, Zulfane said, “We are very happy to open this store in Lar, which has been a longstanding demand of the people here. Now they can get quality clothing items at their doorstep.
“The store offers a wide range of clothing items, including men’s and women’s wear, children’s clothing, and readymade garments. The store is expected to be a boon for the residents of Lar, who previously had to travel to other areas to purchase quality clothing items.
Local residents who visited the store were thrilled with the quality of the items on display. “I am very impressed with the variety and quality of clothing available at the store,” said a local resident, Farooq Ahmad.
“I have been looking for a store like this in the area for a long time and I am glad that we finally have one,” he added.
The opening of “Heaven of Fashion” has been welcomed by the locals, who see it as a much-needed addition to the area. The store is expected to provide a much-needed boost to the local economy and create employment opportunities for the youth of the area.
The reports came as Qualcomm struggles to close its purchase of NXP while concurrently meeting its goal to cut costs by $1 billion…reports Asian Lite News
Global chip-maker Qualcomm has started layoffs, impacting both full-time and temporary employees, as “workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success”.
According to reports, Qualcomm may eliminate 1,500 jobs in California alone.
The reports came as Qualcomm struggles to close its purchase of NXP while concurrently meeting its goal to cut costs by $1 billion, reports Fierce Wireless.
“As part of the cost reduction plan announced in January, Qualcomm is conducting a reduction of our full-time and temporary workforce. A workforce reduction, such as this one, affects not only those employees who are part of the reduction, but their families, co-workers and the community,” the chip giant said in a statement.
The company offered affected employees supportive severance packages to reduce the impact of the transition on them.
“We first evaluated non-headcount expense reductions, but we concluded that a workforce reduction is needed to support long-term growth and success, which will ultimately benefit all our stakeholders,” the company added.
Earlier this month, Qualcomm said that at the request of the Ministry of Commerce in China, it refiled its application to acquire NXP.
In conjunction with the refiling, NXP and Qualcomm agreed, among other things, to extend the end date of their purchase agreement from April 25, 2018 to July 25, 2018.
China is the only country that hasn’t signed off on Qualcomm’s purchase of NXP.
Qualcomm had walked away from a $44 billion deal to buy NXP Semiconductors after failing to secure Chinese regulatory approval.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Supreme Court this month finalised a ruling in favour of the national antitrust regulator’s record fine of 1 trillion won ($760.8 million) imposed in 2016 on US chipmaker Qualcomm for unfair business practices.
The fine was imposed by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), which concluded in December 2016 that the San Diego-based company and its two affiliates breached South Korea’s competition law by refusing to offer licenses to chipset manufacturers and demanding high fees for patents used by smartphone makers.
Shipments will stabilise around the levels from 2022 as we move into the middle of 2023, according to market research firm Canalys….reports Asian Lite news
The global smartphone market will gain momentum in the second half of the year as channel inventories reach healthier levels, a report has shown.
Shipments will stabilise around the levels from 2022 as we move into the middle of 2023, according to market research firm Canalys.
“Decline rates will start to improve soon, although this is more connected to the stark contrast between 2022 and 2023 shrinking,” said research analyst Lucas Zhong.
Vendors are cautiously approaching the market with profitability targets, lean operations and inventory clearing as top priorities.
The global smartphone shipments fell by 13 per cent to 269.8 million units in Q1 2023.
Samsung reclaimed its pole position and shipped 60.3 million units, driven by a refreshed product portfolio.
Apple came in second with 58 million shipments. It was the only top five vendor to grow year-on-year, which gave it a strong 21 per cent market share.
Xiaomi defended its number three position with 30.5 million shipments while OPPO and vivo completed the top five, shipping 26.6 million and 20.9 million units, respectively, securing 10 per cent and 8 per cent market share.
“Samsung’s performance shows early signs of recovery after a tough end to 2022,” said Runar Bjorhovde, Canalys analyst.
“The rebound is particularly connected to product launches, which drove an increase in sell-in volume. Still, Samsung will have to navigate through a difficult landscape going forward, particularly as entry-level device inventory remains high,” Bjorhovde added.
The mid-range price segment has started to recover following huge declines last year.
“However, mid-range demand in 2023 will remain limited due to the macroeconomic challenges and missing differentiators within this price band,” said Zhong.
Demands at the event ranged from the reintroduction of tax breaks on shopping for overseas visitors to better co-operation with business and more “concrete” actions by government…reports Asian Lite News
Jeremy Hunt admitted on Monday that British corporate taxes were too high, as business called on the government to make good on promises to mend ties with the private sector.
Speaking at a set-piece event with about 250 corporate leaders intended to counter Labour’s charm offensive with business, the UK chancellor said the economy needed to grow more to bring taxes down.
“The tax burden is too high. We would like to bring it down,” Hunt said at the Business Connect event, acknowledging a backlash to the government’s decision to increase corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent this month. “The way we will bring the tax burden down is through growth.”
But even as he and Rishi Sunak promised to “listen” and “engage” with the private sector, with the prime minister declaring himself “unashamedly pro-business”, they were repeatedly pressed on their strategy for growth and trade.
Demands at the event ranged from the reintroduction of tax breaks on shopping for overseas visitors to better co-operation with business and more “concrete” actions by government.
Gerry Murphy, chair of luxury goods brand Burberry, said the post-Brexit withdrawal of value added tax breaks on UK shopping by overseas visitors had made the country the least attractive shopping destination in Europe.
“The UK is, by far, the weakest recovery of all those major [European] markets [in Burberry trading],” he added. “We are actively exporting business as a result of that policy to our continental competitors.”
There is a growing sense of Groundhog Day as we wait for concrete policy developments
Romi Savova, chief executive of financial services company PensionBee, said: “Many business leaders have engaged with the government across multiple events and there is a growing sense of Groundhog Day as we wait for concrete policy developments.”
Conservative party insiders privately admit that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has led a highly successful charm offensive with business in recent months, alongside shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Sunak’s appointment of former Morgan Stanley executive Franck Petitgas as his new business and investment adviser is a sign of a new effort by the government to improve relations with corporate leaders.
Sunak also announced £100mn in government funding for a task force aimed at accelerating Britain’s capabilities in an area of artificial intelligence known as “foundation models” — which is used in chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The prime minister said he would bear in mind the call to restore the VAT break, but government insiders said ministers were unlikely to take such a move, which they claimed could cost £2bn a year.
The chancellor added that it was right to have imposed a windfall tax on energy companies’ profits but that he would keep “a dialogue going . . . because we need to unlock investment in the North Sea”.
Sunak has made reviving the economy one of his five key priorities, after Britain’s gross domestic product only regained its pre-pandemic size in February…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will host a conference for business leaders on Monday where he will pledge to work with companies in the hope of reviving the economy and turning around his party’s fortunes before an election expected next year.
The conference called “Business Connect” is part of Sunak’s attempts to rebuild the governing Conservative Party’s relations with business, which were damaged during the economic turmoil of the premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Sunak has made reviving the economy one of his five key priorities, after Britain’s gross domestic product only regained its pre-pandemic size in February.
International Monetary Fund projections published this month showed Britain bottom of the world’s major economies in terms of expected growth in 2023, with a forecast that the economy will shrink by 0.3%.
Sunak, a former investment banker, along with finance minister Jeremy Hunt and business minister Kemi Badenoch will speak at a series of events on Monday to more than 200 executives representing sectors including technology and manufacturing.
During ‘Business Connect with Rishi Sunak’ on @LinkedInUK, Chef, #Belfast restaurateur and FSB Member Gemma Austin pressed the PM for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses in NI to get the same biz rates support that their counterparts in England and Wales have received. pic.twitter.com/OkFKlQi31i
On Monday, Sunak’s office said he will underline his commitment to improving the conditions for businesses to grow, recognising the government cannot achieve its economic priorities alone.
“We are bringing together some of the UK’s biggest companies and investors for meaningful dialogue – and I’m a prime minister passionate about working with business to unlock opportunity and progress,” Sunak said in a statement.
In what his office called his first ever LinkedIn Live event, business leaders will on Monday morning also have the opportunity to ask Sunak questions about business policy.
The prime minister will unveil an innovation category at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards on Monday evening, hosted by the finance minister at Downing Street.
People buy items at a shop in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on April 7, 2022. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)
A survey based on interviews with around 520 business owners was conducted in the first quarter of 2023….reports Asian Lite News
Business confidence in Pakistan continued to slide in the first three months of 2023 amid multiple economic crises, according to the latest edition of the Gallup Business Confidence Index.
“Last year’s political instability has carried over to combine with various economic crises and exacerbated business insecurity,” Dawn news quoted the survey as saying.
Wave-9 of the survey is based on interviews with around 520 business owners conducted in the first quarter of 2023 across Pakistan.
The exercise consisted of three broad strands, namely the current business situation, the future business situation and the direction of the country. Index values dropped on a quarter-on-quarter basis to an all-time low in each of the three strands.
Two-thirds of the businesses surveyed said they faced bad or worse conditions than before. There was a 7 per cent increase in the number of businesses reporting “very bad” business conditions, Dawn reported.
With a fall of one percentage point from the preceding quarter, the Current Business Situation Score clocked in at -32 per cent.
The number of businesses saying they’d be worse off in the future increased 7 per cent from the preceding quarter.
About 61 per cent businesses said their future expectations were “negative”, while only 38 per cent expected the situation to improve.
The Future Business Confidence Score worsened by 11 percentage points to -22 per cent on a quarterly basis.
Perceptions held by the business community about the direction of the country deteriorated from -75 per cent to -79 per cent in January-March, with as many as 90 per cent of the businesses saying the country was headed in the wrong direction, Dawn reported.
Inflation remained the “most-cited problem” that most businesses (45 per cent) would like the government to solve.
Compared to the preceding quarter, a higher number of businesses wanted the government to “help with currency depreciation” even though fewer of the same respondents believed the government should provide relief on utility prices.
People walk at a market in eastern Pakistan’s Rawalpindi on July 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal/IANS)
Danger of defaulting
There is a real danger that Pakistan could default on its debt, which could lead to intensifying political turmoil amid already surging terrorism, says an analysis by the US Institute of Peace (USIP) said.
There is a real danger that nuclear-armed Pakistan with a population of nearly 230 million people may be unable to meet its external debt obligations — which will trigger a sovereign default, it said.
If Pakistan ultimately defaults, there will be a cascade of disruptive effects.
Crucially, Pakistan’s imports could be disrupted, which could lead to a shortage of some essential goods and commodities. In Sri Lanka, the disruption of oil imports stoked public discontent, protests and a change in government.
Pakistan, which is already seeing intense political conflict between Sharif’s government and opposition leader Khan, may also see the economic crisis creating more political turmoil, the analysis said.
And given Pakistan’s demographic profile and surging terrorism threats, the resulting crisis could go in unexpected directions.
To avert this scenario, Pakistan needs IMF’s continued support as well as help from Chinese and Middle Eastern partners. Pakistani leadership has been asking the US to intercede with the IMF, but that effort hasn’t borne fruit in the way they hoped for.
Pakistani leadership is also making frantic efforts for bailouts from foreign partners, but it is unclear if they will make the difficult reform choices necessary to win the trust of the IMF, the analysis said.
Pakistan’s stability increasingly depends on the outcome of an ever-worsening economic crisis. Amid skyrocketing inflation, political conflict between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and surging terrorism, the country is facing the risk of a default due to its massive external debt obligations, the USIP analysis said.
This burden has been exacerbated by the derailment of the $6.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program Pakistan entered in 2019, as the international lender is unsatisfied with Pakistan’s commitment to reform and ability to arrange for funds to meet external financing requirements.
Troublingly, Pakistan’s official foreign exchange reserves are hovering around $4 billion, which is insufficient to finance even a one-month of the country’s import bill.
Shares of embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse were down by more than 20 per cent after its biggest shareholder chose not to increase funding…reports Asian Lite News
The US’ Dow opened the day with a decline of more than 600 points Wednesday as banking fears spread across global markets, reports said.
The S&P and Nasdaq slipped roughly 2 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively, CNN reported
Shares of embattled Swiss lender Credit Suisse were down by more than 20 per cent after its biggest shareholder chose not to increase funding. That comes after the bank cited “material weakness” in its financial reporting Tuesday and got rid of executive bonuses, CNN reported.
Shares of US banks also fell: Wells Fargo was down 4.9 per cent and JPMorgan Chase stock dropped 3.6 per cent.
Wall Street continues to grapple with banking tumult domestically, after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank rocked markets last week and early this week. While stocks recouped some of their losses on Tuesday, investors remain wary of the banking fallout and what it means for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-hiking campaign going forward and the overall stability of the financial sector.
Just as the panic over the US banking system appeared to fade, a fresh burst of anxiety blew in from Europe, CNN reported.
Credit Suisse shares crashed more than 20 per cent in Zurich, dragging down European bank stocks along with it. US stock futures fell Wednesday morning after rallying strongly on Tuesday.
“Credit Suisse has been a slowing-moving car crash for years,” wrote Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of Bleakley Financial Group, as per CNN. “But now today’s news of course is happening in the vortex of SVB.”
The “global bank psychology” is already fragile, Boockvar said. Investors around the world were thoroughly rattled by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature, making the banking sector particularly vulnerable to any signs of trouble.
Shares of several top European banks have been halted Wednesday as the fallout from Credit Suisse’s crisis of confidence spilled out throughout the sector, CNN reported.
French and German banks such as BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank were falling, CNN reported.
Several bank stocks were halted, triggering automatic circuit breakers designed to give investors a breather and prevent stocks from rapidly collapsing.
