China Property Woes Deepen With Vanke Slump, Country Garden Halt
One of China’s biggest property firms delayed its earnings report while another posted a record profit decline as the nation’s real estate crisis shows no signs of easing.
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One of China’s biggest property firms delayed its earnings report while another posted a record profit decline as the nation’s real estate crisis shows no signs of easing.
The owners of Saks Fifth Avenue are in talks to raise financing to bolster the cash portion of an offer to buy competitor Neiman Marcus, according to people familiar with the matter, moving two of America’s biggest high-end department stores closer to a deal after years of on-and-off courtship.
Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s revenue jump — due to strong capital markets and rebounding investment banking — bodes well for the bigger banks due to report in weeks to come.
Blackstone Inc. sold 48 warehouses in Southern California to Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. for $1 billion.
Plunging demand for commodity offices in the US is driving growth for the highest-quality properties, a Morgan Stanley executive said.
Apr 12, 2021
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s government could revamp immigration rules this year to make it easier for expats and long-term tourists to stay in the country, part of a strategy to boost investment and tourism revenue once the pandemic eases.
“Immigration rules are the key pain point” for foreigners working in Thailand, Chayotid Kridakorn, 54, a former head of JPMorgan Securities (Thailand) who’s leading a government task force to smooth investment into Thailand, said in a phone interview from Bangkok. “We want to make it easier for foreigners to live and work in Thailand.”
Authorities contend that making it easier for foreign companies to bring in skilled workers and for western retirees to stay in Thailand will boost the economy, which suffered its biggest contraction in more than two decades last year. Gross domestic product growth won’t return to pre-Covid levels until the third quarter of 2022, according to the Bank of Thailand.
A detailed framework to boost investment and tourism will be proposed to the government’s economic panel within a month, Chayotid said. Plans include improving regulations on immigration, visa applications and work permits for foreign experts, including relaxing the requirement for foreign workers to report their whereabouts to authorities every 90 days.
The framework also will include inducements for foreign investors such as corporate income-tax cuts, relaxed property-holding rules and incentives for retirees and startup companies.
Retirees, Pensioners
Chayotid, an adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow, said he aims to attract one million retirees or pensioners to Thailand in the next few years, who he claimed could contribute as much as 1.2 trillion baht ($38.1 billion) to the Thai economy each year.
Thailand has seen foreign direct investment tumble more than 50% in the past five years to about 361 billion baht in 2020 as investors were deterred by factors including periodic political uncertainties, low growth prospects due to an aging society and a labor shortage. Foreign tourist arrivals into Thailand plunged to 6.7 million last year, the lowest level in at least 12 years, after the country closed its borders to contain the pandemic.
Areas that need immediate improvement include visas and regulations that prevent Thailand from gaining more value from foreigners and foreign workers, Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said in a March speech that was posted recently on the central bank’s website.
Other points from the interview with Chayotid:
“If we don’t fix this now, it will be too late to upgrade our investment,” Chayotid said. “We don’t want to be left behind and die with old technology.”
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.