Category: Economy

French aerospace major Safran announced its decision to institute its first and biggest aircraft engine MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) facility in Hyderabad.

The facility requires an investment of Rs 1200 crore ($150 million) and is expected to create nearly 1,000 high-skilled jobs in Telangana. The MRO will also significantly promote the Hyderabad International Airport and the Telangana Aviation ecosystem.

KT Rama Rao, Telangana Minister, welcomed the Safran group’s decision to choose Hyderabad for its mega airplane engine, MRO.

The MRO facility in Hyderabad will conduct a thorough examination of their market-leading LEAP 1A and Leap 1B aero-engines used by Indian and foreign commercial airlines. As per reports, this will also be the largest MRO Shop on the Safran aircraft engine MRO network globally.

This top-class engine MRO facility is expected to hugely boost the local aerospace manufacturing ecosystem and has the potential to lure more investments and make way for high-value jobs in the state.

Safran has recently built two mega aerospace projects in Hyderabad. The Safran electrical and power factory manufactures engine wire harnesses, and the Safran aircraft engine factory produces vital aero-engine parts for LEAP engines.

On Friday, the South Korean government removed tariffs on some food imports and increased welfare support for low-income earners announcing measures valued at $873 million to ease people’s living costs.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the current economic conditions an emergency and ordered his administration to take all feasible measures to reduce the strain on people’s means of subsistence. The government is reaffirming its bet on the central bank to raise the policy rate by 50 basis points at its next meeting.

These measures will include the removal of tariffs on beef and chicken imports and quotas on post imports. The finance minister said the measure might cost 330 billion in savings for later this year. The policy may need 330 billion in savings for later this year, according to the finance minister.

Meanwhile, economists claim these measures will deal with the effect of inflation rather than find the cause of it. This could lead to a lessened effect on inflation.

The economist at the HI Investment & Securities Park Sang-Hyun, said, “There would be a very limited effect, if any, on the price movement as these are targeted steps on the living cost and for a specific group of people.”

In June, the nation touched its highest inflation since the last Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

The Indian services sector grew at its fastest pace in more than eleven years in June, according to the S&P Global India services PMI. Despite strong demand, persistent inflation remains a concern as prices soared at their most rapid rate in almost five years.

During the month of June, the S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index increased from 58.9 to 59.2, reaching its highest level since April 2011. The difference between expansion and contraction is 50 points or more.

Stronger than expected, the S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index was at 58.2, down from 58.3 throughout May. The manufacturing PMI hit a 9-month low in June, according to prior data.

The new orders sub-index reached its best level since February 2011 thanks to a substantial uptick in increased demand, higher sales, and a favorable economic climate that put it over breakeven again for the eleventh consecutive month. Despite dropping to a three-month low in June, input price inflation stayed higher than average due to increased prices for chemicals, food, and gasoline.

Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence said, “Demand for service improved, supporting a robust economic expansion for the sector over the first quarter of social yeat 2022/23 and setting the scene for another substantial upturn in output next month”.

On Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the Adly Mansour Transportation Hub in east Cairo. Kamel al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, provided President Abdel Fattah with a detailed explanation of the station and inspected an electric train at the Adly Mansour station.

The Adly Mansour Transportation Hub is the largest in the Middle East and is designed as a central interchange station. It will include an integrated service transportation complex along with a commercial investment area on 15 acres.

In terms of accomplishment, Adly Mansour station is the first metro station in history to be built entirely by Egyptians through Egyptian companies.

Five different modes of transportation are available at the station, including a metro station on the 3rd subway line, an electric train station (Adly Mansour – the New Administrative Capital – the 10th of Ramadan), a railway station (Cairo / Suez), an airport shuttle station, and a superjet station.

There are approximately 7.5 kilometers of overhead stations in the project, starting at Nozha Station 1 in the Gesr al-Suez area, passing through Hisham Barakat and Quba stations, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, and Huckstep stations, all the way to Adly Mansour station.

Indonesian officials claim that they are hopeful of boosting the country’s exports to the Middle East after the signing of a new economic pact with the UAE.

Indonesia’s Trade Minister Zulfikli Hasan and UAE Economy Minister Abdullah bin Touq Al-Marri signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement on Friday in Abu Dhabi. This is Indonesia’s first such agreement with a Gulf country and the UAE’s first with a Southeast Asian nation. In September 2021, both countries had discussed ways to eliminate tariffs and boost bilateral investment.

According to data from Indonesia’s Trade Ministry, trade between both countries reached almost $4 billion in 2021, a 38 percent increase from the previous year, when it was worth $2.9 billion.

After the implementation of the the deal, the new agreement will hopefully augment Indonesian exports to the UAE by 54 percent, or about $844 million, in the coming ten years. This is largely due to the exemption of nearly 94 percent of existing tariffs. Indonesia mainly exports jewelry, palm oil, and motorized vehicles to the UAE.

“This agreement will be Indonesia’s entryway to the UAE, which is a hub to increase exports to non-traditional export destinations in the Gulf, Middle East,” Hasan said in a statement issued on Friday.

France and Australia, India’s main partners in the Indo-Pacific region, have suggested restoring the trilateral involving New Delhi to secure and maintain the Indian Ocean Region at a time of worries over China’s assertive behavior. This happened on Friday during the new Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Paris.

Earlier this year, the trilateral did not get active consideration or development after France got frightened following Australia’s decision to dump the submarine deal and launch AUKUS to obtain nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the US and UK.

Australian Prime Minister hailed the “new start” in relations with France as he met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday. Admitting the challenging times. Macron emphasized the strategic partnership between both countries, their common European war history, and their collaborative efforts in bringing stability to the Pacific region.

 Allies France and Australia developed a split after the previous Australian PM, Scott Morrison, worked out secretly to buy submarines made by the US and discarded an Aus$50 billion (33 billion euros) submarine contract signed with France in 2016.

A joint statement issued on Friday after talks between the leaders of Australia and France said, “Australia and France will shape a new defense relationship and strengthen our collaboration and exchange on shared security interests, including through operational engagement and intelligence sharing,”.

The board of the World Bank on Thursday approved the creation of a fund intending to finance investments in building the fight against pandemics.

The fund will support prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR), with the focal point being on low- and middle-income countries, the bank said in a statement.

“The devastating human, economic, and social cost of Covid-19 has highlighted the urgent need for coordinated action to build stronger health systems and mobilize additional resources,” it said.

The World Bank also said that the fund, which they plan to start later this year, was developed under the guidance of the United States, Italy, and Indonesia as part of their G20 presidencies, and with far-fledged support from the G20.

World Bank President David Malpass said in the statement.”The World Bank is the largest provider of financing for PPR with active operations in over 100 developing countries to strengthen their health systems,”

The W.H. O is a stakeholder in the project and will render technical skills, its president Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

A World Bank spokesperson told AFP that if the Covid-19 pandemic is persisting when the fund is implemented, it could provide support against the existing as well as future pandemics.

On Thursday, on the second and last day of OPEC+ meetings, the top sources suggest it is doubtful that the group would vote soon to continue pumping barrels into the market after August.

OPEC+ increased its monthly output target for July and August from 432,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 648,000 bpd at its most recent meeting in early June. An advisory Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee will meet at 1100 GMT, followed by a full OPEC+ meeting.

Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch issued a report stating, “Confirmation of this is likely to be more formality today. What is more important is what will happen next”. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus allies such as Russia form OPEC+.

Following months of Western pressure on OPEC+, Washington welcomed the decision by producers in June. Following sanctions imposed by the West on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24, “special military operations,” Moscow called the invasion “a special military operation”.

Five OPEC+ delegates said Thursday’s meeting would focus on confirming output policies for August rather than discussing September.

According to two more OPEC+ delegates, the issue of production after August could emerge, but it is unclear what steps can be taken.

On Sunday, India and Bangladesh explored their cooperation in their partnership to develop areas of Artificial intelligence, Cyber Security, startups, and Fintech. They further aim to expand their ties in the railway sector along with cross-border river management and conservation.

India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar met with his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen at the 7th Joint Consultative Commission meeting where the decision was taken.

Mr. Jaishankar said that the nations are looking forward to working together and taking ties to new domains in AI, cyber security, and startups. He further added that they are pleased to receive ICT Minister and had a good visit by the railway minister recently. The nations will focus on expanding their cooperation on the up-gradation of their railway system.

As part of this commitment to climate action, the management of their 54 rivers and their conservation, and their shared environmental responsibilities, particularly around the Sundarbans, will be the key focus of the nations to tackle together.

During the discussions, border management was also on the agenda as a key item. In order to keep the border safe, the nation’s Border Guarding Forces will continue to work together to combat trans-border crimes.

In a quest to look for an alternative source of energy, the European Union signed an agreement with Egypt and Israel. The trilateral Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Wednesday with the aim to export natural gas to European nations.

The deal was signed in Cairo in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It will help reduce the bloc’s energy dependence on Russian supplies and will aim to build infrastructure among the three parties.

During a joint briefing, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “What a special moment, fit for renewable-the energy of the future”. Meanwhile, the EU issued a statement saying, “Natural gas from Israel, Egypt, and other sources in the Eastern Mediterranean region will be shipped to Europe via Egpyt’s LNG (liquid natural gas) export infrastructure.

The EU would do this to meet its “long-term decarbonization objectives” and do so via market-related prices. In return, Egypt and Israel would increase their gas production and exploration in their respective territorial waters.

Around 40 percent of the EU’s gas was imported from Russia last year. In response to the invasion of Ukraine, the EU began seeking alternative sources of energy.