WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2020

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Cybersecurity backbone of digitisation: ExpertsVodafone Qatar is actively pursuing the implementation of a high-speed 5G technology in the country.

BUSINESS | 02Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Al Thani CEO of Vodafone Qatar

Business

Qatar banks’ solid capital buffers will continue to support them as asset quality deteriorates.

Qatari banks’ profitability stays strong: Moody’sTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

Qatari banks’ total income rose by 6 percent to QR21.4bn in the first half of 2020 from the same period a year earlier, driven by a 4 percent increase in net interest income and a 14 percent increase in non-interest income.

The banks’ solid capital buffers will continue to support them as asset quality deterio-rates. And while there is pressure on profitability from the coronavirus outbreak and lower oil prices, Qatari banks continue to have strong income generating capability despite higher provisioning costs related to the coronavirus outbreak, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report yesterday. Moody’s

expects total income to be lower in the second half due to lower business volumes. Loan-loss provisioning costs rose to 26 percent of pre-provision income in the first half of 2020, from 17 percent a year earlier.

“We expect provisions to rise further, reflecting problem loan formation as weaker eco-nomic activity makes it harder

for borrowers to meet their repayments, particularly in the real estate, construction and contracting sectors. However, the banks’ large exposure to the strongly rated Qatar sovereign will shield overall loan per-formance to a large extent,” said Nitish Bhojnagarwala, VP-Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s.

The report highllighted that the Qatari banks preserved their capital buffers this year, sup-ported by strong earnings and lower dividend payout ratios.

Those solid buffers will continue to support banks as they face deteriorating asset quality and pressure on profit-ability from the coronavirus outbreak and lower oil prices.

Italian startup aims to help digitalise Qatari amateur football clubsLANI ROSE R DIZON THE PENINSULA

As organisations around the world accelerate their digital transformation efforts, an Italian startup has come to Doha seeking to offer its ‘one-stop platform for sport clubs’, and help amateur football clubs digitalise their daily operations and improve their online image. A practical move which the founders say helps increase a club’s revenue, while saving time and money.

“We see that we share the same values with Qatar. We believe that sports is a funda-mental pillar for the society, and a vehicle through which you can spread values and education. In the sportstech industry, most of the focus is towards high-end technology or expensive tech-nology that goes for the few. But

sports is for everybody. So we’re developing simple, needed and scalable technology in order to penetrate the whole market,” said Tommaso Guerra, Co-Founder and CEO of Golee Holding, in an interview with The Peninsula recently.

The startup offers digital solutions for managing all the administrative, financial and sport activities of a club.

It also has an online app which helps coaches manage workouts, as well as monitor the progress and statistics of their athletes. The platform also helps clubs develop their own website to improve their online image, and increase their rev-enues by embarking on e-com-merce where they sell their own merchandise through online stores.

To date, Golee is considered a ‘first mover’ in Italy, and has

developed partnerships with over 400 clubs and 200 coaches. About 150 clubs also sell their merchandise with the Golee store, while 100 clubs are now online with the Golee web.

The startup, which is also part of the second cohort of the Qatar SportsTech’s (QST) accel-eration programme, chose Qatar as their first foreign market to explore, with plans of expanding regionally and internationally.

“We launched in Italy in 2018 and have a partnership with the Federation Italy. We want to consolidate the Italian market, because we’re talking about 13,000 clubs for football only in Italy. We’re now planning to expand interna-tionally. And the first market that we want to expand to is Qatar, especially with the investments Qatar is doing in

sports. On digitalisation of the sports sector, Qatar has a really strong view on how to give this tool to the sports community. And we want to be a partner for digital tools and digital infra-structure in the sports eco-system,” added Felice Biancardi, Co-Founder and Head of Sales and Partnerships at Golee.

According to Guerra, the company has been in touch with the Qatar Stars League, and eyes partnerships with the Qatar Football Federation and the Aspire Academy.

“The World Cup is one of the first reasons why we wanted to come to Qatar. In a couple of years we will be in the centre of the football world. That’s where we belong. And we’re working to close the gap between the amateur and the professional clubs,” Guerra said.

According to a study

conducted by PwC, adoption of a data culture within a club’s organisation is key to main-taining a competitive edge in the age of highly demanding digital natives. It added that the digital wave has already impacted every function within the football clubs, with each developing its own digital solu-tions to optimise revenues and

operations. Merchandising is boosting operations and rolling out integrated digital supply chain across physical points of sale and online, while boosting the ability to personalise products. Club websites and mobile applications are also becoming more sophisticated in their distribution of text, data, video and image content.

Tommaso Guerra (left), Co-Founder and CEO of Golee Holding, and Felice Biancardi, Co-Founder and Head of Sales and Partnerships at Golee during an interview with The Peninsula in Doha, recently.

Commercial Bank launches $500m bondTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

Commercial Bank, Qatar’s first private bank, has suc-cessfully launched a senior unsecured five-year bond worth $500M at a new price benchmark. The transaction was launched at the set spread of +175 bps over 5-year Mid Swaps and priced at a coupon rate of 2.00 percent and yield of 2.083 percent . The issue was also oversub-scribed 3.8x.

This transaction marked CBQ’s successful return to the US dollar public markets since 2018 and effectively repriced CBQ’s funding curve down.

Joseph Abraham, Group Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Bank attributed the success to very positive views from investors on Qatar’s strong economy and fiscal buffers, and the strength of Qatar’s banking system.

Investors have positively viewed the strong execution of CBQ’s five-year strategy which has significantly improved the performance of the Bank.

Some of the highlights of the transaction include: neg-ative 15bps new issue premium with Fair Value (FV) calculated at +190bps ahead of book-building based on the trading levels of CB 2023s; at 2.083 percent yield and 2.000 percent coupon, CBQ regis-tered the lowest funding levels achieved on a US dollar public transaction.

This is also the second lowest coupon ever achieved by a Qatari FI issuer on a public transaction. Impressive 40bps compression on the day with very little impact to the final order book. This rep-resents the biggest tightening on a conventional senior FI GCC bond since 2019.

Despite a busy market and two previous Qatari FI issuances in as many weeks, CBQ was able to attract close to 140 investors with very few dropping despite strong price revisions. Order book of $2.3bn before final book standing at $1.9bn, reflecting an 3.8x oversubscription despite the price tightening during the book build.

Number of operating factories in Qatar’s industrial sector rises to 915THE PENINSULA - DOHA

Qatar’s industrial sector has witnessed an increase in the number of operating factories to 915 as of September. Foreign investors may tap into the country’s infrastructure projects related to the FIFA World Cup 2022 and as well as opportunities in a thriving industrial sector, Undersec-retary of the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry, Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater, said yesterday.

He was chairing the digital session on commercial coop-eration which was held within the framework of the third Qatar-US strategic dialogue.

During the event, Al Khater called for further bilateral cooperation to address the current economic challenges, and said he looked forward to organising the second Eco-nomic Roadshow in the US.

He added that Qatari, US trade relations have gained considerable momentum since the signing of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in 2004, with total trade now eight times more than it was 16 years ago

and twice the value of 2017. The session was also co-

chaired by Ian Steff, Assistant Secretary for Global Markets and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service and Peter Haas, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Eco-nomic and Business Affairs, and attended by a number of dip-lomats, ambassadors, senior

officials and representatives of various governmental bodies and agencies from both countries.

Speaking about bilateral investments between both countries, Al Khater said US firms are increasingly active in Doha, noting that American companies have been operating in Qatar for decades, and have been critical partners in the

nation’s development.He also lauded the

agreement signed between Widam Food Company and Tyson Fresh Meats for sup-plying protein in the global food and agribusiness sector, saying it represents an important step and provides an example of the rewarding cooperation between Qatar and the US. �P3

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater (centre), chairing the digital session on commercial cooperation which was held within the framework of the third Qatar-US Strategic Dialogue, yesterday.

This file photo shows a man walking across the Grand Hamad Street, also known as the ‘Bank Street’ in Doha, Qatar.

02 WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2020BUSINESS

In its decision, the WTO’s dispute settlement body ruled against the US government’s argument that China has wrongly engaged in practices harmful to US interests on issues including intellectual property theft and technology transfer.

Most of the panellists highlighted that with the dynamically evolving market conditions, it is essential that organizations, world over, recognize the need for digital divergence and build capabilities to cope with exponential changes.

From September 22, flights to and from Phnom Penh and Vientiane will also begin again, the statement said.

Cybersecurity backbone of digitisation: ExpertsMOHAMMAD SHOEBTHE PENINSULA

Keeping in view the fast pace of digital transformation and changing patterns in the way daily business and economic activities are conducted by org-nanistions, ensuring cyber security has become inevitable and of paramount importance to minimize the risks involved to emerging digital economies, including Qatar, noted a panel of experts at an event yesterday.

Most of the panellists high-lighted that with the dynami-cally evolving market condi-tions, it is essential that organ-izations, world over, recognize the need for digital divergence and build capabilities to cope with exponential changes.

Experts from the IT industry were speaking at an interactive webinar titled ‘Digital divergence and Exponential Change’ - Build resilience, promote restructuring, hosted by Doha Bank.

The event ‘Secure Digital’ touched upon the paramount importance of digital identity, network and cyber security, emerging digital economy and the pertinent need to manage the inherent risks associated with “new normal”.

Proficient business and technology leaders from top notch international organiza-tions joined the event as pan-elists for the webinar. The pan-elists shared interesting views on digital security and on how building relevant capabilities can help us address technology risks and vulnerabilities asso-ciated with it whilst accelerating business growth.

The CEO of Doha Bank, Dr.

R Seetharaman, in his intro-ductory note, thanked the elite panelists for their thought lead-ership on such an important topic. CEO, Doha Bank reit-erated the importance of digital security in the current times where social governance was at stake and how prolific, the Qatari government was at responding to dynamic envi-ronment keeping trust, trans-parency and truth at the helm. He gave insight on state of cybersecurity on account of artificial intelligence, supply chain collaborations, threat to public cloud from malware and password less technology. In the Gulf region, malware attacks were one of the biggest cyber threats in 2019. There is increased exposed to cyber risks from digital transformation. Omar Sherin, Partner , Tech-nology Practice, EY, took the audience through his views on digital commerce and secure digital economy, how people, processes and technologies are interconnected and involved in

building a meaningful and secure economy. His views on building a secure Cyber eco-system with reference to the upcoming FIFA 2022 in Qatar was very well received.

Sherin, during his talk, explained his views on the importance of prevention, detection and response to a security event and how there is a pressing demand to revise the existing IT and information security regulations to be rel-evant. While is it important to be at the driver’s seat of the speed of innovation engine, it is equally important to focus on the security aspects, both from a provider and consumer perspective.

Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Al Thani, CEO of Vodafone Qatar, gave an impactful talk on how Vodafone Qatar is enabling

digital transformation using future ready networks.

His thought-leadership address on enabling innovative, future-proof connectivity & security to meet business demands was commendable. Sheikh Hamad, took the audience through his vision of how advanced network tech-nologies can improve living standards and its substantial dependence for a safe tomorrow.

Vodafone Qatar is actively pursuing the implementation of a high-speed 5G technology in the country which amongst others will enable “machine to machine” communication that will transform the way machines communicate with humans.

This was followed by views from the next speaker Lell Fell,

Senior Executive Partner, Gartner, who spoke at length on the hyper-awareness of oppor-tunities and threats in the digital world. He spoke about the plethora of prospects available for users and vulnerabilities associated with digitization especially in a world post the covid-19 pandemic.

Lell pointed out that “Resil-ience and Recovery are King..” and the COVID-19 is acting a catalyst for change in many of the organization worldwide.

Other speakers at the event included Global Account Manager, Financial Services Industry, Microsoft, Alaa Ajweh; Abhik Goswami, Chief Risk Officer, Doha Bank; and Ravi Baldev, Manager Sys Eng.- DPS & Cyber Recovery Systems, DELL who also highlighted the significance of data security.

Sheikh Hamad Abdulla Al Thani, CEO of Vodafone Qatar (centre, second row); Dr. R Seetharaman (top left), CEO of Doha Bank, and other panellists during the webinar hosted by Doha Bank, yesterday.

Ahlibank expands its 'Credit Card Pearl Rewards Programme'

THE PENINSULA - DOHA

Ahlibank, a leading Qatari-owned financial institution, has announced the addition of new partners to its Credit Card Pearl Rewards Pro-gramme. The new outlets includes fashion, F&B and lifestyle retail stores. Ahlibank Credit Card holders will be able to redeem Pearl Points for reward vouchers for pur-chases from these different outlets.

The new outlets include global brands such as: Virgin Mega Store, Massimo Dutti, Boggi, Zara Home, Oculis in addition to Paul Café, Eataly and many other retail stores. Ahlibank Credit Card holders can redeem their Pearl Points in multiple ways, including digitally through Ahlibank Online or Mobile Banking application, at their nearest Ahlibank branch, or by calling the Contact Centre on +974 4420 5222.

Ahlibank’s Deputy CEO - Business Support, Services & Human Recourses, Mohamed Al Namla, said, “We are pleased to add new outlets to our Credit Card Pearl Rewards Programme. This partnership is part of our plan to add exceptional international brands as our partners; making our Pearl Rewards Programme more valuable, diversified and meeting all our customers’ needs.”

Vietnam to resume commercial flights from some international destinations AFP - HANOI

Vietnam said yesterday it will resume international com-mercial flights to and from six Asian destinations, months after a suspension due to the coronavirus.

The communist nation of 95 million people has been widely lauded for its handling of the pandemic and went nearly 100 days without recording a locally transmitted infection until July.

An outbreak that month in the beach resort of Danang put the country back on high alert, but it has once again gone almost two weeks without a locally transmitted case.

According to a statement on a government website, flights in and out of the southern Chinese

city of Guangzhou, Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei resumed yesterday.

From September 22, flights to and from Phnom Penh and Vientiane will also begin again, the statement said.

However, those allowed to buy tickets will be limited to Vietnamese citizens, diplomats, foreign experts, investors, man-agers and their families.

Anyone coming in will have to take a COVID-19 test before

boarding and on arrival. Vietnam suspended inter-

national commercial flights to and from China in February as COVID-19 quickly spread across the country. Most other inter-national destinations were included in the suspension by March. A small number of foreign diplomats and business people have been allowed to enter Vietnam on repatriation and chartered flights, but were subject to a strict two-week quarantine in state facilities or in a government-chosen hotel.

The government is now considering whether to shorten the quarantine period, the statement said. The announcement came as Hanoi authorities said they would allow clubs and karaoke

parlours to reopen from today after they were forced to close for the second time during the

Danang outbreak. Vietnam has reported just 1,063 cases and 35 deaths after an aggressive public

health response involving mass quarantines and a robust track-and-trace regime.

A staff in full protective gear sanitizing the airstair of a Vietnam Airlines plane at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Vietnam in this recent photo.

US tariffs on Chinese goods illegal: WTOAP - GENEVA

A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel ruled yesterday that Trump administration tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods are illegal, vindi-cating Beijing even if the United States has all but incapacitated the WTO’s ability to hand down a final, binding verdict.

The decision marks the first time that the Geneva-based trade body has ruled against a series of high-profile tariffs that President Donald Trump’s gov-ernment has imposed on a number of countries - allies and rivals alike. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the WTO treats the US unfairly.

In its decision, the WTO’s dispute settlement body ruled against the US government’s argument that China has wrongly engaged in practices harmful to US interests on issues including intellectual property theft and technology transfer.

The ruling, in theory, would allow China to impose retali-atory tariffs on billions’ worth of US goods. But it is unlikely to have much practical impact, at least in the short term, because the US can appeal the decision and the WTO’s appeals court is currently no longer functioning - largely because of Washing-ton’s single-handed refusal to accept new members for it.

The appeals court issues

final rulings in trade cases and stopped functioning last year when the terms of two of its last three judges expired with no replacements. That means the United States can appeal the decision “into the void,’’ said Timothy Keeler, a lawyer at Mayer Brown and former chief of staff for the US Trade Representative.

“This panel report confirms what the Trump administration has been saying for four years: The WTO is completely inade-quate to stop China’s harmful technology practices,” said US trade representative Robert Lighthizer in a statement. He said the US had presented “extensive evidence” of China’s intellectual property theft and the WTO has offered no fixes for it.

“The United States must be

allowed to defend itself against unfair trade practices, and the Trump administration will not let China use the WTO to take advantage of American workers, businesses, farmers, and ranchers,” he added.

The Chinese ministry of commerce said the ruling was “objective and fair” and called on the US to respect it.

The US tariffs target two batches of Chinese products. Duties of 10 percent were imposed on some $200bn worth of goods in September 2018, and were jacked up to 25 percent eight months later. An additional 25 percent duties were imposed in June 2018 against Chinese goods worth about $34bn in annual trade.

The Trump administration

has justified the sanctions under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, once a common tool used by the US government to impose sanctions - and recently revived by Trump.

The US argued that China’s actions had amounted to “state-sanctioned theft” and “misap-propriation” of US technology, intellectual property and com-mercial secrets.

The WTO panel ruled that the US measures violated long-standing international trade rules because they only applied to products from China, and that Washington had not adequately substantiated its claim that the Chinese products hit with the extra duties had benefited from the allegedly unfair Chinese practices.

A file photo of US trade representative Robert Lighthizer

UK firms hail victory in battleover virus insurance claimsREUTERS - LONDON

London judges have ruled that some of the world’s biggest insurers were wrong to reject tens of thousands of claims from small firms battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said yesterday.

The FCA, which brought the test case against eight insurers, said the court had found in favour of policyholders’ argu-ments on the majority of key issues in a complex, 162-page judgment.

However, some of the insurers said the ruling meant they wouldn’t have to pay out, or would have to pay out much less than modelled in a worse-case scenario, and Britain’s Fed-eration of Small Businesses called the judgement a “partial” victory. The lawsuit has been closely watched because it is estimated to affect 370,000 businesses and billions in insurance claims.

The FCA brought the case against the insurers, including Hiscox, RSA, QBE and Zurich, in June to clarify whether 21 types of business interruption (BI) policy wordings should pay out for closures and disruption caused by the pandemic.

The regulator has estimated the case could affect more than 60 insurers and 700 different

types of policies because many insurance policies have similar wording. It is also being watched overseas, the LIIBA insurance brokers’ trade body said.

Small businesses - from cafes, wedding planners and beauty parlours to events busi-nesses - have said they faced ruin after attempts to claim com-pensation for business losses during the pandemic, which has prompted the most stringent government restrictions in peacetime history, were rejected by insurers.

FCA interim chief executive Christopher Woolard said the judgment was a “significant step” in resolving the uncertainty faced by policyholders and called on insurers to “reflect on the clarity provided”, irrespective of any possible appeal, and con-sider how to progress claims. But the devil was in the detail. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said the judgment “divided evenly” between insurers and policyholders on the main issues.

Zurich Insurance and Eccle-siastical, a smaller insurer, said the judgment confirmed their disputed policies did not need to pay out.

Hiscox said fewer than one third of its 34,000 UK BI policies would have to pay out and that the net cost would be less than £100m ($129m) - compared with initial guidance of up to £250m.

03WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2020 BUSINESS

The region’s gross domestic product will decline by 0.7 percent in 2020, down from June’s projection of an increase of 0.1 percent, the Manila-based bank said in a report yesterday.

The letter calls on European leaders “to avoid the worst effects of climate change and secure a sustainable, competitive economic recovery” by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of this decade.

Asia’s economy to shrink forfirst time since 1960s: ADBBLOOMBERG

Developing Asia’s coronavirus-battered economy will shrink for the first time since the early 1960s, with the level of output next year still seen below pre-pandemic projections even as growth recovers, according to the Asian Development Bank.

The region’s gross domestic product will decline by 0.7 percent in 2020, down from June’s projection of an increase of 0.1 percent, the Manila-based bank said in a report yesterday. A contraction this year would be the first since 1962, Yasuyuki Sawada, the ADB’s chief econ-omist, said in a live-streamed briefing.

“The economic threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic remains potent, as extended first waves or recurring outbreaks could prompt further con-tainment measures,” Sawada said. Downturns across devel-oping Asia are more widespread than previous crises, with three-quarters of economies in the region tipped to shrink this year, he said.

China will buck the trend and is forecast to expand 1.8 percent this year, unchanged from June’s projection, as suc-cessful public health measures provide a springboard for growth, according to the ADB. Growth is forecast to accelerate to 7.7 percent in 2021, up from a previous forecast of 7.4 percent.

In India, where lockdowns have stalled private spending, GDP will shrink by 9 percent this year, sharply down from June’s forecast of -4 percent, the ADB said. There were also big down-grades for the Philippines and Thailand, which are now

projected to contract 7.3 percent and 8 percent respectively.

The downgrades took into account that the pandemic has been “more serious” than

initially anticipated, Sawada said in an interview yesterday with Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin and Yvonne Man.

“Having said that, our baseline assumption is that health risks will be basically contained within this year.” “Large-scale” fiscal stimulus has helped cushion the blow and provides a base for a rebound, Sawada said.

Growth in Developing Asia, a region that excludes advanced nations like Japan, Australia and New Zealand, will rebound to 6.8 percent in 2021, in part because it will be measured against a weak 2020, Sawada said.

That will still leave next

year’s level of GDP below pre-coronavirus projections, implying that the recovery is only “partial” and “not full.” Virus containment “seems to be translated into growth per-formance,” and a prolonged pandemic remains the biggest downside risk this year and the next, he said.

US-China trade tensions and technology conflicts and financial vulnerabilities amid the pandemic also weigh on growth, Sawada said.

Policies focused on pro-tecting lives and livelihoods, and ensuring a safe return to work and restart of businesses, are crucial to ensuring a sustained recovery for the region, he said.

Women walk past in front of the Asian Development Bank’s headquarters in Manila, Philippines.

CEOs call for deep EU emission cuts by 2030AFP – PARIS

The heads of more than 150 global companies, including Apple and Google, have urged European leaders to set a higher target for reducing climate-heating emissions, says the Cambridge Institute for Sustain-ability Leadership (CISL).

A long list of CEOs from some of the world’s largest brands and investors including Microsoft, Ikea, Deutsche Bank, Unilever and H&M signed the letter, said the CISL. The pres-ident of the European Com-mission, Ursula von der Leyen, is due to unveil the 2030 green-house gas emission reduction target in her State of the Union address to the European Par-liament today.

The letter calls on European leaders “to avoid the worst effects of climate change and secure a sustainable, compet-itive economic recovery” by reducing greenhouse gas emis-sions by at least 55 percent by the end of this decade.

Brussels intends to raise its target for cutting EU green-house gas emissions to 55 percent compared with 1990 levels, a European source told AFP on Saturday, compared with the current goal of 40 percent.

The European Commission is pushing a five-year “Green Deal” as part of a strategy to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2050.

It binds the EU’s 27 member states to balance polluting emissions and the removal of greenhouse gases, such as by using carbon capture tech-nology or reforestation, within the next 30 years. It is seen in Brussels as the trigger for an economic revolution that will

make Europe sustainable and meet the targets of the Paris climate accord. But that pro-posal earlier this year stepped back from the commission’s ambition to order countries to cut emissions by 50 percent or even 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.

“From a business and investor perspective, clarity on the net zero transition pathway and timetables for each sector, as well as policy that enables substantial investments in carbon neutral solutions is essential,” the letter from business leaders said.

“This in turn would provide us with the confidence needed to invest decisively at the nec-essary pace and scale to reduce emissions, create decent green jobs, drive innovation, and accelerate the rebuilding of a resilient zero carbon economy.”

The initiative was led by the European Corporate Leaders Group (CLG Europe), presented as “a cross-sectoral group of European businesses working towards delivering climate neutrality”, said the CISL.

Swedish fintech Klarna surpasses $10bn in valuation for first timeAFP – STOCKHOLM

Swedish payment solutions provider Klarna said yesterday it had raised $650m (€547m) in a funding round, putting the estimated value of the company past $10bn for the first time.

Launched in 2005, Klarna now offers an app which pro-vides consumers with an easy platform to shop with retailers, automatically giving them four months to pay for purchases and offering plenty of promotions.

Klarna also offers busi-nesses online payment solu-tions for their proper sites, han-dling both credit card payments and invoices.

Klarna’s app has more than 12 million monthly users worldwide and the firm says it has over 200,000 retail partners.

According to the company, the new “post money valuation of $10.65bn” means Klarna is the highest valued fintech firm in Europe, and fourth worldwide.

Currently operating in 17 countries, the company employs some 3,500 people.

Klarna co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski (pic-tured) said the firm has

benefited from “the context of the current accelerated switch to online retail and evolving consumer preferences” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, having added more than 35,000 new retailers during the first half of 2020.

The company, which says it is planning on going public, lost money for the first time in 2019 due to heavy investments as it sought to expand in the US.

New investors in the latest round of financing include private equity firm Silver Lake and investment management company Blackrock, as well as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

They join credit card behemoth Visa and rapper Snoop Dogg, among others.

China retail sales return to growth, economic recovery continuesAFP - BEIJING

Chinese retail sales rose in August for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic struck, data showed yesterday, as officials try to kickstart the crucial domestic consumer sector to fuel recovery in the world’s number-two economy.

Spending had previously remained sluggish despite China bringing the virus largely under control, with shoppers still cautious owing to global uncertainty, but economists believe the latest data suggests recovery is on a firmer footing.

The key indicator of con-sumer sentiment rose 0.5 percent on-year last month. A poll of analysts by Bloomberg News had forecast no growth.

Beijing has ramped up ini-tiatives such as shopping fes-tivals and voucher campaigns to spur consumer spending.

The latest reading is an improvement on the 1.1 percent drop seen in July and much better than the 20.5 percent plunge suffered in January-February when millions of people were put into lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading.

With external demand expected to remain weak as China’s major trading partners

struggle to contain the disease, China has redoubled efforts to encourage its exporters to target its vast local market instead.

Oxford Economics econ-omist Louis Kuijs said the eco-nomic recovery was “on a rea-sonably firm footing now with solid investment growth, grad-ually recovering consumption momentum and resilient exports”.

Industrial output, which has recovered more quickly than retail, strengthened further, rising 5.6 percent, which also

beat forecasts and improved on July’s 4.8 percent increase.

Julian Evans-Pritchard from Capital Economics said that with fiscal spending set to be ramped up and a revival in con-sumer confidence, China’s economy was on track to return to its pre-virus growth rate before the end of the year.

Yesterday, National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Fu Linghui (pictured) told reporters that China’s economy had a “sustained steady recovery”.

But he cautioned that with “mounting uncertainties”

internationally and “pro-nounced domestic structural problems, there remains huge pressure to keep employment and businesses stable, and to s a f e g u a r d p e o p l e ’ s livelihood”.

The urban unemployment rate, a cause for concern given China’s large number of fresh graduates, inched down to 5.6 percent.

Analysts have warned that the real level of unemployment is likely higher than official numbers suggest, with smaller businesses hit hard by the virus fallout. Despite the stronger data in August, Nomura chief China economist Lu Ting cau-tioned that rising US-China ten-sions could hit exports and manufacturing investment.

Although tensions with the US have escalated on various fronts, top negotiators from Washington and Beijing have been pushing ahead with a partial trade deal signed in January, which marked a truce in a long-running and bruising trade war.

And China’s customs tariff commission said yesterday it would extend a year-long exemption of 16 categories of products from US tariffs, ranging from seafood products to anti-cancer drugs.

A file photo of Fu Linghui, spokesman of China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

FROM BUSINESS PAGE 1

Touching on the reforms that Qatar has undertaken in recent years to bolster its investment environment, he said the country has been able to rapidly diversify local and global supply chains while stepping up efforts to improve its logistics networks to become one of the most advanced digital and logistical systems worldwide, connecting companies to global supply chains through advanced com-munications and transportation infrastructure.

He added that Qatar has managed to maintain a resilient, diversified and globally

connected economy, offering US investors key incentives to tap the Qatari market.

Touching on Qatar’s legis-lative environment, Al Khater said the government has been keen on developing laws and reg-ulations that incentivise invest-ments. These include the law reg-ulating the investment of non-Qatari capital in economic activity, which allows foreign investors up to 100 percent own-ership in various sectors and eco-nomic activities, in addition to many other competitive advan-tages such as the freedom to transfer profits in any convertible currency. He added that Qatar has established an Investment

Promotion Agency to streamline procedures and provide support

to foreign investors, including US companies that may benefit from

various investment opportunities in Qatar.

In line with its long-term eco-nomic diversification strategy, Al Khater said Qatar seeks to bolster its private sector. In this context, a law was issued regulating the partnership between private and public sectors. He noted that the law empowers the private sector to tap key opportunities fueled by Qatar’s growth and development.

Al Khater went on to reiterate Qatar’s keenness to strengthen cooperation with the US, partic-ularly in the development of nec-essary frameworks to protect intellectual property and provide guarantees for investors.

He added that Qatar was also seeking to explore new investment opportunities that benefit the economies of both countries, including potential investments in US infrastructure projects. In his closing remarks, Al Khater said Qatar and the US have achieved a great deal since the launch of the Strategic Dia-logue three years ago, adding that Qatar looks forward to capital-ising on these special ties to explore the full spectrum of available business and investment opportunities, and to enhance its cooperation with the US across an array of sectors, despite the economic challenges that the world is currently facing.

Number of operating factories in Qatar’s industrial sector rises to 915

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater, speaking during the virtual meeting yesterday.

04 WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2020BUSINESS

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 9,892.54 +0.20 %

QE Total Return Index 19,018.09 +0.20 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic

Index - Price 2,327.60 +0.01 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 4,152.37 +0.01 %

QE All Share Index 3,060.58 +0.37 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 4,058.51 +0.41 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,051.52 +0.99 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,836.04 -0.03 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,963.17 -1.55 %

QE All Share Insurance 2,105.52 -0.72 %

QE All Share Telecoms 895.06 +0.49 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 8,104.67 +0.69 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

15-09-2020Index 9,892.54Change +19.68% +0.20%YTD% -5.11Volume 391,802,933Value (QAR) 685,712,231.96Trades 12,882Up 21 | Down 25 | Unchanged 02

14-09-2020Index 9,872.86Change -5.27% -0.05%YTD% -5.30Volume 433,677,455Value (QAR) 739,265,363.90Trades 11,416

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR228.02 grammeSILVER QR3.14576 per gramme

Currency Buying (QAR) Selling (QAR)

US$ 3.6305 3.6500

Pound Sterlig 4.590002 4.990002

Swiss Frnac 3.940001 4.210001

Japanese yen 0.032450 0.03945

Australian Dollar 2.590003 2.840003

Canadian Dollar 2.640002 3.050002

Indian Rupee 0.048911 0.058476

Pakistan Rupee 0.020962 0.026462

Philipine Peso 0.073795 0.081395

Bangala Takka 0.041214 0.047014

Sri lanka Rupee 0.019338 0.023838

Nepalese Rupee 0.029137 0.036287

Indonesian Rupiah 0.000240 0.000300

Euro 4.250001 4.620001

Ghosn’s former aide Greg Kellypleads not guilty as trial opensAFP — TOKYO

Greg Kelly, a former aide to Nissan’s former chief Carlos Ghosn, pleaded not guilty yesterday to allegations of financial misconduct as his trial began in Tokyo.

Ghosn is at large as an inter-national fugitive, after jumping bail and fleeing Japan for Lebanon last year, leaving Kelly the only person facing trial in the rollercoaster saga.

American Kelly pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges he conspired to under-report tens of millions of dollars in pay that Ghosn was allegedly promised after his retirement.

“I deny the allegations. I was not involved in a criminal con-spiracy,” Kelly said.

The trial, expected to last around 10 months, centres around the question of whether Kelly and Nissan between 2010 and 2018 illegally concealed pay-ments of around 9.2bn yen promised to Ghosn on retirement.

Nissan, which is on trial alongside Kelly, says they did, and pleaded guilty yesterday.

In a statement issued sepa-rately, it said it takes its indictment “very seriously,” adding there was “substantial

and convincing evidence” of misconduct by Kelly and Ghosn.

“The facts surrounding the misconduct will be shown during the court proceedings and the law will take its course,” it added.

Kelly, who faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, has consistently denied any wrong-doing, arguing, as does Ghosn, that no final agreement was made on any post-retirement pay and therefore no disclosure was legally required.

Kelly, who turned 64 yes-terday, entered the court dressed in a dark suit and red striped tie, and wearing a surgical mask. He declined to speak to media gathered outside.

Inside the courtroom, he described Ghosn as an “extraor-dinary executive” who brought Nissan back from the brink of bankruptcy and was considered a “retention risk” because rules introduced in Japan from 2010 limited executive pay.

He said various options for

additional pay to Ghosn were considered, and he “took it for granted” that any compensation would be lawful. “The evidence will show I did not break the law,” Kelly added.

Nissan and Japanese prose-cutors disagree, arguing they have evidence that future payments were pledged to Ghosn and therefore should have been dis-closed in the firm’s financial filings as required by Japanese law.

In court yesterday, prose-cutors cited a 2011 document they said states in writing that Nissan would pay Ghosn more than his official salary, calling it “postponed compensation”.

It included the actual amount he was paid, as well as other compensation that “would be certainly be paid to Mr. Ghosn”, they said.

Prosecutors have amassed a vast trove of documents, only a small portion of which the defence have been given so far, according to Kelly’s lawyers.

His defence team told AFP they agreed to move to trial despite that, arguing they had “no choice” because Kelly, who has been out on bail in Tokyo since December 2018, was separated from most of his family while he waited for his case to go to court.

Kraft plans $2bn in cost cuts in return to core tacticBLOOMBERG

Kraft Heinz is returning to its tried-and-true cost-cutting strategy as the packaged-food giant looks to beef up its long-term financial position.

The company will target $2bn in savings over the next five years by focusing on pro-curement, manufacturing and logistics, according to a pres-entation released ahead of its investor day.

As part of what it’s calling a “strategic transformation plan,” Kraft is now targeting organic net sales growth of 1 percent to 2 percent. The ketchup-maker is also expecting long-term adjusted EPS expansion of 4 percent to 6 percent.

“We are committed to returning Kraft Heinz to con-sistent growth on both the top and bottom lines,” Chief Financial Officer Paulo Basilio (pictured) said in a statement.

The company also updated its third quarter outlook, with organic net sales growth expected in the mid-single digits due to stronger-than-expected business momentum. Kraft aims to reduce net lev-erage by the end of 2020.

Last quarter, Kraft’s net sales beat the highest analyst estimates as the company held onto customers who flocked to

packaged-food staples during Covid-19 lockdowns. Three-quarters of new customers made repeat purchases.

A renewed focus on cost-cutting reads like a return to normal operating procedure for Kraft Heinz, which was created in a 2015 merger orchestrated by Warren Buffett and 3G Capital. Traditionally, 3G’s managers were known more for reducing expenses than nurturing brands, and after merging H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foods, the then-CEO slashed nearly $2bn in costs at the com-bined company.

When the cutting slowed, the spotlight turned to the com-pany’s struggle to grow sales with a portfolio of food brands that was largely considered out-of-step with modern tastes. However, the pandemic reignited consumer interest in comfort staples like Oscar Mayer lunch meats and Kraft macaroni and cheese, giving it a boost during lockdowns.

Greg Kelly, former representative director of Nissan Motor, arrives for the first trial hearing at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo, Japan, yesterday.

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Dow Jones Industrial Average 28,060.49 67.16 0.24%

.S&P 500 3,405.08 21.54 0.64%

FTSE 100 Index 6,105.54 79.29 1.32%

DAX Index 13,217.67 24.01 0.18%

CAC 40 Index 5,067.93 16.05 0.32%

Nikkei Stock Average 225 23,454.89 -104.41 -0.44%

Hang Seng Index 24,732.76 92.48 0.38%

Shanghai Composite Index 3,295.68 16.87 0.51%

All Ordinaries Index 6,079.30 0.8 0.01%