HCMC-based company signs Japan partner deal

The Japan Pile Corp has entered a strategic partnership with local firm Phan Vu Investment Corp, concluding its contract in Ho Chi Minh City.

The deal value, however, was not disclosed.

Under the contract, the Japanese company, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, will become a shareholder in Phan Vu (PVI) with a 5-percent stake. It will be the first foreign institutional investor of PVI.

According to PVI's deputy general director Vo Thi Hien, her company has a charter capital of VND150 billion (US$75.5 million).

Last year it earned a net profit of almost VND60 billion from a turnover of VND690 billion.

As PVI's operations also include the pile foundation business, the Japanese partner will cooperate to create new pile products for the Vietnam market, including those with an anti-earthquake feature.

It will also assist in the management of the holding company model.

In the fourth quarter, Japan Pile Corp will organize training courses for PVI staff in Vietnam and receive trainees in Japan as well.

The Phan Vu Investment Corp is expected to list in the HCM Stock Exchange in the fourth quarter this year.

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Murdoch: Global economy is still not out of turmoil

NEW YORK - News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said the global economy is still in an uncertain state and the media industry is going through a fundamental transformation that is unpredictable

"I do not believe we are out of the turmoil yet. Sovereign debt pressures, soaring deficits and unacceptable U.S. unemployment levels are key obstacles to the global economic recovery," said Murdoch in a letter to shareholders in his company's annual report published on Thursday.

"Others may see more positive signs, but I believe until these issues are addressed, markets, governments, currencies and consumer behavior will be unpredictable," he said.

Murdoch was bullish about how his company, which owns the Fox TV networks, newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and Hollywood studio Twentieth Century Fox, had navigated both the difficult economic environment and threat to traditional content business models by new Web-based services from companies like Netflix Inc and Apple Inc.

He highlighted successes for the company including convincing cable operators to pay retransmission fees for its free-to-air Fox broadcast networks and the record-breaking 3D movie Avatar, now the biggest-selling movie of all time.

"I am only half joking when I wonder if there is anyone left on this planet who has yet to see Avatar," he said in the letter.

Murdoch described the 700 pence per share offer for the 61 percent of BSkyB it does not already own as "attractive" and a "logical and disciplined plan."

Under Murdoch's drive News Corp units have been pushing to seek new business models which embrace technology like e-readers and tablets like Apple's iPad.

News Corp's Fox and Walt Disney Co's ABC broke with other major TV studios on Wednesday to strike a deal to launch a new 99-cent rental service for Apple TV.

"Companies that do not innovate will struggle to survive," wrote Murdoch. "They will be digitally disoriented, quickly losing touch with their customers, who will be more technologically literate than those who seek to provide them with services and products."

 

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