South Korea recorded its worst growth in more than two decades in 2020, the central bank said Tuesday, but it is expected to be among the best-performing OECD economies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The country's gross domestic product contracted 1.0 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, the Bank of Korea said, citing weak private spending and exports. It marks the worst annual growth since 1998, when the South Korean economy shrank 5.1 percent in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. Still, South Korea is expected to be among the countries in the OECD group of developed economies least affected by the pandemic in 2020. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the South's economy -- the world's 12th-largest -- grew 1.1 percent from the previous quarter, data showed, marking a second consecutive quarter of growth amid the pandemic. The central bank said exports expanded 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, offsetting a slump in private consumption due … [Read more...] about South Korea posts worst growth in two decades
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Avnet Celebrates 100 Years of Accelerating Technology and Distribution
1921: Avnet was founded by Charles Avnet, a 33-year-old Russian immigrant. 1940s: The company opened its first manufacturing facility to assemble state-of-the-art military antennas--remaining at the forefront of innovation by helping master this technology and condense delivery times to help the U.S. war effort. 1955: Avnet was incorporated. 1956: The company opened its second connector assembly plant near Los Angeles, Calif. 1959: Avnet goes public on the American Stock Exchange as Avnet Electronics Corp. 1965: Avnet purchased Guild Musical Instruments. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the company made guitars and counted The Beatles and Richie Havens among its customers. 1968: Avnet landed on the moon for the second time. The company provided a range of zero-defect components to Hughes Aircraft, which built the Surveyor soft-landing lunar spacecraft. The fifth Surveyor touched down at the Tycho Crater on January 10,1968. This is also the same year that Avnet entered the Fortune 500, … [Read more...] about Avnet Celebrates 100 Years of Accelerating Technology and Distribution
Standard Chartered forecasts Vietnam’s 2021 GDP growth at 7.8%
The country stands to benefit from the trade and technology tensions between the United States and China, which are expected to continue under the new U.S. administration. Significant supply-chain relocation is already underway as a result of the U.S.-China trade war. … [Read more...] about Standard Chartered forecasts Vietnam’s 2021 GDP growth at 7.8%
Local ecommerce sector marks impressive growth
The value of the local ecommerce market, despite falling short of the previous forecast by US$14-15 billion, accounted for an estimated 5.5% of the country’s total retail sales of goods and services last year, according to the Ecommerce and Digital Economy Agency. … [Read more...] about Local ecommerce sector marks impressive growth
Hoa Phat Group posts 80 pct. growth in after-tax profit
Hanoi (VNA) - Despite the impact of COVID-19, the Hoa Phat Group still recorded a surge in both revenue and profit in 2020, the inter-sectoral conglomerate has said. It earned almost 91.28 trillion VND (3.9 billion USD) in revenue and posted 13.5 trillion VND in after-tax profit last year, up 41 percent and 80 percent, respectively, against 2019. In the fourth quarter alone, its revenue rose 43 percent year-on-year to nearly 26.17 trillion VND, while after-tax profit surged 142 percent to 4.67 trillion VND - a quarterly record. Steel manufacturing was a growth driver, the group said, adding that crude steel output doubled the 2019 figure, to 5.8 million tonnes, including 5.1 million tonnes of steel billet and finished construction steel and nearly 700,000 tonnes of hot rolled steel. In particular, 3.4 million tonnes of finished construction steel were produced, up 22.5 percent against 2019. Hoa Phat’s steel market share in Vietnam currently stands at 32.5 percent. The group … [Read more...] about Hoa Phat Group posts 80 pct. growth in after-tax profit