Category Archives: Macau

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero have pledged to strengthen coordination and increase cooperation on building the Belt and Road between their countries.

They met Thursday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers meeting held in Bali, Indonesia.

During the meeting, Wang said the solid mutual trust and friendship established between the two heads of state have provided strategic guidance for developing bilateral relations, adding that China appreciates Argentinas adherence to friendliness towards China.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, and China is willing to work with Argentina to advance the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road, helping accelerate their respective development and revitalization, Wang said.

Wang said that both sides should take the opportunity of the 2022 Year of China-Argentina Friendship and Cooperation to increase mutual understanding to cement the popular support for bilateral friendship for the sake of bilateral pragmatic cooperation in the next 50 years.

Wang noted that the Chinese side understands and supports Argentina in maintaining its territorial sovereignty and national dignity, and will stand firmly with the Argentine side on issues concerning each others core interests.

Both as important emerging markets, China and Argentina share extensive consensus and common interests on international and regional affairs, Wang said, adding that China is willing to join efforts with Argentina in practicing true multilateralism, maintaining basic norms governing international relations and safeguarding international fairness and justice.

Argentina and China enjoy a long history of friendship, Cafiero said, noting that the Argentine side admires Chinas development achievements and appreciates China for its support for Argentina in safeguarding the sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.

He stressed that Argentina firmly pursues the one-China policy and hopes to enhance the synergy with the Belt and Road Initiative, make better use of the bilateral cooperation mechanism and chart the course for the next 50 years of bilateral cooperation.

Argentina speaks highly of Chinas important leading role in advancing global development and appreciates China for inviting Argentina to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders meetings, Cafiero said, voicing his countrys readiness to strengthen the synergy with the BRICS mechanism.

He said Argentina appreciates China for taking an objective position on international affairs and appealing for a ceasefire to give peace a chance.

The Argentine side is willing to work with China to strengthen South-South Cooperation, uphold multilateralism and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of emerging markets, Cafiero said.

Both sides exchanged views on China-Latin America cooperation and agreed to boost communication and coordination, so as to help Latin America address the spillover effect of the Ukraine situation.

Wang expressed Chinas support for Argentina in assuming the pro tempore presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, saying China is ready to join hands with Argentina to build the China-Latin America community with a share future featuring equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and people-centered wellbeing.

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China, Argentina agree to strengthen coordination, Belt and Road cooperation - Macau Business

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Hong Kong and Macau - USEmbassy.gov

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is set to travel to Tehran on Friday for a surprise visit that could breathe new life into stalled talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Borrell was due to arrive in the Iranian capital at night to meet Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials, Irans foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

Diplomacy is the only way to go back to full implementation of the deal and to reverse current tensions, Borrell tweeted as the EU confirmed his two-day trip in a statement.

News of his previously unannounced visit comes after Amir-Abdollahian said last week that Iran still believed the negotiations could succeed.

The landmark deal has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and began imposing crippling economic sanctions on Americas arch enemy.

The administration of incumbent US President Joe Biden has sought to return to the agreement, saying it would be the best path with the Islamic republic.

The talks in Vienna, which began in April last year, aim to return the United States to the deal, including through the lifting of its sanctions on Iran, while ensuring Tehrans full compliance with its nuclear commitments.

The negotiations stalled in March amid differences between Tehran and Washington, most notably due to a demand by Iran to remove its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from a US terror list.

Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday stressed Iran was serious about reaching an agreement.

I hope we can reach the final point of the agreement in the near future with realism from the American side, he said, adding that the nuclear negotiations train has reached difficult stops as they near the end.

On Thursday, Enrique Mora, the European Unions coordinator for the talks, tweeted a picture of himself dining together with Borrell and US negotiator Robert Malley at a restaurant in Brussels.

In depth conversation about #JCPOA and regional perspectives in the wider Middle East. Malley reiterated firm US commitment to come back to the deal, he wrote, referring to the accord by its formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The agreement reached between Iran and six major powers Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US gave the Islamic republic relief from sanctions in return for guarantees it could not develop an atomic weapon.

Iran has always denied wanting a nuclear arsenal.

In April, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States still believed a return to the accord was the best way to address the nuclear challenge posed by Iran.

Blinken warned at the time that the breakout time for Iran to develop a nuclear bomb if it so chooses was down to a matter of weeks after the deal pushed it beyond a year.

The International Atomic Energy Agencys board of governors adopted a resolution this month censuring Iran for failing to adequately explain the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three sites which Tehran had not declared as having hosted nuclear activities.

On the same day, June 8, Tehran said it had disconnected a number of IAEA cameras that had been monitoring its nuclear sites.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi later confirmed that 27 cameras had been disconnected, leaving about 40 still in place.

The move by Iran, he warned, could deal a fatal blow to the negotiations unless the UN nuclear watchdogs inspectors were given access within three to four weeks.

The visit by Borrell, however, could be a determining factor in the fate of the deal.

During the talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the accord, Iran has repeatedly called for guarantees from the Biden administration that there will be no repeat of Trumps pullout.

by Payam Doost Mohamadi

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EU top diplomat bids to 'reverse tensions' on surprise Iran visit - Macau Business

Police in Ecuadors capital fired tear gas Thursday to disperse Indigenous protesters who tried to storm congress on the 11th day of crippling demonstrations over fuel prices and living costs.

Protesters had earlier won a concession from the Ecuadoran government when President Guillermo Lasso, isolating because of a Covid-19 infection, granted them access to a cultural center emblematic of the Indigenous struggle but commandeered by police over the weekend.

However, later in the day, a group of Indigenous protesters, led by women, headed towards congress only to be pushed back by police as violent clashes broke out.

Police fired tear gas while protesters threw rocks, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails.

This is a very bad sign, given we asked our base to march peacefully, said protest leader Leonidas Iza.

Thursdays clashes, which spread to a neighboring park, left a 39-year-old protester dead by gunfire, according to the Alliance of Human Rights Organizations, bringing to four the total of number protest-related deaths since the marches began on June 13.

An estimated 14,000 protesters are taking part in the mass show of discontent, and some 10,000 of them are in Quito, which is under a night-time curfew.

Six of the countrys 24 provinces are under a state of emergency.

The protesters demands includea cut in already subsidized fuel prices which have risen sharply in recent months, as well as jobs, food price controls, and more public spending on healthcare and education.

Francisco Jimenez, Ecuadors minister of government, announced the concession earlier Thursday, saying it was made for the sake of dialogue and peace.

The aim, he said, was to to stop roadblocks, violent demonstrations, and attacks.

The protesters hailed the move.

It is a triumph of the struggle, Iza proclaimed over a megaphone, advancing on the center with hundreds of others in jubilatory mood.

The Alliance of Human Rights Organizations said a 38-year-old man died on Wednesday in the southern town of Tarqui in clashes between protesters and police, which it accused of violent tactics.

Dozens of people have also been injured in the countrywide demonstrations that Indigenous groups have vowed to continue until their demands are met.

The police, for its part, said the man had died of a medical condition that occurred in the context of the demonstrations.

Two other people died on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Alliance, which also reported 92 wounded and 94 civilians arrested in 11 days of protests.

Officials say 117 in the ranks of police and soldiers have been injured.

On Wednesday night, some 300 protesters occupied a power plant in southern Ecuador and briefly took its operators hostage, authorities said.

Ecuador, a small South American country riddled with drug trafficking and related violence, has been hard hit by rising inflation, unemployment and poverty all exacerbated by the pandemic.

The protests, which have involved the burning of tires and tree branches by vocal marchers brandishing sticks, spears and makeshift shields, have paralyzed the capital and severely harmed the economy with barricades of key roads.

The government has rejected demands to lift the state of emergency imposed in response to the sometimes violent demonstrations called by the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).

I cry to see so many people mistreated by this government, protester Cecilia, an 80-year-old who did not give her full name, told AFP as she marched with an Ecuadoran flag and a banner reading: Lasso, liar.

Conaie led two weeks of protests in 2019 in which 11 people died and more than 1,000 were injured, causing economic losses of some $800 million before the then-president abandoned plans to reduce fuel price subsidies.

Lassos government has ruled out cutting fuel prices this time, as it would cost the State an unaffordable $1 billion per year.

Conaie credited with ending three presidencies between 1997 and 2005 insists the state of emergency be lifted before it will negotiate, but the government has said this would leave the capital defenseless.

It was unclear whether the group was ready to negotiate after Thursdays concession.

Official data showed the economy was losing about $50 million per day due to the protests, not counting oil production the countrys main export product which has also been affected.

Producers of flowers, another of Ecuadors main exports, have complained their wares are rotting as trucks cannot reach their destinations.

by Santiago PIEDRA SILVA / Lina VANEGAS

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Clashes, tear gas, even as Ecuador protesters win government concession - Macau Business

The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it was ordering all products produced by Juul Labs off the market after finding the vaping giant had failed to address certain safety concerns.

The decision, which Juul said it would appeal, clears the way for rival brands to increase their share of the market it once dominated.

It is also a blow for tobacco giant Altria, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, which acquired a 35 stake in Juul in 2018 to diversify its business strategy in the face of falling smoking rates.

Todays action is further progress on the FDAs commitment to ensuring that all e-cigarette and electronic nicotine delivery system products currently being marketed to consumers meet our public health standards, said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in a statement.

Products affected include the Juul device and its pods, which currently come in the flavors Virginia tobacco and in menthol, at nicotine concentrations of five and three percent.

After completing a two-year review of the companys marketing application, the FDA found the data presented lacked sufficient evidence regarding the toxicological profile of the products, it said.

In particular, some of the companys study findings raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data including regarding genotoxicity and potentially harmful chemicals leaching from the companys proprietary e-liquid pods, it added.

Juul said in a statement that it respectfully disagrees with the FDAs findings and that its products met the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of the public health.

We intend to seek a stay and are exploring all of our options under the FDAs regulations and the law, including appealing the decision and engaging with our regulator, Juuls chief regulatory officer Joe Murillo said.

Juul was blamed for a surge in youth vaping over its marketing of fruit and candy flavored e-cigarettes, which it stopped selling in 2019.

In January 2020, the FDA said sale of e-cigarettes in flavors other than tobacco or menthol would be illegal unless specifically authorized by the government.

The agency has approved some e-cigarette products from other makers such as Reynolds American, the current market leader, NJOY and Logic Technology Development.

Juul has argued that vaping products can provide a solution to the harmful health impacts from conventional cigarettes.

Juuls products exist only to transition adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes, Chief Executive KC Crosthwaite said on the companys website, adding that the company is working hard to rebuild its reputation following an erosion of trust over the past few years.

The impact of the FDAs decision is far from certain given the likelihood of an appeal, Goldman Sachs said in an analysis issued before the announcement. There are already several precedents for reversal of such orders, it noted.

Juul currently holds around 36 percent share of the US vaping market, a substantial reduction on the roughly 70 percent it held before the FDAs actions on flavored e-cigarettes, the Goldman Sachs note said.

On Tuesday, President Joe Bidens administration announced it would develop a new policy requiring cigarette producers to reduce nicotine to non-addictive levels, a move that, if successful could upend the tobacco industry.

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US orders all Juul vaping products off the market - Macau Business

The largest banks operating in the US market have sufficient resources to withstanda severe economic downturn and continue providing financing to American families and firms, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

The Fed subjected 33 banks to its annual stress test exercise, to gauge whether they would be able to weather a steep global recession.

In the hypothetical crisis, financial markets plummet, commercial real estate and corporate debt markets face substantial strain, US unemployment reaches 10 percent and the economy contracts by 3.5 percent.

The results showed that banks continue to have strong capital levels, allowing them to continue lending to households and businesses during a severe recession,the Fed said.

The scenario for this years test was even bleaker than the one used last year, but the outcome was the same, showing all the banks would maintain a sufficient cushion despite total projected losses of $612 billion, according to the report.

Despite the larger post-stress decline this year capital ratios remain well above the required minimum levels throughout the projection horizon of nine quarters, the report said.

The stress tests, implemented in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, apply to banks with at least $100 billion in total assets, including the top tier designated as global systemically important banks.

Smaller banks are only subjected to the stress tests every two years, so the results are not directly comparable to 2021, which tested 23 institutions.

Among the banks examined in both years, there were an additional $50 billion in losses under the tougher scenario, a Fed official told reporters.

However, the official stressed that the dire case applied is only hypothetical and not a forecast.

With the results in hand, banks can announce any plans for dividend payments and share buybacks starting Monday at 2030 GMT, the official said.

The Fed ordered limits to such distributions in June 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused a sharp economic downturn, but relaxed the restrictions in December 2020 before removing them following last years tests.

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Major US banks can weather severe economic downturn: Fed - Macau Business

People wait to get in outside Wynn Palace, U.S. casino tycoon Steve Wynn's newest resort, during its opening in Macau, China August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

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HONG KONG, June 15 (Reuters) - Macau's legislature released a final draft of a highly anticipated gaming bill on Wednesday raising the tax rate and giving officials far greater oversight into operations in the world's biggest gambling hub.

The 55-page document, released in Portuguese and Chinese on the legislature's website, comes as the government is due to formally sign a six-month licence extension for casino operators on June 23, local broadcaster TDM reported.

The moves are expected ahead of casino license expirations due this month. The extension, to Dec. 31, allows more time for a highly anticipated rebidding process in the Chinese special administrative region, the only place in China where gambling in casinos is legal.

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Macau's casino bill, which marks the biggest reform in two decades for the former Portuguese colony, will likely be approved by lawmakers this month.

The final version is similar to an initial draft first circulated in January but clarifies that casino tax on gross revenues will increase to 40% from 39%, although the chief executive has discretion to reduce it by up to 5% if operators succeed in attracting non-mainland Chinese gamblers. L4N2TY23L

Casino operators must have 5 billion patacas ($618.43 million) in cash at all times during the 10 year license period.

Macau's casino operators - Wynn Macau (1128.HK), Sands China (1928.HK), MGM China (2282.HK), Galaxy Entertainment (0027.HK) and Melco Resorts - all have sufficient liquidity with only SJM Holdings needing to beef up liquidity, according to DS Kim, analyst at JP Morgan in Hong Kong.

All operators will also need to pay 47 million patacas ($5.81 million) for the extension.

Macau's government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In 2019 Macau raked in $36.5 billion from its casinos, more than six times as much as the Las Vegas strip.

Since 2020 however Macau's casinos have been hurt by coronavirus travel restrictions, which have curbed visitors, and crackdowns on the opaque junket industry.

Beijing, increasingly wary of Macau's acute reliance on gambling, has not yet indicated how the licence rebidding process will be conducted.

($1 = 8.0850 patacas)

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Reporting by Farah MasterEditing by Kenneth Maxwell and Peter Graff

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Macau finalises gaming bill ahead of casino license extension - Reuters

Global oil demand will return to pre-pandemic levels next year as Chinas consumption recovers from Covid lockdowns, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday.

Soaring oil prices and weaker economic growth will temper the growth of demand in the second half of this year, said the Paris-based agency.

But resurgent Chinese oil consumption will more than compensate for a slowdown in oil demand among the 38-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that gathers mostly developed countries, the IEA said.

China has enforced a zero-Covid policy that has led to lockdowns in Shanghai, its economic hub.

The IEA expects global oil demand to grow to 99.4 million barrels per day in 2022 higher than its previous estimates but still one million barrels lower than in 2019.

Demand is set to grow to 101.6 million barrels per day in 2023, according to the IEA, which advises developed countries on energy policy.

Supply may struggle to keep pace with demand next year, however, as major crude producer Russia faces tighter sanctions, the IEA said.

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Oil demand to return to pre-Covid level in 2023: IEA - Macau Business

Portugals minister for infrastructure and housing has said that Lisbon airport may have to turn away flights next year as tourism recovers, calling for a broad consensus on building the new airport.

This year, turning away flights not yet. Next year we will most likely reach, we hope, the best year ever, which was before the pandemic, and then we will start having problems with refusing flights again, Pedro Nuno Santos told reporters on the sidelines of the laying of the first stone of construction of 70 houses for rehousing and four commercial spaces in Lisbons Bairro Padre Cruz, alongside the mayor, Carlos Moedas, on Tuesday.

Pedro Nuno Santos, who indicated that in the coming days the government will give more information about the airport, said that the disturbances expected for next year in terms of traffic, movement and waiting times will be aggravated, as they have already been felt since May this year.

We have a problem that is structural, with an airport that is overloaded and needs an answer, he once again argued, considering it was necessary for the country to be able to achieve a broad consensus in order to ensure that every time a government or minister changes we do not move backwards.

For Pedro Nuno Santos, it is important to work on this consensus, on a good solution.

When questioned about the long queues at Lisbon airport, he stressed that the interior ministry has already presented a contingency plan, which will be fully implemented from the beginning of July and we hope that from this point of view of the queues it will help.

Carlos Moedas also reaffirmed that Lisbon needs a new airport.

We have to have that new airport. This new airport depends on a choice that is made technically and not politically. We will be on the side of the solution of building the new airport. That is the political decision: not to let another ten years go by without deciding. We have to decide, he said.

Waiting times at the arrivals area of Lisbon airport exceeded three hours on Sunday due to insufficient resources and SEF border control posts in operation, ANA, the countrys airports manager said.

The immigration and border control service (SEF) said that on Sunday there was a peak in passenger arrivals at Lisbon airport of about 3,000 travellers, which caused long delays at passport control.

SEF inspector Ana Vieira also stressed that the long queues at the airport reflect the exponential increase in tourism and an inadequate infrastructure for the number of passengers.

Quite honestly, we were not prepared for this exponential increase in tourism and passengers, and the infrastructure itself, as the interior minister has already said, is not adequate for this situation either, inspector Ana Vieira told reporters at Lisbons Humberto Delgado airport, following several reports of long queues and hours of waiting for passengers arriving in Lisbon.

In relation to the new Lisbon airport, on 8 April the institute of mobility and transport (IMT) awarded the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to consortium COBA/Ineco, and today (Tuesday) the president of the IMT clarified in parliament that the contract has not yet been signed.

According to information released by IMT and reported by Lusa earlier this month the winning consortium, comprising the Portuguese COBA Engineering and Environmental Consultants and Ineco, 51% owned by the Spanish state, submitted a proposal worth 1,999,980 euros.

Also competing were PricewaterhouseCoopers Assessoria de Gesto and Quadrante Engenharia e Consultoria (2,295,000 euros), Leito, Galvo Teles, Soares da Silva, Ernst & Young, Over Arup & Partners, SAU, Leadin Aviation Consulting and Ramboll Iberia (2 million) and IDAD Instituto do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento, TIS PT Consultores em Transportes, Inovao e Sistemas, FUNDEC Associao para a Formao e o Desenvolvimento em Engenharia Civil e Arquitetura and Senerengivia Consultores de Engenharia (1,996,882 euros).

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Portugal: Lisbon airport may have to refuse flights next year - minister - Macau Business

At the peak of their success, K-pop megastars BTS made an emotional announcement to fans: they were taking a break from the supergroup to focus on their solo careers.

The bombshell announcement late Tuesday night sent shockwaves through the septets global fanbase, and caused the share price of their label HYBE to plunge, even as it pushed back, saying the bandmates would still work together.

AFP takes a look back at the bands record-setting run to global superstardom:

On June 13, 2013, BTS debuts as a seven-member boy band.

The members J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Suga and V are selected through a combination of recruitment and auditions, andundergo intensive training before the groups launch.

Already stars in their native South Korea, the band sets their sights on the worlds largest music market: the United States.

They become the first K-pop act to perform on the televised American Music Awards.

In a vivid illustration of the bands growing appeal, BTS becomes the first K-pop group to top the US album charts.

In May 2018, the band led the Billboard 200 which rank albums via sales, downloads and streams with their album Love yourself: Tear.

As their cultural clout grows, BTS are invited to speak at the United Nations. They use the platform to tell young people to be themselves.

Addressing a packed hall at the launch of a UNICEF youth campaign, group leader RM urges youth to just speak yourself regardless of their race, gender or identity.

The band sets another record, becoming the first Korean act to top Britains album chart with Map of the soul: Persona.

The milestone comes ahead of the groups two sold-out shows at Londons famed Wembley Stadium.

After topping charts in the US and Britain, BTS takes their first long-term break since their debut, citing a need to recharge and refresh.

But the band is back within weeks, with a tour that included a show in Saudi Arabia.

In September 2020, BTS becomes the first South Korean act to dominate the top US singles chart, with their English-language hit Dynamite going to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The achievement comes hours after BTS beat American musical heavyweights including Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift to score the Best Pop award at MTV Video Music Awards.

The group goes on to top the US singles chart repeatedly with other songs including Butter and Permission to Dance.

BTS become the first Koreans to receive a Grammy nomination.

The group is nominated for best performance by a pop duo or group for its English-language hit Dynamite, but fails to win.

BTS is nominated again in 2021, but after being disappointed, Suga says: Im thankful there are still barriers and challenges we can try to work to overcome.

BTS becomes the first Asian group to win Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards, the worlds largest fan-voted awards show.

The septet also scoops awards for Favourite Pop Duo or Group and Favourite Pop Song for their hit Butter at the glitzy ceremony is Los Angeles.

The win marks the bands ninth AMA.

In December 2021, HYBE announces that BTS will take a second official extended period of rest in order to recharge and seek fresh inspiration.

The band are quickly performing again, with a sold-out series of concerts in Seoul in March 2022, their first post-pandemic performances in their native land.

In June 2022, BTS visits the White House for a meeting with US President Joe Biden.

The group uses the trip to call out growing anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States.

BTS announce theyre taking a break from the group to focus on their solo careers in an emotional video appearance.

Speaking to fans in a YouTube video marking the bands ninth anniversary, the members say they are exhausted and need time apart.

Their label HYBE pushes back, saying BTS will be doing team and individual projects simultaneously.

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Nine years at the top: the unstoppable rise of BTS - Macau Business