BUSINESS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015 Opposed to EU bailouts, Finland’s populists eye power

HELSINKI: Finland’s populist opposition leader continues.” “The way I see it, the minimum is that if could join a new government after April’s general this (bailout) policy continues, Finland stays out of election with his calls to end bailouts and kick it,” Soini said. “The euro-zone, as it is now, does not Greece out of the euro likely to ensure Helsinki sticks work. Let’s start by Greece and perhaps Cyprus leav- to its tough line on EU affairs. The Finns party, for- ing the euro, then we could take a look and draw merly known as True Finns, rose from obscurity to conclusions for Finland,” he added. come third in the 2011 vote, spooking markets but In Finland, no political party has much power on winning over voters with criticism of EU financial its own, so Soini would probably end up in a com- rescues for fellow members of the euro during the promise in the next coalition, which will likely debt crisis. Finland has taken one of the hardest lines include 3-5 parties. in negotiations with Greece but party leader Timo “Having The Finns in the government would Soini refused to join the pro-bailout government probably mean that national interests would be coalition, a move many saw as a mistake as it threw emphasized (in EU), and Finland would continue its the party into ineffective opposition for four years. tough line towards aid packages,” said Tapio Raunio, He now wants to leave the political wilderness. professor of politics at University of Tampere. A fan While still opposed to the aid packages he calls of London football club Millwall, Soini is a charis- “pyramid schemes”, Soini has toned down his rheto- matic speaker who has won over voters with his ric in other areas - perhaps realizing it is now or nev- man-on-the-street image. But he has often strug- er for the 52-year-old who started in politics as a gled with controlling grassroots members, includ- teenager and has steered the party for 17 years. “It is ing one lawmaker who photographed a friend giv- important that the party moves to a next stage. That ing a Nazi salute in parliament, and was expelled is what our members and supporters want, the pow- from the party. er is in the government,” Soini said. Polls point to an But he has distanced The Finns from EU far-right election win for opposition Centre party leader Juha parties and last year changed his party’s EU group Sipila, with around 25 percent. But Soini is battling from EFD, which includes Britain’s UKIP, to ECR, home for second place with the ruling centre-right to the Britain’s Conservatives. He has also toned National Coalition and the Social Democrats, each down rhetoric on topics such as immigration, even with 14-17 percent. BRUSSELS: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble (left) speaks with Finland’s Finance Minister though his party is still seeking tougher restrictions. He may benefit from the unpopularity of Prime Antti Rinne during an economic and financial affairs council (ECOFIN) at the European Council in Soini, a former EU lawmaker and current chairman of minister Alexander Stubb and his quarrelsome coali- Brussels. — AFP the Finnish parliament’s foreign policy committee, tion. Finland has been in recession for three years, its governments to show solidarity with Greece. The No more for Greece has also highlighted his international experience. “It’s flagship Nokia company has shed thousands of jobs current government in Finland angered other Soini said Finland should not be involved in any now or never for Soini. He has led the party for and it has lost competitiveness to other EU European countries by demanding collateral before more aid packages and Greece should leave the almost 18 years, there is some criticism towards him economies. Economic stagnation may make bailouts agreeing to help Greece and Spain and maintained a euro zone. “We need a Grexit,” he said. “There are no inside the party, so this is his chance to win a promi- even more unpopular in Finland just as EU chief tough line in negotiations on an extension to easy solutions, but if Greece continues in the euro, it nent minister post,” said senior researcher Mari K executive Jean-Claude Juncker called for European Greece’s financial rescue agreed last month. means more aid packages and the pyramid scheme Niemi from University of Turku. — Reuters Frankfurt braces for anti-austerity demos ECB launches new headquarters

FRANKFURT: When the European Central Bank officially inaugurates its new headquarters in Frankfurt today, as many as 10,000 people from around Europe are expected to show up to join an anti-austerity demonstration. Organizers say protesters will converge on Germany’s financial capital to march against austerity policies which the ECB-as part of the much-hated “troika” of creditors - helps to oversee in return for bailout money for crisis-hit euro-zone countries. “We’re SHANGHAI: A man rides his tricycle loaded with polystyrene boxes on a sunny day in expecting several thousand people from all over Shanghai yesterday. The world’s second-largest economy expanded 7.4 percent last Europe in a clear sign against these crisis poli- year, the slowest since 1990, as authorities try to transform the growth model to one cies,” said a spokesman for the anti-capitalist in which consumer spending takes over as the key engine. — AFP group Blockupy. Frankfurt police are bracing for possible vio- China’s luxury big spenders: lence, using barbed wire and barriers to erect a security zone around the ECB’s spectacular 1.3- young, trendy and not so rich billion-euro ($1.4-billion) twin-tower skyscraper in the east of the city. At the height of today’s SINGAPORE: Global luxury brands expanding in mix niche labels with big brands. Labels consid- rally, thousands of officers will be deployed with China are better off targeting the HENRYs - “high ered niche such as Celine and 3.1 Phillip Lim are water cannons, helicopters and aircraft standing earners, not rich yet” - instead of the ultra- among the “hottest” sectors, according to a by in case the situation turns violent, police said. wealthy, as a slowing economy and a govern- report last week by online luxury magazine Jing “While most marchers are politically moderate ment that frowns on official excesses usher in an Daily, citing branding and marketing experts. and are expected to remain peaceful, there was era of less showy spending. HENRYs believe less Affordable labels like Tory Burch, Longines a ‘high possibility’ that there could be violence,” is more. These younger spenders pride them- and Michael Kors are also in demand, while selves on their individualism and snub the pricier, more conventional labels including the regional state police warned on its website. ostentatiously branded handbags and acces- Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Gucci have been hit by sories loved by the “secretary” types. a “cold front”, the Jing Daily report added. “The ‘Scaremongering’ FRANKFURT AM MAIN: Police cars stand in front of the new building of the European Central Fuelling their shopping habits are social Chinese consumer is now more educated and The organizers, grouped together under the Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. — AFP media, multi-brand retail websites such as less conformist, which means they are less Blockupy banner, have accused the police and there were around 20,000 marchers, but the rally tively low key with only a modest number of Beijing-based ShangPin.com and Italy’s Yoox, inclined to look like a secretary and go for luxury city authorities of “scaremongering”. One of the remained mostly peaceful as more than 5,000 invited guests, including Frankfurt’s mayor Peter eclectic boutiques, and high-end department brands that are overdeveloped,” said Lionel movement’s spokesmen, Frederic Wester, said police sealed off large parts of the city. Until last Feldmann. In the current times of crisis, it was stores like Lane Crawford and Galeries Lafayette. Roudaut, head of fashion design and textile at police were drawing up an “absurd civil war sce- year, the ECB, which took over monetary policy in decided that the size of the inauguration would Chinese customers aged 25-35 are Yoox’s top Singapore’s LASALLE College of the Arts. “The nario”. Another spokesman described the mas- the single currency area in 1998, has been housed remain “appropriate”, an ECB spokesman said. spenders, International Markets Director Luca Internet has also given them access to products sive police deployment-one of the largest ever in a skyscraper, known as the Eurotower, in down- Against the backdrop of tense talks over a Greek Martines said, adding that they are willing to not available before.” — Reuters in Frankfurt-as “a scandal”. But Hannah Eberle for town Frankfurt. But work began on a new head- debt deal, the ECB is a favorite target for anti- the Interventionistische Linke (Interventionist quarters-designed by Vienna-based architects austerity protesters. Earlier this year, the ECB Left) vowed that demonstrators “will not allow Coop Himmelb(l)au-in 2008. Incorporating the stopped accepting Greek bonds as security in China’s overseas investment the police to get in their way”. “We’re fighting for historic Grossmarkthalle, a wholesale food mar- return for funding, when Greece’s new hard-left a different, a democratic and social Europe,” said ket, in the east of the city, the building was com- government under Alexis Tsipras was elected on jumps on Dutch transaction Roland Suess of the anti-capitalist group Attac. pleted late last year, and the ECB actually moved his promise to scrap the reform-for-aid bailout In a rally in Frankfurt in March 2012, a police- into the premises not long after. program. Blockupy brings together anti-capital- BEIJING: China’s overseas direct invest- dollar has led the price of euro-zone man was seriously injured when violent protest- ist and anti-austerity protestors from across ment (ODI) surged in February as a state- assets to fall, creating an opportunity for ers went on the rampage in the city centre, caus- Low key celebrations Europe. They camped out in tents at the foot of owned oil company put nearly $3 billion Chinese companies to invest and carry ing around one million euros worth of damage. Given the anticipated protests, the central the ECB’s Eurotower headquarters in Frankfurt into a Dutch transaction, official data out mergers and acquisitions there,” he At a subsequent demonstration in May 2012, bank has decided to keep the celebrations rela- for months in 2013. — AFP showed yesterday, while inbound invest- told reporters. But the government will ment slowed. ODI jumped 68.2 percent “have to keep a close eye” on the trend as year-on-year to $7.25 billion, the com- “price is just one of the considerations” merce ministry said, while for the first two when investing, he added. Hunt Brothers rules pizza months of the year it rose 51 percent to $17.4 billion. Rising costs Foreign direct investment (FDI) into The world’s second-largest economy China, meanwhile, rose 0.9 percent year- expanded 7.4 percent last year, the slow- market from gas stations on-year to $8.56 billion in February, the est since 1990, as authorities try to trans- ministry said. That marked a sharp slow- form the growth model to one in which down from January’s 29.4 percent gain. consumer spending takes over as the key ANDERSONVILLE: If you’re looking for pizza along oni, extra cheese and other toppings. The result found at busy highway interchanges. And it’s Both ODI and FDI exclude financial sec- engine. China’s appeal as an investment the Andersonville Highway between the Museum after about 5 minutes in the 525-degree oven is a moved into some urban areas, such as Memphis. tors. China drew a total of $119.6 billion destination has also been declining in of Appalachia and a mountain lake created by the bubbling-hot pizza with browned toppings that The convenience store model is different from a of FDI in 2014, while ODI surged to $102.9 recent years owing to rising labor and Tennessee Valley Authority, your best bet may be tastes comparable to the big delivery chains’ pizzas. free-standing restaurant, and a Hunt Brothers outlet billion, passing the $100 billion mark for land costs and competition from the same place where you buy your bait and fill up In about an hour, Bruce sold that first pizza and is likely to bring in far less than the more than the first time as Chinese companies look Southeast Asian countries such as your car. Hunt Brothers Pizza is quietly winning over another one in two-slice $2.99 “hunks” from a coun- $700,000 an average Domino’s makes a year, said for opportunities abroad while economic Vietnam. Officials have also blamed the rural South by slipping into places big-name tertop warming display near his cash register. Darren Tristano, a restaurant industry analyst with growth at home slows. source country factors, such as pizza chains probably couldn’t survive. It has Nearby, sits a display of fishing hooks, bobbers and Technomic. The surge in February’s ODI was driven Washington’s drive to move industrial installed its pizza ovens at so many gas stations and jars of bait. Pizza customers included a UPS delivery Tristano noted that 7-Eleven offers pizza in some by a tenfold increase in investment in the production back to the United States. convenience stores that it has more US locations driver, a woman on her way to lunch with her of its 7,800 US locations and that Little Caesars has European Union to $3.36 billion, largely Chinese authorities have mounted than either Domino’s or Pizza Hut. daughter and a guy in camouflage who confessed also had success in rural areas. While Hunt Brothers due to oil company PetroChina pumping probes into alleged monopolistic prac- Located across from a pasture, the Rightway he was just coming from the liquor store. declined to discuss company finances, Bruce says $2.89 billion into the Netherlands, said tices, pricing and other activities by for- Foodmart in Andersonville sits a little too far from he sells about 500 pizzas a month, much of it by the ministry spokesman Shen Danyang. He eign firms in sectors ranging from auto the interstate to get the type of traffic that could Convenience stores hunk. Combined with drinks and other convenience gave no details of the transaction, which manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to support a free-standing fast-food outlet. But it In a typical Hunt Brothers arrangement, Bruce items, he estimates pizza customers spend more was not highlighted on China National baby milk, but the commerce ministry draws plenty of customers who fish or boat on said he paid about $10,000 for his oven, freezer, dis- than $10,000 each month in his store. Tristano says Petroleum Corporation’s website or in fil- has repeatedly denied that Beijing is tar- nearby Norris Lake to its pared-down pizzeria, play case and other equipment and now just pays the simplicity of the setup has helped the company ings to the Hong Kong stock exchange by geting overseas companies. which requires just a few feet of counter space. And the Nashville, Tennessee-based company for the grow. Bruce agreed. “In a convenience store, you’re its listed subsidiary PetroChina. In the January-February period, FDI the pizza inspires strong loyalty. “It beats Pizza Hut pizza ingredients. Hunt Brothers doesn’t charge doing the register, you’re doing gas. You’re doing so Investment in the United States soared by declined 15.9 percent from Japan, with and Domino’s,” said 23-year-old Brittany Bunch, who franchise fees or require a contract. The privately many different things,” Bruce said. “It’s hard to be 64.8 percent in the first two months of which China is in bitter dispute over terri- buys Hunt Brothers about once a week during owned company fine-tuned this approach starting able to do pizza from the ground up, making the the year from the same period in 2014, tory and wartime history. From the United breaks from her job at a water damage company. in the early 1990s when four brothers who’d worked dough and the whole thing.” Shen said. States it fell by 31.8 percent year-on-year, “It’s just got more flavor. It seems like, with the oth- separately in the restaurant industry joined forces Fred England, a food vendor at a furniture facto- China has been actively acquiring for- which Shen attributed to the upturn in ers, you’re getting cardboard.” to sell pizzas to convenience stores. Hunt Brothers ry about 30 miles east of Andersonville, added a eign assets, particularly energy and the world’s largest economy. Investment had 750 locations by 1994, said Keith Solsvig, its Hunt Brothers to his lunch counter about a year ago resources, to power its economy, with from Saudi Arabia surged nearly tenfold Bubbling-hot pizza vice president for marketing. “Convenience stores in to keep his customers from looking elsewhere for firms encouraged to make overseas and that from France and Germany rose While Hunt Brothers may be unknown in many rural areas were the hub,” Solsvig said in a phone their pizza fix. “The problem I had was all these oth- acquisitions to gain market access and by 366.7 percent and 59 percent respec- households, it runs television ads during NASCAR interview. “A lot of people coming and going. And a er places were delivering pizza, so I had to come up international experience. tively. Shen said the increase was led by races and cable outdoors shows. For several years, it lot of these smaller towns, they didn’t really have a with something,” he said while stopping at Shen said the euro’s depreciation cash injections by individual companies in has sponsored Kevin Harvick, who won the 2014 lot of other restaurants or other places to eat.” Rightway to chat with Bruce. Angela Moles came in against the dollar and China’s yuan cur- new or existing projects in China, includ- NASCAR Sprint Cup. On a recent morning at 10:40 Hunt Brothers now has 7,300 locations in 28 to get three hunks of pepperoni pizza and drinks to rency may encourage more Chinese firms ing German auto giant Daimler, French am, Rightway owner Roy Bruce started sliding piz- states, with some sites the only dining options for take to lunch with her daughter. The 35-year-old to buy up European assets. “The contin- chemical firm Arkema and Saudi Basic zas for the lunch rush into a conveyor-belt oven. miles. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas each Andersonville resident said she buys Hunt Brothers ued slumps in the euro’s value against the Industries Corporation. — AFP Each pie starts out frozen, a crust with sauce and a have more than 700 locations, Solsvig said. Not all about twice a week. “I love it,” she said. “I usually layer of cheese. Employees can add fresh pepper- locations are isolated, with Hunt Brothers also don’t get other pizza.”— AP