SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2018 11 EU leaders rebuff May’s Brexit plea May sought reassurances over ‘backstop’ clause on Ireland May floated the idea Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Dr Abdulussain Mirza receiving a delegation from MANTECH Logic Company, of• setting a target date headed by Salman Bader Kaikso, it’s Executive Director, who was accompanied by a number of officials from Green to avoid Britain falling Parking, UAE. The minister was briefed by the visitors on the technologies implemented by the company in the field of into the backstop electric car chargers, which have been installed a large number in the UAE and Oman. AFP | Brussels, Belgium U leaders rebuffed a plea by Theresa May on EThursday to help her sell her Brexit deal to parliament, warning she must set out ex- actly what she wants -- and an- nouncing they would step up contingency plans in case the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker whispers in the deal collapses. ear of Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May (R) as she arrives to attend a The British prime minister European Summit came to a Brussels summit a day after seeing off a challenge to a statement that the Brexit deal Deal ‘a trap’ her leadership by her own Con- “is not open for renegotiation”. servative MPs, but still facing With May having promised May told EU leaders they huge opposition to the divorce to have something to offer must help her “change the per- deal with the EU. MPs before they finally vote on ception that the backstop could She told the other 27 lead- the Brexit deal by January 21, be a trap from which the UK ers the agreement could still Juncker said she would have to cannot escape”, adding: “Until pass the House of Commons come up with proposals in the we do, the deal -- our deal -- is next month if they helped her next few weeks if she wanted at risk.” reassure lawmakers over a con- Europe’s support. “With the right assurances, The Electricity and Water Authority In the presence of Sheikh Nawaf bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, its Chief Executive, holding troversial “backstop” clause on However, he said he would this deal can be passed. Indeed a ceremony on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s assumption of the reins of government and the National Day. Ireland, a British official said. publish further plans on it is the only deal that is capable The ceremony was attended by the executive vice presidents and directors of departments, and a large number of employees of the Electricity and Water Authority. But European sources said Wednesday to protect Europe- of getting through my parlia- the atmosphere in the room an businesses and citizens in ment,” she told them. was tense, with German Chan- case the deal fails, and Britain But while an early draft of the cellor Angela Merkel and other exits on March 29 with no new summit conclusions had said leaders repeatedly interrupting arrangements place. the EU “stands ready to examine May to ask exactly what she whether any further assurances wanted. can be provided” on the back- European Commission presi- stop, this was removed from the dent Jean-Claude Juncker told final published version. reporters afterwards: “Our UK Juncker did offer one olive friends need to say what they branch, promising that talks on want instead of asking us what the future trading relationship we want.” KNOW WHAT -- a deal on which would under- He added: “Theresa May has mine the need for the backstop led a courageous fight, but un- -- would start as soon as MPs fortunately we are not seeing and the European Parliament the results.” Many of UK MPs fear approved the Brexit deal. May floated the idea of set- the arrangement for The summit statement also ting a target date to agree a free confirmed the backstop would trade deal with the EU if one Britain to enter a only “apply temporarily”. had not been agreed by the end temporary customs But this is not the legal - of a post-Brexit transition peri- union with the EU to ly binding promise sought by od, to avoid Britain falling into avoid border checks Brexiteers and the Northern Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs Dr Abduhussain Mirza during a ceremony held by the Sustainable Energy Unit the backstop. with Ireland could Irish party that props up May’s on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s Accession Day and the 47th anniversary of the National Day. But European leaders have government -- without which The ceremony was attended by the acting representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) become permanent. Stefano Atanato and Alexander Samahiji, Acting Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy Unit along with a team of said they will not accept a time they have warned they will not officials and experts. limit, and after May left agreed support the deal. Made in Vietnam: Vingroup launches first smartphones AFP | Hanoi, Vietnam where middle-class consum- share, but will likely be able to ietnam’s largest private ers with burgeoning budgets produce enough scale to gener- Vconglomerate Vingroup un- are buying Samsung and Apple ate a profit on its investment,” veiled its first made-in-Vietnam phones. he said. mobile phones yesterday in the Several smaller Vietnamese One major leg up for Vins - fast-growing country where it KNOW WHAT firms already make their own mart will be easy access to retail will face tough competition from mobile phones, but none have space: the company already has tech giants like Samsung, Oppo taken off in the country where over 1,200 supermarkets and and Apple. Samsung held 37 about a third of the country’s 93 convenience stores all over the The company, run by Viet - percent of the mar- million people are smartphone country. nam’s richest man, has built ket in the second users. Vingroup is owned by Pham its core business in the real es- quarter of this year, Samsung held 37 percent of Nhat Vuong, a press-shy bil - tate and retail sectors but has while Oppo had 22 the market in the second quarter lionaire who started his ca - branched out to include car of this year, while Oppo had 22 reer selling dried noodles in manufacturing, gene decoding percent and Apple percent and Apple had about five Ukraine. He is worth an esti - and now mobile phones. had about five percent, according to Counter- mated $6.7 billion, according to The company’s mobile phone percent, according point analysis firm. Forbes. subsidiary, Vinsmart, launched Vingroup and BQ have set up a new smartphone factory in Haiphong to Counterpoint Vinsmart’s phones are unlike- His Vingroup cradle-to-the- four phone models on Friday, analysis firm. ly to be directly competing with grave empire includes housing, priced between $120 and $280. the launch event in Ho Chi Minh homes. expensive Apple models, and the resorts, farms, schools, hospitals, “(We are) aiming to bring City. Vingroup acquired a 51 per- nounced a patent licensing company will struggle to unseat shopping malls and cars. to our clients the opportuni - The company said its factory cent stake in Spanish consumer agreement with US chipmaker Samsung right away, said Kenny Vietnam is one of Asia’s ty to experience high-quality, in the port city of Hai Phong has electronics maker BQ earlier this Qualcomm for mobile phone Liew, a telecommunications an- fastest growing economies, made-in-Vietnam products,” the capacity to produce five mil- year, which will help with prod- terminals. alyst at Fitch Solutions. with GDP growth hitting Nguyen Viet Quang, deputy lion phones per year and could uct development. Vinsmart will face tough com- “We don’t think it will carve above five percent for the past chairman of Vingroup, said at expand to smart TVs and smart On Friday Vinsmart an- petition in fast-growing Vietnam out a very significant market five years..