LAHORE: MCB Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Millat Tractor Limited (MTL) to provide agriculture credit to farmers, a press release said on Monday.

Under the MoU, the two companies would boost cooperation to promote farm mechanisation and support farming community.—Staff Reporter

Mylan to buy Abbott business line in $5.3bn

PITTSBURGH: The generic drugmaker Mylan is buying Abbott Laboratories’ generic-drugs business in developed markets for stock valued at about $5.3 billion.

Mylan said on Monday that the deal will diversify and expand its business outside the US The combined company will be organised in the Netherlands, which will help reduce its tax expenses. The company will keep its headquarters near Pittsburgh.

The deal is expected to lower Mylan’s tax rate to approximately 20 per cent to 21pc in the first full year, and to the high teens after that.

Several other US companies are using mergers to reincorporate in countries with lower tax rates. These moves are raising concerns among US lawmakers because they can cost the federal government billions in tax revenue.—AP

Samsung suspends supplier over child labour

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co. said it has suspended business ties with a Chinese supplier that allegedly hired children.

The South Korean company, which is the world’s biggest smartphone maker, said in its blog on Monday that it had found possible evidence of child labour and illegal hiring at Dongguan Shinyang Electronics Co.

Samsung said last week it would urgently look into the Chinese supplier following a New York-based watchdog’s report that it hired at least five children under the age of 16.

China Labour Watch said children as well as minors under 18 worked at Shinyang for three to six months to meet production targets during a period of high demand.

The watchdog said the child workers were paid for 10 hours a day but worked 11 hours.

The report detailed 15 labour violations discovered during its undercover investigation. They included child labour, the absence of safety training, no overtime wages and no social insurance for temporary workers, who constituted at least 40 per cent of 1,200 employees at the Chinese cellphone parts supplier for Samsung.—AP

Published in Dawn, July 15h, 2014