4 VOLKSWAGEN - GERMANY
Volkswagen backs electric vehicles with six battery factories
Volkswagen announced its intention to build six electric vehicle battery-cell manufacturing plants in Europe . The so-called gigafactories are intended to unlock synergies in Volskwagen ’ s supply chain and thus bring down the price of electric vehicles for consumers , with all expected to be established by the end of the decade .
6
RAKUTEN - JAPAN
India ’ s Jio tests 5G and aims to rid country of 2G networks
Japanese internet giant Rakuten received investment from the likes of Tencent , which took a 3.6 % stake , alongside Walmart at 0.9 % and Japan Post at 8.3 %, raising $ 2.2bn . The deal was framed as bolstering the Japanese company against competition from western leaders such as Google and Amazon .
5 AMAZON - SINGAPORE
Whose satellites did SpaceX launch in world record flight ?
Technology giant Amazon announced it is to build a 62 megawatt solar project in the city-state of Singapore . The project , which is scheduled for completion in 2022 , features movable panels to make the most of the sun , and expects to generate 80,000 megawatt hours of clean energy per year . technologymagazine . com 15