the new global 3000 theories about the threats we are facing. as a heroes taking a stand by the global 3000 series starts june 21st on d, w. i the can a race to the bottom and corporate taxation be stops. finance ministers from major economies meet in london today to set a floor for taxation and solve one of the biggest riddles of recent years. how to tax digital companies, services are global. also on the show, montenegro wanted a new highway, but at what cost? financing deal with china has now soured and threatens to drag in the european union globe. welcome to the show. i'm seeing beardsley in berlin. how much tax should a company pay, and to whom should they pay it?

to be tricky. questions in a globalized economy, where the biggest companies can shop around for the lowest rates. many of them tech companies that often pay no taxes in countries where they're quite active. a foreign ministers from the g 7 economies are gathering london today. just for such a solution and here's where things currently stand. japan has the highest corporate tax rate with 31 percent with germany following close behind current corporate tax rate in the u. s. is that 21 percent? although the by did ministration would like to change that in the coming months to 28 percent. now take a look at ireland here. 12.5 percent as less than half of what it is and fellow you remember germany. and that's the reason why ireland is the you base for big tech companies like facebook and apple of the us and its allies in the g 7 appeared to be call us thing around a corporate tax floor, a 15 percent, while germany and france may be on board, that rate would take away our lives advantage and attracting companies. for more on this, i'm joined by target mass or dw, corresponded in london also by the medical longmeyer. she is an economics professor

at catholic university. i see that english dots. welcome to you both. very good. i want to start with you. the corporate minimum tax rate is of course the headline here, but you can also worry that big tech won't be hit hard enough. what exactly is the concern? well the u. k. has, are traditionally had the emphasis on the digital services company. the u. k. has a digital services tax revenues for example, search engines or social media platforms. when these revenues are generated in the u. k that they apply this text to u. k wants to make sure that the digital services companies that there is an international agreement and that isn't the way it's high or a t for, for the u. k. government, however, tex campaign is in the u. k. has said, well, if the you can really does not support an international agreement, generally on this global text deal, if there was may be some geological opposition because the 3 top techs havens,

i actually british territories, dominican, why can a minimum corporate tax rate or what can rather a minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent, which is under discussion right now what canada achieve and what can it likely not achieve? well, it's kind of shorter much national corporations pay at least some tax at the 15 percent great on their profits. it can stop them from shifting profits to other tax havens that really have a 0 corporate tax rate. however, it won't necessarily imply that firms, especially in the digital economy. most of them are headquartered in the us. it does not apply to these firms will start pay more tax in europe. most of the additional tax revenue will go to the us. the biggest island is home to big tech companies precisely because of the countries low tax rate, including many of those tech firms that dominican just referred to facebook. apple for example. how is it likely to respond to efforts to raise that floor?

that's obviously going to be a very thorny issue with ireland. celtic tiger economy, many an island associate with a really low tax rate, one of those corporate tax rates in europe. and we know that the irish government is pushing what they say a healthy and fat tax competition. so they obviously want to retain the advantage that the have long health. however, we also know that on this meeting i decide of this meeting, the all going to be discussions between the us and also all and to try and overcome because it's not only this meeting that's important. many for example, also the u. k. are pushing for an even larger agreement, possibly for the next g 20 summit. that's also due to be held in the summer to make the tax playing field has been an achilles heel for the e u. this idea of creating a common tax policy. if there's progress with the g 7 and then later with the g 20

. what could that do for the block in terms of helping them move forward toward a more common policy? well, i think copper text rates in the you are a few sets. so had to regina that is unlikely that we see any agreement towards your new home tax rates. however, for the minimum tax, it's necessary to find a common way of calculating taxable profits. so i could see it as a 1st step towards defining a common pick space in the european union, which would be a good 1st step towards unifying the text system. dominican why has taxation become such a growing global issue in recent years? when i see 2 reasons there, 1st, we've seen quite a few crisis that has been costly for government right now. the pandemic earlier, the euro crisis, the financial crisis. so government has needed revenue as a consequence of these crisis. and that has made them want to collect more money

from the corporations as well. since then, the 2nd reason is the copper tex avoiding has become more pressing problem over time. the digital economy has grown, although service we've mentioned facebook and as an apple google, they all have a lot of tangible assets that are relatively easy to shift around to shift to text a much easier than for firm that actual needs a lot of machinery to produce stuff, so you some have been more aggressive than other firms in corporate tech and has been larger problem in the last couple years. all right, we'll keep our eyes on what happens in london. the progress is made. big mosse in london medic, along a maya. thank you both very much and staying with global trade, the white house is banding, americans from investing an additional 28 chinese and from investing rather in an additional 20 a chinese firms due to security concerns that brings the phone number of black with the firms to now, 59 among them are chinese tech heavy weight,

while way and ship maker semiconductor manufacturing, international corporation. the blacklist interestingly, began during the trump administration. and from on this, we go to gabriella of my president of the kill institute for the world economy, gabriella, it's good to have you. as always, let's start with his blacklist itself. we see a bit of continuity here from the trouble ministration to the biden ministration, which might surprise some should that surprise us? no, not necessarily. a china still, it is the rival number one of united states, the mutual rival. and what seems to be is the motivation is not so much about the chronology even more about the q e d, and also on values. i mean, the values play a role in by, in china policy and policy. but of course,

that directly has businesses that are trying to be present in both economies. right now. we see, for example, with recent boyd conservation emmons are on the one hand, these investment restrictions on the other hand, is it still an exaggeration to talk about economies? decoupling probably for the last 20 or 25 years, to be honest, if you look at data, we see the foreign benjamin ad bed in china production has low ground many, many years. and the company has accelerated, and it's also driven by us in europe. more china on its own as well. and so it's approaches that has continued in this packet. we before actually accomplish korea. how important is the upcoming g 7 meetings likely to be for discussing and coordinating policy when it comes to economic issues. the economic coordination for

countries compared to china is very important, i would say, because the bible demonstration is setting in your horse. they're just continuity, as you said. but it's also, there's a discontinuing style and their issues that maybe are high on the, on the us, the channel, the we're, for example, human rights. and there's a lot of common ground with the europe and other countries on that area. so i think that she's 7 conversation will be important to, to receive the western approach to, to china. not only counts as a huge acknowledging, but also i hope when it comes to coordinating and dramatic policy clarity policies were china for go where nice and their allies do require a common approach. quite personally, the u. s. s takes out a much more assertive stance against china. what about europe?

what are the challenges for it going one direction or the other briefly if you can europe, is you really in trouble situation because the business, the china is very important here to be much more exposed to china. and so it's difficult to trace, but the commission has work to make your trade more thomas, and we can only be largely seen or gabriella gabriel silva, my president of the kill institute for the world economy. thank you very much. welcome. well, over the years, china has turned itself into a major lender for infrastructure projects around the world, some of them dubious, most of them in poor countries. in 2014, the tiny balkan nation of montenegro turned to beijing to finance a highway across it's recognition. it's less than one quarter complete, but the 1st bill is already coming due on today grow can afford it. this massive

construction project for 177 kilometer long highway through montenegro is being built by a chinese company. the montenegrin government is financing. it was a 1000000000 year alone from a state run chinese bank. that's a lot of debt to take on for a country with an annual g d p of around 4000000000 euros. if we cannot pay the law, the chinese bank can ask for a pretty sample for a portal by or can ask for some mind that we could call and ask to construct dance for hydro power to take over the railroad. that would allow china to extend its influence in europe and gain access to essential infrastructure. montenegro, ask you to help re pay the 1st installment of the loan. that's due in july, according to the financial times. but brussels quickly rejected the request in

those can all be, i think, in the medium to long term, it would be better to support montenegro in this carry a situation that would allow the country to have closer ties with the european union. you will be sure you'll be mark negarra has seen a sharp fallen revenue during the pandemic. its economy depends on tourism, which has crumbled. but it's not easy for you to provide assistance. the block can't take over the loan payments, especially for projects. it's classifies as not economically viable. districts when they use support, could consist of helping montenegro restructure its existing debt with china and then make an offer for further financing infrastructure projects in the future from vices and in special ed. and in that sequence, you can most provide ongoing support to montenegro without giving it any money. but

it will still be a heavily indebted country, dependent on paid ging. and that's it for me in the dw business team here in berlin, as always check us out online, g, w dot com slash business for more on these and other stories. also on facebook and twitter, i see there's like watching the news in the fight against the corolla virus pandemic. how has the rate of infection been developing? what does the latest research information and contact the corona virus because it 19 special next on dw, sometimes a seed is all you need to allows big ideas to grow. we're bringing environmental conservation to life with learning facts like global ideas. we will show you

how climate change and environmental conservation is taking shape around the world and how we can all make a difference knowledge and grows through sharing. download it now for a the ah, this isn't a desert island. it's 2 kids famous speech. normally is overflowing with taurus, but the pandemic put an end to the tourist months, been on hold for a year, leaving millions with as a livelihood. the government had hoped to welcome tourists back on the 1st of july . but that's looking increasingly unlikely. the number of new infections is skyrocketing and the countries the vaccination drive is

only making slow progress relying on china sino vac vaccine. but reports of severe side effects and even some death, a keeping many ties at bay locally produced astrazeneca jobs are also available. and a nationwide mass vaccination rollout is due on the 7th of june. know who is wanting by one. take home with her and i will have to wait until october. but in case numbers continue to rise, it'll probably be too late for the many hotels and beach resorts. what downtown coby 19 special. hi, monica jones in berlin, which is getting ready to open up starting tomorrow. cafes and restaurants will be able to welcome guest indoors again. all this, however, i mean, falling case number sent an accelerating vaccination rates worldwide. we're

actually getting close to $2000000000.00 shops now, but it is still a race against time, especially for countries such as thailand, which currently faces its worst corona virus outbreak around 80 percent of all cases. since the start of the pandemic, i've been reported there within the past 8 weeks. of particular concern to authorities is the arrival of variance believed to spread faster. security forces control of road and thailand, southernmost region. behind the barbed wire village under lockdown. cases of the very interest discovered in south africa where detected hit after a person infected with a very and believe to cross the border from malaysia and more bonding will look now knowing the villages and the talk by just straight the district officials on how many cases we have in each village this regional cluster is part of a nationwide rise in cases, infection rates and thailand meeting new peaks less than 3 percent of the

population of been vaccinated so far. while getting his 2nd kind of a shot prime minister prior channel to life is when we have to assess the situation of the news with areas of high risk. moderate. and you have to adjust our explanation plan, but i can assure you that everyone will be vaccination, which will be about a national vaccination campaign, won't kick off until the 7th of june. the government says 70 percent of the population will get vaccinated by the end of the year. meanwhile, bankcorp public transport workers have been queuing for their shots at the cities, new railway hub. their 1st in line at this new vaccination center that will soon open to serve the general public. can drugs room tom is professor of medicine

and director of the covey. 900 maxine program at chill a long com university in thailand and he isn't content to see thailand wait in line to buy vaccines from another country, but instead built up highlands own vaccine production capabilities and he joins us now. professor kia baton, have you with us? case numbers in thailand arising now, isn't that a bit late to start working on a new vaccine now? yeah, i think this is a great question i think is the answer. yes. it's we, we are a bit too late, but if we consider that this is just for the 1st generation vaccine, again, why tie the current? why time? but we go it really for the 2nd generation, lexi and also for the future pandemic. so we believe that by the time that we went in read the make it a while ago. i think most people probably got it to

put in ration. maxine, so we anticipate that a we're working will be a booster of you know, took into it. the new residence. so when you talk about the kind of vaccine, the next generation, what type of vaccine are you actually working on? easy to the technology we are working on right now. is the m on a record platform in collaboration with a friend in in a you can professor do weisman who he's one of the pioneer of money in technology. yeah. and human trials. i believe this starting now. so when do you think the vaccine the booster shot will be available to the public in thailand? it really depends on whether we have to do face pre trial or not.

at the moment that we, we were actually in candidate need to go to right, go to phase one, phase 2 in and fit tree efficacy trial. but what we anticipate in the next few months is that either to the w h or consolidate him or to the us and or other international scientific consortium. we should be able to identify or as to be what be quality of neutralizing protection level. so that the kids is mean at what level of the protect protection tighter going to be and, and that the kid the where the current new doping maxine might not need to go to face tree. so we just have to do 1st one, i did to find the right dose and safety and then go to phase 2, right,

and look at and look at the safety data to look at the efficacy. so in that case, we should be, we should have this 2nd generation vaccine at the booster to be a while or well by q. want. if we don't need to do face tree is going to like you, i keep my fingers crossed, that you can skip phase 3, but nevertheless, it becomes very clear that developing a new vaccine takes time and it also takes money as a vaccine developer, what did you make of this current an ongoing debate about peyton's waving. yeah, i think that in the whole will really come up with the agreement, which is a dollar poet right. well, the soon in term of whipping that income up in patton issue, i think, doing depend, emmy. ideally, if licensing issue can be read. i think the waxing developer in particular in the

low median income country can be more widely fast and muskrat. anyhow, right now, what we have to do is we have to go with the licensing and it's going to take time, right? right, to take time for sure. you're right. and, and, and partnerships also help from what i understand. they're in asia, home grown, m r n a vaccines already undergoing trials currently in china, in india. and in japan, thailand is a relative new come up with rolled, you expect tie vaccines to play in the region. yeah i, i think, as i mentioned earlier that for the 1st generation bank is going to be a lot of supplying, coming out. i think i would say maybe always apply in the, in, by next year. so what we m right now is really we m for the 2nd and 3rd

generation vaccine. and we hope that with some collaboration with the regional country that also have the same go to get access to him on the ranks in technology. so probably we can work it out to get it and be working with some country in this region as well. all right, and of course the next pandemic is probably just around the corner, not too soon, hopefully. processing kids. thank you so much for your time and all the best for you back. yeah, thank you very much. yes. sadly, this always next pandemic. so what can we learn from previous ones? time to ask derek. paul. oh, how did the spanish flu pandemic, and even without treatments or vaccine,

the insulin dependent, to begin shimmering the world and 1918 is thought to have been factored around a 3rd of the global population in the space of a couple of years. and though it's possible to pin down exact numbers, most calculations estimated claimed between 50 and a 100000000 victims. now that's as many or more as those later killed in the 2nd world war from them. by 920, the spanish flu seem to fade away. the pen damage just trailed off and nobody at the time. could really explain why the ologist and historians now believe the beginning of the end of the flu pandemic occur done because in the absence of vaccine, that's how long it took to achieve a measure of global heard protection through infection. but it came at or for renders twice a disease,

killing the same percentage of people today would take hundreds of millions of lives. an interesting aspect of this historical narrative is that experts say, even though the pandemic ended in the early 920 the virus because it didn't disappear on. instead, it looks like in unity and large parts of the population, drove it to mutate into a less virulent form. in fact, researchers who analyzed genomes of modern flu viruses have identified genetic traces linking to the original 1918 virus, which has been c. ques from century old, long south this. so in a way, the pathogen that call such devastation back then is still with us today. it's just evolved into less virulent forms that occasionally been involved further back into

deadlier variance and strains, though so far, never as deadly as its ancestor and, and many experts project, something similar could occur with source covey to me . and that's all for today for me and him. and glenn, thanks for watching. stay safe. the the the news, the news, the news

the the the, the, the the to the point. strong opinions, clear positions, international perspective. up to 80 percent of people in japan say that are opposed to the upcoming tokyo olympics. among other problems, the health risk is far too great. so our joint events like the pizza thing? well, i guess to say on to the point to point the way through d w in good shape. do you want to strengthen your body

without having too much equipment? how about the sport is in and it train the whole body? it's also various factors that preventing injuries, reactive training, 90 minutes on d, w. o. how does a virus spread? why do we panic by and when will all this 3 of the topics that we've covered and i weekly radio if you would like any for information on the cronan virus or any other to find topics, you should really check out our podcast. you can get it wherever you get your

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this is the to the news line from berlin. when of germany's leading catholic figures offers his resignation to the pope cardinal reinhardt marks the archbishop of munich says he has to share responsibility for the catastrophe of sexual abuse by clerics over the past decades. also coming up, police arrest a prominent hong kong activists on the anniversary of the p.