US special envoy for Iraqi debt, James Baker, will visit Kuwait and Saudi Arabia yesterday after securing promises from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar to waive most of Iraq's debts to the two states.
Baker "had a sucessuful and productive meeting in the UAE and in Qatar on the subject of Iraqi debts," a US administration official accompanying the special envoy said, requesting anonymity.
He said Baker would travel to Kuwait before visiting Saudi Arabia on the same issue.
The UAE announced Tuesday it would write off the bulk of some US$4 billion owed by Iraq to the oil-rich Gulf state.
Earlier Tuesday, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said Qatar would write off most of the debt owed by Iraq but officials in the gas-rich state were mum on the size of the debt.
The US official would not disclose the amount of debt owed to the UAE and Qatar.
"The UAE committed to forgive the vast majority of the Iraqi debts and aid [and] it was ready to begin negotiation quickly," the US official said.
For its part, "Qatar issued a statement stressing that debts reduction in 2004 is critical for Iraqi people to rebuild the country ... Qatar committed to forgive the vast majority of the Iraqi debts and said it will consider forgiving all of its debts," he said.
The US official welcomed the fact that "Qatar is the first announcing the possibility of forgiving all the debts," adding that Baker hailed the move by both states as an "important step forward" while there was "more work to do."
The White House said Monday Baker would visit Saudi Arabia on a trip lasting to today.
Saudi newspapers, quoting official sources, reported in October that Riyadh would only reschedule, not write off, an estimated US$28 billion owed by Iraq.
Saudi Arabia pledged US$1 billion of aid to Iraq at an international donors conference in Madrid in October. Half would be extended through the Saudi Development Fund and the balance used to "finance and guarantee exports to Iraq."
The former secretary of state has already visited Europe and Asia with Washington's message that Iraq's debt hampers US-led efforts to put that country on course for democracy and prosperity.
Earlier this month, Kuwait said Baker was not expected to include the issue of billions of dollars in war reparations Baghdad owes the emirate for its 1990 invasion and subsequent seven-month occupation.
Kuwait has filed compensation claims worth US$170 billion to the UN Compensation Commission, which has already approved some US$37 billion to the emirate and actually paid about US$9 billion.
Unofficial estimates put the amount of Iraq's debt to Kuwait at around US$15 billion without interest.
Most of the Kuwaiti money was given to Baghdad in the 1980s when Iraq was at war with neighboring Iran.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday introduced the company’s latest supercomputer platform, featuring six new chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), saying that it is now “in full production.” “If Vera Rubin is going to be in time for this year, it must be in production by now, and so, today I can tell you that Vera Rubin is in full production,” Huang said during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas. The rollout of six concurrent chips for Vera Rubin — the company’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform — marks a strategic
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
PRECEDENTED TIMES: In news that surely does not shock, AI and tech exports drove a banner for exports last year as Taiwan’s economic growth experienced a flood tide Taiwan’s exports delivered a blockbuster finish to last year with last month’s shipments rising at the second-highest pace on record as demand for artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and advanced computing remained strong, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Exports surged 43.4 percent from a year earlier to US$62.48 billion last month, extending growth to 26 consecutive months. Imports climbed 14.9 percent to US$43.04 billion, the second-highest monthly level historically, resulting in a trade surplus of US$19.43 billion — more than double that of the year before. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) described the performance as “surprisingly outstanding,” forecasting export growth
RSS