■ Taiwan to be No.1 LCD maker
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and other local makers of liquid-crystal displays will help the country overtake South Korea this year as the world's largest supplier, researcher DisplaySearch said.
AU Optronics, the nation's largest producer, rivals Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) and three other LCD makers will ship 42 percent of the world's LCDs this year compared with about 41 percent for South Korea, DisplaySearch Taiwan president Wang Chien-erh (王建二) said.
The Taiwan-based manufacturers will account for 49 percent of the US$9.4 billion in global spending on LCD-making equipment this year, Wang said.
South Korean makers will account for 27 percent of global spending, compared with a quarter last year.
■ Sunrise may close Hsinyi unit
Sunrise Department Store (中興百貨) may shut down its Hsinyi outlet in the end of April due to high rentals, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.
The store, located near the Yungchun MRT station on Chunghsiao East Road, Sec 5, was called Paris Paris Department Store before it was taken over by Sunrise in June 2002.
Despite the impact of SARS in the second quarter last year, the store's annual sales last year were NT$1.15 billion, an increase of 43.8 percent from the previous year, the paper said.
The paper said Sunrise decided to close the store because landlord of the commercial entity, the Derjie Group (德杰集團), attempted to raise rental by an unspecific level with which Sunrise didn't agree.
Derjie is the owner and manager of the New York, New York shopping mall.
■ UK scientific adviser to visit
David King, chief scientific adviser to the British government, is scheduled to arrive in Taipei tomorrow for a two-day trip to promote more cooperation between Taiwanese companies and institutions and their counterparts in the UK, a statement from the British Trade and Cultural Office said yesterday.
King plans to follow up on a memorandum of understanding signed by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the National Science Council (NSC) in March 2001 with NSC chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和).
King is also scheduled to meet with Academica Sinica President Lee Yuan-tse (李遠哲), and National Taiwan University president Chen Wei-chao (陳維昭) to discuss potential areas of partnership in the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology and electronics, the statement said.
■ New chairman named
Yuan Chun-tang (苑竣唐) was elected chairman yesterday of Pacific Electric Wire and Cable Co (太平洋電線電纜), the nation's biggest copper-wire maker.
The company's board yesterday also appointed Lee Chao-chun (李超群) as chief executive officer.
Over the last three years the company has invested in scores of new businesses including telecommunications and high-tech firms.
Former chairman Jack Sun (孫道存) stepped down last December after the company declared NT$24.8 billion (US$734 million) in losses. Shareholders accused him of embezzling company assets.
To settle the debts, Sun was forced to sell off shares of Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大), a profitable mobile phone company owned by the group
■ NT dollar dips
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday continued to lose ground against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.002 to close at NT$33.301 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$569 million.
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The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by