■ Investment sought for zones
The Ministry of Economic Affairs' Economic Processing Zone Administration is scheduled to hold three conferences, starting next week, to attract more investment in the nation's five economic processing zones, Chou Yan (周嚴), director of the administration, told a press conference yesterday.
Chou said the administration is committed to transforming the zones into industrial parks for the semiconductor and optoelectronics sectors, helping to cut operation costs and improve efficiency for companies.
As a result, for the first three months of the year, investment in the zones reached nearly NT$8.52 billion (US$258 million), a 29-percent increase from the same period last year, Chou said.
■ Airlines' sales increase
China Airlines (華航) said that last month's sales rose 13.4 percent from a year ago to NT$7.2 billion, according to a Taiwan Stock Exchange statement.
Sales rose from NT$6.3 billion in March last year. They rose from NT$6.7 billion in February.
EVA Airways Corp (長榮) posted record sales of NT$65.39 billion for last year on the strength of a global recovery. The airline said its sales last year were up from the NT$64.58 billion registered in 2002, although net profit was down to NT$1.4 billion last year from NT$2.64 billion the year before.
■ Job offers for grads rise
Job offers for inexperienced graduates this year rose 75 percent compared to last year, though only 31.1 percent of graduates decided to enter the job market, a slide of 20.6 percent, the Internet-based 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said yesterday.
The job bank's chairman, Rocky Yang (楊基寬), urged the graduates who have not decided to pursue further studies to snatch the opportunities brought about by the economic rebound this year.
As many as 87 percent of university graduates and 73.8 percent of postgraduates were worried about employment after graduation, according to the job bank.
Although 69.5 percent of university graduates regarded further study as a way to enhance their competitiveness in the job market, up to 53.3 percent of postgraduates still saw themselves as lacking in professional qualifications.
■ Mega Financial's rating raised
Mega Financial Holdings Co (兆豐金控), Taiwan's second-biggest financial services company, had its long-term credit rating raised by Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評), a local arm of Standard & Poor's.
The Taipei-based lender's upgrade reflects "the group's strong market position in Taiwan's financial services industry, good capitalization and above-average asset quality," a statement said.
■ Tokyo office to open
The government-funded Institute for Information Industry (III, 資策會) is to open an office in Tokyo on April 17, III vice president Lo Teh-ho (羅德和) said Thursday.
The office, to be shared with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院), the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中經院) and the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (電電公會), will be staffed by a few workers from the III, according to Lo.
The institute's task is to encourage Japanese information firms to purchase Taiwan's goods, set up research and development centers in Taiwan and transfer technology to Taiwanese counterparts, Lo said.
■ NT dollar falls
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday moved down against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.030 to close at NT$32.940 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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