■ Real Estate
Mortgage subsidies offered
Taiwan plans to offer an additional NT$300 billion (US$9 billion) of subsidized mortgages to homebuyers to boost the island's property market, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing unidentified government officials. Taiwan may announce the package in late May or June. The plan would give homebuyers access to loans that carry an interest rate of about 2.3 percent, the report said. Taiwan's government has provided NT$1.2 trillion of subsidized loans since 2000, the report said. The government's previous loan package of NT$280 billion will be used up in June, the report said.
■ Spaceflight
Company gets rocket license
A California company received the second federal license ever issued to fly a manned rocket on suborbital flights. The Federal Aviation Administration granted XCor Aerospace Inc the license Friday for its Sphinx, a rocket-powered plane still on the drawing board. The license covers up to 35 flights of the yet-to-be-built plane, which should test operation and propulsion concepts for an even later craft that could ferry paying passengers on suborbital flights, according to the FAA. The license is good through 2006. Company chief executive officer Jeff Greason said the license would allow the company to attract investors to the US$2.5 million to US$3 million project. The concept plane could be flying within a year, he said. The two-person, reusable rocket plane is not being designed to fly to space, nor is it intended to be a competitor for the X Prize, he added. The US$10 million, privately funded X Prize will go to the first private effort to launch a manned craft to an altitude of 101km -- generally considered the edge of space -- twice within two weeks.
■ Tourism
Malaysia sees recovery
Malaysia said yesterday it was confident the number of tourists visiting it this year would climb back to the 2002 level of 13.3 million after dropping last year because of SARS and the Iraq war. "In the first three months of this year, Malaysia recorded over 3.9 million tourist arrivals, a growth of 38.4 percent compared to the same period in 2003," Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board director general Abdullah Jonid said. "If this trend continues, we are on our way to achieve the 2002 figures," he was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency. Last year arrivals dipped to 10.5 million from 13.3 million in 2002 due to jitters over the Iraqi war and the deadly SARS outbreak in the region, he said. However, since January there has been a steady influx of visitors which could put the tourism sector -- the country's second largest foreign exchange earner -- back on track, he said.
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