■ WTO talks encouraged
Business leaders attending the conference of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in Taipei yesterday voiced deep concern about the state of the WTO's Doha development agenda negotiations. They urged WTO members to resume the talks as soon as possible, the ABAC said in a statement.
ABAC chairman Hernan Somerville said that there was concern in business circles because there had been no clear signals from governments that the WTO negotiations would be resumed in the near future.
"This lack of progress jeopardizes prospects for sustained economic growth and development throughout the APEC region," Somerville said in the statement.
The four-day ABAC conference concluded yesterday, with Somerville highlighting the need to enhance coherence and consistency between global, regional and bilateral trade policy.
He said ABAC will deliver a range of trade recommendations to the meeting of APEC trade ministers in Chile in early June.
■ CAL receives new freighters
China Airlines (華航) took delivery of two additional freight planes this week to meet the strong global demand for air cargo transportation, the nation's largest international carrier said in a statement yesterday.
One of the new jets is a self-owned Boeing 747-400F and the other is an MD-11F with a one-year "wet lease" term from World Airways, which means the plane is leased together with a crew.
The two new jets will enable the airline to add cargo flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas and Seattle in the US, the statement said.
■ LG bidders picked
Taiwan's Yuanta Core Pacific Securities (元大京華證券) and South Korea's second-largest banking firm, Woori Financial Group, were yesterday picked as preferred bidders for LG Investment and Securities, officials said.
Korea Development Bank (KDB), a key LG creditor in charge of the sale, said it would select a final winning bidder between Woori and Yuanta by next month.
Five weeks of negotiations, including a three-week due diligence process, would follow before a final contract is signed next month, KDB said.
About 10 foreign and domestic firms were reported to have been interested in the 21.2 percent stake in LG Investment and Securities.
KDB officials said Woori and Yuanta were almost equal in terms of their bids.
■ Removal of tariffs proposed
The Ministry of Economic Affairs on Thursday decided to suggest that the Ministry of Finance remove anti-dumping tariffs on imports of some steel goods from three countries, on the grounds that they do not pose a threat to the domestic steel industry.
The International Trade Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded an investigation showing that imports of H-beam girders from Poland, Russia and South Korea would cause no more damage to domestically produced goods if the anti-dumping tariffs are removed.
Citing the results of the investigation, the official reported that domestic products now enjoy a bigger market share in Taiwan and that local companies are making greater profits.
The commission will pass on the results of the probe to the Ministry of Finance, which make a final decision within 10 days of receiving the report.
■ NT dollar dragged down
In line with a weak Japanese yen, the NT dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, falling NT$0.042 to close at NT$33.663 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$1.068 billion.
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