CAL launches flights to Nagoya
Taiwan's leading air carrier, China Airlines (CAL, 華航), said yesterday it would launch a weekly cargo service to Nagoya, Japan starting Feb. 23.
The regular cargo service to Nagoya follows the inauguration of the Central Japan International Airport on Thursday.
"The central Japan and Kansai regions are home to many of Japan's automobile, electronic, telecommunication and textile industries," CAL president Philip Wei (魏幸雄) said.
"The new service will provide more convenient air transportation between central Japan and Taipei, and also through Taiwan to Southeast Asia, Europe and America," Wei said in a statement.
The carrier serves 47 passenger and cargo destinations in 21 countries.
TSMC seeks China investment
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has filed an application with the government to use the 0.18 micron manufacturing technology in its chip production in China, media reports citing unidentified government officials said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is evaluating the chipmaker's application, the Taipei-based reports said.
TSMC, the world's largest supplier of made-to-order chips, last year became the nation's first chipmaker to start production in China. The government won't let TSMC make chips in China with spaces between transistors that are less than 0.25 microns.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Association (台灣半導體協會) wants the government to ease rules on investment in China, asking it to lower the limit to 0.18 microns, the Commercial Times said on Dec. 15, citing association chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁).
Pacific damages nearly NT$5 bn
The Securities and Futures Investors Protection Center yesterday said damage claims from the Pacific Electric Wire and Cable Co (太電) scandal rose to cover 5,000 investors, bringing the total compensation figure close to NT$5 billion.
The two-year-old center has helped 15 groups recover part of their investments through legal means, including the victims of the Procomp Informatics Co (博達科技) and Summit Computer Technology Co (皇統科技) scandals.
The organization said it is closely monitoring the progress of the investigation into United Microelectronics Corp's (UMC, 聯電) alleged illegal ties with China's He Jian Technology (Suzhou) Co (和艦).
China-bound investment down
Approved China-bound investments dropped 1.33 percent last month from a year earlier to hit a total of US$495 million, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Also, a total of 139 applications, which plan to invest US$200,000 in China, were also approved by the ministry's investment commission, to the tune of US$12.9 million.
Over 50 percent of the approved China-bound investments will go to Jiansu Province, while another 27 percent will go to Guangdong Province, the commission said yesterday.
Meanwhile, some 45 percent of the approved China-bound investments will be made by the electronic sector, while 12 percent were submitted by the chemical manufacturing sector.
The commission, in addition, approved 74 overseas investments in January, valued at US$237 million -- a 24.37 percent increase from last January.
NT dollar strengthens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday strengthened against the US dollar to trade at 31.54 against the US dollar. The turnover was $890 million.
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