■ Forex reserves at record high
The nation's foreign exchange reserves rose to a new record of US$251.14 billion at the end of last month, the central bank said yesterday. The reserves, which trail those of Japan and China, were up from US$246.63 billion in February and US$242.74 billion at the end of January, the central bank said in a statement. The increase mainly reflected returns from foreign exchange reserve management and substantial foreign capital inflows, it said. The reserves rose for a 45th month from US$247 billion in February, according to the central bank in Taipei.
■ Businesses may go to fair
Taiwanese businesses are welcome go to South Korea's Imported Goods Fair 2005, slated to be held from May 10 to May 13 in Seoul, an official of the non-profit Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said yesterday. It is the third year that South Korea's association of exporters has organized the trade fair to help foreign businesses enter the South Korean market. Last year, a total of 131 businesses from countries including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Holland, Poland and Taiwan joined the exhibition, besides 11 South Korean companies, according to the state-funded trade promotion organization. According to statistics released by the fair organizer, during the four-day event last year, nearly 5,000 people visited the trade fair, and the total value of the deals forged by foreign businesses amounted to over US$12 million, with follow-up contracts reaching US$73 million.
■ CPC denies share-buy rumors
Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC, 中油), a state-owned oil refiner, denied a Chinese-language newspaper report that it and rival Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) may buy shares in each other, after state-owned CPC goes public. Any tie-up between CPC and the Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan's biggest diversified industrial company, would dominate the nation's oil-product and petrochemical markets. "Even if we're forming an alliance, we need the approval from the Fair Trade Commission," said Roy Chiu (邱吉雄), a CPC vice president. Spokesmen at the commission weren't available to answer questions, their assistants said. The government aims to reduce its 100 percent stake in CPC to less than 50 percent in two years' time, Wu Kuo-tong (吳國棟), deputy chairman at the Enterprise Commission said on Feb. 18.
■ CPC continues exploration
The Taipei-based China Petroleum Corp (CPC, 中油) will continue its oil exploration efforts overseas, as its 2005 budget for the task has been secured at the Legislative Yuan, a spokesman for the state-run company said yesterday. The CPC official made the remarks after the company's budgets for exploration on land and offshore, totaling NT$1.14 billion (US$46.2 million) and NT$1.459 billion, respectively, cleared the legislature earlier yesterday. The CPC plans to keep searching for oil in Australia, Ecuador, Indonesia, the US and Venezuela, the official said, adding that its oil exploration in these countries is estimated to yield some 18.25 million barrels of oil, racking up some US$300 million in profits for the company. The passage of the budgets have come as good news for the CPC at a time when oil prices are again surging in the international market, he said. Although offshore oil exploration carries risks, he said that it helps the company secure supplies of its own and provides opportunities for reaping greater profits.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last