■ New service to help exports
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday launched a new service that assists local manufacturers of electrical and electronic products to build a "green supply chain" to help them smooth the way for exports to Europe, which will implement stricter environmental protection rules in July next year. The new rules include the EU's Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment released on February 2003, and the Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The affected substances include cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury, and two anti-flame materials -- polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) said she expected the new service would allow the nation's manufacturers to proudly say in international markets that "Taiwan exports are free of problems." Taiwan exported NT$240 billion (US$7.6 billion) in electrical and electronic goods to Europe last year, the ministry said.
■ Chip firm secures loan
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufact-uring Co (台積電) has succeeded in having Bank of America Securities Asia Ltd arrange a US$200 million, five-year loan for its unit in Shanghai, the International Financing Review reported. It was the company's first syndicated loan since December 2000, when it raised US$200 million, the report said, without identifying where it obtained the information. Hsinchu-based Taiwan Semiconductor is the world's largest supplier of made-to-order computer chips.
■ Travel agents getting excited
Travel agencies in Shanghai are rolling up their sleeves in preparation for the opportunities presented by Beijing's recent decision to allow Chinese nationals to visit Taiwan for sightseeing and leisure purposes. A number of tourist agencies from Shanghai are scheduled to visit Taiwan early next month for a week-long stay, during which they will "sample" Taiwan's tourist attractions for potential Chinese holidaymakers, said Chang Tai-sheng, the executive director of the Shanghai-based Taiwan Leisure Trip Association. Chang said that his association was organizing a full tour of the island for the travel agents to allow them to gain a better understanding of tourist attractions and places that Chinese tourists may be interested in visiting. In response to Beijing's relaxed policy, Taiwan is planning to allow as many as 1,000 Chinese tourists to enter Taiwan per day for stays of up to 10 days.
■ Report `out of context'
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), the nation's third-biggest mobile-phone operator by subscribers, said a newspaper report stating that Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc may raise its stake to 15 percent from 4.9 percent in the company was "misleading." The report cited Far EasTone chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東). Hsu could not be reached by phone or e-mail for immediate comment. "The news report is misleading and totally out of context," Far EasTone spokeswoman Yvonne Lan (藍綺萍) said in a telephone interview from Taipei. "We've heard of no details that can confirm the report," DoCoMo spokesman Masanori Goto said from Tokyo. "We have no plans now of raising our stake."
■ NT dollar declines
The New Taiwan dollar declined against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, losing NT$0.088 to close at NT$31.407. A total of US$700 million changed hands during the trading session.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six