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■ Taiwan's forgotten fortune
The combined pool of funds held in dormant and orphaned bank accounts in Taiwan's post offices has reached NT$4.1 billion (US$124.65 million), a spokesman for Chunghua Post Co (中華郵政) said yesterday. Chou Wu-hsiung (周武雄), director of the savings department of Chunghua Post, told a press conference that while many of the 3.53 million accounts are apparently orphaned accounts with only small amounts deposited in them, many others have either been forgotten or left behind by account holders who may have died without telling relatives they had such accounts. Chou said most are passbook savings accounts capable of yielding a combined annual interest of NT$20 million, with the 10 largest accounts having balances between NT$8.5 million and NT$3.43 million. Chou said that post offices throughout Taiwan will mail notices to these account holders, beginning with those accounts with deposits exceeding NT$1 million.

■ More men going shopping
Male shoppers are playing a bigger role when deciding where to buy groceries, according to ACNielsen Taiwan's 2005 shopper trend report released on Thursday. The report said 22 percent of the nation's males have become their families' major shoppers in terms of buying daily necessities, growing by one-fifth from a year ago. The survey interviewed 1,015 people between Sept. 8 and Oct. 5 last year to analyze their shopping habits. People's reliance on convenience stores is going stronger, with 94 percent saying they spend money at them every month, up from 92 percent a year ago. Personal cosmetics and drugs stores are getting more popular too, with 35 percent saying they shop at these outlets, up from 33 percent in 2004 and 28 percent in 2003.

■ MCP exporters receive boost
Taiwan exporters of multi-chip packages (MCPs) will be entitled to the zero-tariff privilege provided by the US, the EU and South Korea starting from April 1, an official of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced yesterday. The US, the EU and South Korea signed a multilateral accord with Taiwan, under which they agree to offer domestic MCPs exporters the tariff-free treatment from April 1, the official said. According to the official, Japan has also agreed to reduce customs duties on MCPs exported by Taiwan's manufacturers even though it has not signed the accord with Taiwan. The zero-tariff privilege will benefit the development of Taiwan's semiconductor sector, the official affirmed.

■ Carlyle Group win cable-TV bid
The Carlyle Group won a bid to buy Eastern Multimedia Group's (東森集團) cable-TV and news channels, the Apple Daily said, citing unidentified officials at the company that controls almost a quarter of Taiwan's cable-television market. Carlyle may spend NT$30 billion (US$925 million) on the acquisition, the Apple Daily said. Other bidders included Liberty Media Corp. and Newbridge Capital LLC, the report said. Carlyle and Eastern Multimedia signed a letter of intent on the deal, and the transaction is expected to be completed soon, said the paper. Eastern Multimedia has 1.05 million subscribers in Asia's third-biggest cable-television market. Carlyle is the manager of the biggest US buyout fund.

■ NT dollar climbs
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against its US counterpart on the Taipei foreign exchange market yesterday, rising NT$0.015 to close at NT$32.430. A total of US$713 million changed hands during the day's trading.

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