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■ Chinatrust wins awards
Asiamoney, part of Euromoney Institutional Investor in Hong Kong, presented a slew of awards to Taiwanese banks yesterday, with Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀) winning six awards, the most among its local rivals.
The winners were selected based on the results of a survey that polled over 3,000 companies across the Asian Pacific region, according to the capital market periodical.
Among the leading awards, Chinatrust Commercial won "best domestic bank," "best domestic providers of foreign exchange services" and "best local currency cash management services," Asia-money said.
Asiamoney attributed Chinatrust Commercial's winning streak to its competitiveness in corporate finance, derivatives and foreign exchange businesses, as well as the bank's rising market presence after the acquisition of Grand Commercial Bank (萬通銀行) in 2003 and Fengshan Credit Cooperative (鳳山信合社) in 2004.
Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) was awarded the "best domestic provider for local currency products in structured interest-rate products," the magazine said.

■ Swiss watches still popular
Taiwanese fascination with Swiss watches remains high, with the country importing NT$3.35 billion (US$102.1 million) in Swiss watches in the first six months of this year, up 18.4 percent from the same period last year.
According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Taiwan maintained its ranking as the 12th-largest importer of Swiss watches in the world over the first six months of this year.
China imported US$150 million worth of Swiss watches in the first half, making it the 11th-largest importer. However growth was only 8 percent -- far lower than the 35 percent recorded last and the 58 percent in 2004.
The largest importer of Swiss watches is still the US, followed by Hong Kong and Japan.

■ Fujitsu launches new tablet PC
Fujitsu Taiwan Ltd on Thursday launched its latest tablet PC, hoping to cash in on a growing market.
"There are untapped clients for the tablet PCs in Taiwan, especially among medical, logistics and insurance firms," said Frank Hsieh (謝秀逸), the company's product manager at the launch.
The new LifeBook T4210 is said to be the first tablet PC to incorporate a bi-directional hinge on the screen, enabling users to turn it 180 degrees either clockwise or anti-clockwise.
The machine has a 12.1-inch display, 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo Processor T2400, built in DVD writer and 80 gigabyte hard drive, ideal for those always on the road and prefer the convenience of a notebook combined with the features of a tablet PC.
The unit retails at NT$82,800 (US$2,522).

■ UBS rates Motech `buy 2'
Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), Taiwan's largest producer of solar cells, has been rated "buy 2" in new coverage by UBS AG, which cited the company's strong earnings.
"We are positive about Motech's fundamentals and share price outlook," UBS analyst Seung Shin wrote in a report yesterday, describing the company as an "attractive hedge against rising oil prices."
UBS has a 12-month price target of NT$644 on the stock. Motech shares rose 1.3 percent to close at NT$475 in Taipei. The stock is up 74 percent this year, compared with a 1.2 percent gain in the 291-member TAIEX Electronics sub-index.

■ NT dollar remains weak
The New Taiwan dollar remained weak against its US counterpart yesterday, dropping NT$0.021 to close at NT$32.936 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$635 million.

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