■ Taipower turns to solar panels
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), the nation's biggest electricity generator, plans to spend NT$3.57 billion (US$108 million) installing solar panels as the government aims to reduce dependency on energy imports.
The project, pending the approval of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, will increase Taipower's capacity by 10 megawatts, or 71 times, by 2011, Yu Shang-hsiung (余勝雄), Taipower's development director, said over the telephone yesterday.
Taipower's solar power capacity is 140 kilowatts, Yu said.
■ Nation ranks 19th in survey
The nation's potential competitiveness ranked 19th among the world's 50 major economies last year, up two notches from the previous year to share position with South Korea, the results of a survey released yesterday by the Japan Center for Economic Research showed.
The top tspots went to Hong Kong, Singapore and the US, in that order, while Japan took 12th and China ranked 35th.
Among the eight criteria of the survey, Taiwan ranked the 18th in internationalization, 25th in business efficiency, 16th in education, 18th in financial system, 43rd in government efficiency, seventh in technological development, sixth in social infrastructure and 13th in information technology, the survey said.
■ NT drops against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday,declining NT$0.032 to close at NT$32.970 on turnover of US$941 million.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
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