■ TOURISM
Science park does well
The Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) posted NT$100.39 billion (US$3.1 billion) in sales for July and August, the highest level ever recorded by the park for a two-month period, tallies released on Friday showed. The amount marked an increase of 13.26 percent over May and June and a rise of 40.33 percent over the same period last year, park officials said. For the first eight months of this year, turnover topped NT$330 billion, or 63.71 percent of the target set by the park for this year. The officials attributed the performance in July and August to a strong growth momentum in the semiconductor and photonics industries.
■ DEVELOPMENT
Park's future looks bright
Output at Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park is expected to reach at least NT$18 billion (US$545.5 million) within 10 years, the Ministry of the Interior's Construction and Planning Administration (CPA) said yesterday. CPA officials said the first stage of construction at the park had been completed and estimated that 20 manufacturers would be stationed in the park by the end of this year. Within six years, 120 manufacturers will have entered the park, providing 8,000 jobs and boosting the southern job market, they said. The construction of amenities such as banks, a post office, telecommunications, eateries and supermarkets will be completed in May, they said.
■ HEALTH
FDA clears AIDS drug
A new AIDS treatment made by Merck & Co, the first in a new class of drugs aimed at preventing replication of the virus, has been approved by US regulators, Merck said on Friday. The drug will be available in about two weeks, Merck said. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared Isentress, a pill given twice a day and known generically as raltegravir. An FDA advisory panel recommended approval of the drug last month. It was the first in a new class of HIV treatments called integrase inhibitors that seek to block insertion of HIV genetic material into human DNA.
■ MINING
Japanese firms join efforts
Two Japanese mining firms will invest as much as US$1.7 billion in jointly developing copper production bases in Peru and Chile to secure supplies amid growing demand worldwide, a report said yesterday. Nippon Mining and Metals Co and Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co will build the facilities by 2011 to produce up to 250,000 tonnes of copper ore a year, the Nikkei Shimbun reported. The project will be undertaken by Pan Pacific Copper Co, a joint copper smelting venture set up by the two firms last year. It will be the biggest nonferrous metal mining endeavor by Japanese companies, the report said.
■ AVIATION
AirAsia X sells stakes
Malaysia's first long-haul budget carrier, AirAsia X, will sell a 10 percent stake each to Japan's Orix Group and Bahrain's Perigon Capital for a total of US$75 million, a report said yesterday. The deals are part of a second wave of fundraising for fleet expansion as the airline prepares to launch operations next month by flying to Australia's Gold Coast, the Star newspaper said, quoting unidentified people. Two months ago, billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group purchased a 20 percent stake in AirAsia X for an estimated US$7.2 million. AirAsia subsequently bought a 20 percent stake in the long haul carrier.
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