Brunei topped the list of Asia's richest economies by per capita income and Hong Kong emerged as the biggest spender, according to a study released yesterday.
Nepal, meanwhile, was the region's poorest by both measures.
The report by regional statistical agencies, coordinated by the Asian Development Bank, showed wide disparities in Asia's living standards.
It found that the tiny, oil-rich sultanate of Brunei has a per capita GDP 13 times higher than the regional average of US$2,621, and more than 40 times larger than the lowest-ranked Nepal.
Brunei is followed by Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Apart from Nepal, the poorest have-nots include Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Laos.
The study included 23 countries, excluding Japan, South Korea and East Timor.
India, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, has a per capita income of US$1,551, still behind the regional average and also below Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
China, meanwhile, ranked above average with its per capita income of US$2,986.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong residents were the biggest spenders, according to a measure of household living standards known as the per capita actual final consumption expenditure index. Taiwan and Brunei came in second and third.
The study, called 2005 International Comparison Program in Asia and the Pacific: Purchasing Power Parity and Real Expenditure, is part of a global initiative spearheaded by the World Bank that allows cross-country comparison of purchasing powers of currencies and living standards.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS