■TRADE
ECCT re-elects chairman
The European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) re-elected Philippe Pellegrin as chairman of its board of directors on Friday at its annual general meeting. Pellegrin, who has been on the ECCT board for three years, serving as treasurer in his first year and now chairman, acclaimed this year as one of the group’s best years ever. ECCT membership increased by 22 member companies and 50 individual members to a record high of 702 individual members this year, Pellegrin said, and the group also was able to organize meetings with government officials at all levels. Pellegrin, the senior country officer of Calyon Taiwan, said the new board will hit the ground running next week when ECCT members meet with Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) to discuss how European companies can work with the government to stimulate Taiwan’s economy.
■INDIA
Bank cuts interest rates
The central bank cut its two key interest rates by 100 basis points each yesterday to spur economic growth and counter fallout from the global financial crisis. The Reserve Bank of India reduced its repo rate — the rate at which it lends to commercial banks — to 6.5 percent and its reverse repo rate to 5.0 percent. The rate cuts were part of a wider stimulus package to bolster India’s trillion-dollar economy, which has been hit by the global recession and shaken further by last week’s deadly attacks in the financial capital Mumbai.
■BANKING
ANZ to cut 800 workers
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), the nation’s fourth-largest, will cut 800 workers, or 2 percent of its workforce, amid a global economic downturn. Chief executive officer Mike Smith told staff at a briefing on Friday of the job losses, Kevin Foley, a spokesman for Melbourne-based ANZ, said yesterday by telephone. ANZ said on Nov. 14 that more than 500 jobs would be cut to cushion the company from the impact of the global credit crisis. Royal Bank of Scotland Plc is also cutting between 120 and 150 workers from the Australian unit of ABN Amro Holding NV, which it acquired this year, the Australian Financial Review said yesterday.
■INTERNET
Microsoft still wants Yahoo
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Friday the US software giant remained interested in acquiring Yahoo’s search business and would rather do a deal “sooner than later.” in an interview published in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal, Ballmer said: “I think a search deal makes great sense for Microsoft, and Yahoo. I think I’ve been very open about that.” Asked by the newspaper whether the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft and Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo were in talks, Ballmer replied: “The answer is no, but I wouldn’t tell you if there were.”
■AIRLINES
Lufthansa acquires Austrian
Lufthansa AG signed a deal in Vienna to buy 41.65 percent of Austrian Airlines from Austria’s state holding OeIAG on Friday, creating Europe’s biggest airline. The debt-ridden flag carrier will be sold for the token price of 366,000 euros (US$465,000), OeIAG confirmed in a statement, while Austria will inject 500 million euros into the company. The German carrier plans to take over 100 percent of Austrian Airlines, first through the privatization, and then through buying free-floating shares. The closing of the deal still depends on approval from the European Commission, which is expected for next spring.
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