Cathay United selling plot
Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), the banking arm of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), has scheduled an auction for next Tuesday to liquidate its collateral office building on Zhongshan N Road in Taipei.
The bank has set a floor price of NT$1.5 billion (US$45.6 million) for the 11-story building, which sits on a 294-ping (971m²) plot of land and with total floor space of approximately 2,600 ping. That represents a price of NT$5.1 million per ping, its exchange filing said on Monday.
The bank said several potential buyers had expressed interest in taking part in the bid, which local realtors said is expected to hike up the closing price to between NT$1.6 billion and NT$1.77 billion, or between NT$5.5 million and NT$6 million per ping.
HTC to launch Android model
HTC Corp (宏達電), which manufactures the world’s first handset running on Google’s Android system, said yesterday it is scheduled to launch a new Android phone early next month in Europe, targeting the mass market.
HTC Tattoo is the company’s third Android-based smartphone following HTC Hero in February and HTC Dream late last year.
The new phone integrates Google’s innovative mobile services, including Google Maps, search, Google Mail and Android market, where users can download thousands of popular applications and games.
It also comes with a variety of hardware features including a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, 3.5mm stereo headset jack and expandable microSD memory.
Sanyang inks deal
China’s leading passenger van maker yesterday signed an agreement with vehicle manufacturer Sanyang Industry (三陽工業) to set up what would be the first cross-strait auto venture, a report said.
Under the “letter of intent,” Xiamen Golden Dragon Van Co (廈門金龍集團) and Sanyang said they would invest “several billion” NT dollars to manufacture buses, other vehicles and parts in Taiwan, the Central News Agency said.
If realized, the deal would mark the first time automakers from China have opened up a new company in Taiwan to tap the global bus market, it said.
The two partners said they were still in talks on details of the joint venture, including on the location of the new plant.
China to issue bonds in HK
China will for the first time issue sovereign yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong later this month in an effort to strengthen the territory’s financial status, the country’s finance ministry announced yesterday.
A joint announcement by China and Hong Kong authorities said some 6 billion yuan (US$878 million) in bonds will be issued on Sept. 28.
The decision is aimed at helping Hong Kong develop its yuan trading and promoting its development, the statement said.
“This measure has significant impact on promoting the depth and breadth of the Hong Kong bond market and strengthening Hong Kong’s position as an international financial center,” it said.
NT dollar gains for fourth day
The New Taiwan dollar gained for a fourth day, the longest winning streak in a month, after exports declined less than economists expected last month, spurring investor appetite for stocks.
The NT dollar strengthened 0.3 percent to NT$32.760 versus the greenback as of the 4pm close, Taipei Forex Inc said.
The currency earlier touched NT$32.730, the highest level since Aug. 10.
Volume traded reached US$1.3 billion, the most since June 2.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day