LOANS
Banks beat lending target
Under a special program in cooperation with the government, Taiwanese banks had lent NT$235.5 billion (US$76.4 billion) to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as of the end of August, already beating this year’s target of NT$150 billion, the Financial Supervisory Commission said on Friday. Total loans to SMEs had reached NT$3.44 trillion by the end of August since the special SME financing program was launched in July 2005, accounting for 43.71 percent of total business loans, the commission said. According to the commission, the accumulated loans to SMEs marked an increase of NT$1.73 trillion, or 45.34 percent, over the amount before the implementation of the special credit program.
LABOR
Young Fast following rules
The company accused by local media of illegally employing Chinese workers in Taiwan did not violate government regulations, the Investment Commission said on Friday. The commission said that Young Fast Optoelectronics Co (洋華) filed six applications to host 101 technicians from its manufacturing operations in China for technical training in Taiwan over the past nine months. All of the technicians came to Taiwan to learn advanced touch-panel manufacturing and processing procedures, the commission said. Although they were approved to stay 60 or 70 days, the first two groups — one of five people and the other of 20 — returned to China after 29 days and 59 days respectively, according to the commission. The other four groups are still receiving training.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Meridia leaving US shelves
US pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories on Friday said it was pulling its obesity drug Meridia from the US market after European tests found the key ingredient increased the risk of serious heart problems. The withdrawal was being made at the request of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Abbott said in a statement. The FDA requested the withdrawal after reviewing a cardiovascular safety study ordered by European regulators following the approval in Europe of the drug, both Abbott and the FDA said. European regulators suspended the license of Meridia in January.
MINING
Sinochem seeks assurances
China’s Sinochem (中國中化) is seeking assurances from the Canadian government that its bid to acquire Potash Corp will be “fairly considered,” before it proceeds, a major Canadian daily said on Friday. “Sinochem won’t proceed with a bid for the world’s largest fertilizer firm unless it receives a positive signal from Ottawa,” the Globe and Mail said, citing sources close to the state-owned enterprise. A consortium led by Sinochem is considering mounting a rival offer that would top a US$40 billion hostile takeover bid by Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton in August.
COMPUTERS
US newspapers back Galaxy
The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and USA Today are among news organizations planning to offer news applications for Samsung’s Galaxy tablet computer, an iPad rival, the Journal said on Friday. The newspaper said the news organizations are seeking to line up behind a new tablet device in order to broaden readership beyond owners of the popular Apple product. Seen as Samsung’s answer to the iPad, the South Korean company has not yet provided pricing details of the device.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”