ECONOMY
IMF has doubts about Greece
The IMF has growing doubts about Greece’s long-term ability to reduce its debts, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. According to an IMF note obtained by the magazine, Greece must accelerate consolidation of public debts or else private creditors will see smaller and smaller returns. The IMF also envisions greater participation from eurozone countries in saving Greece. Greece, with a population of just 12 million, is more than 350 billion euros (US$448 billion) in debt and facing its fifth straight year of recession. The IMF slammed a lack of reforms in the country, saying tax revenues and money from a privatization drive were lower than expected. Greece is expected to register a 5.5 percent contraction of its GDP last year.
PETROLEUM
Peru to invest in Venezuela
The presidents of Venezuela and Peru have reached an agreement for the Peruvian state oil company to invest in development of Venezuela’s eastern Orinoco oil belt. Venezuela’s state oil monopoly will study a possible role in developing a petrochemical complex in Peru as well as helping Peru increase its production of heavy and extra heavy crude oil. The formal agreement came during a meeting on Saturday between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Peruvian President Ollanta Humala. Later, representatives of the two governments signed agreements establishing mechanisms for transportation, storage, refining and marketing of hydrocarbons. Other pacts cover the sale in Peru of tractors and other farm implements made in Venezuela.
SWITZERLAND
Central bank to revise rules
The central bank said on Saturday that it will revise regulations on transactions by its top officials amid controversy over the role of its president in private currency deals conducted as he led efforts to soften the Swiss franc. The Swiss National Bank said its supervisory body, the bank council, decided to embark on a “comprehensive revision” of regulations concerning “own-account transactions involving financial instruments” by members of its six-member enlarged governing board. That review will be conducted with help from external specialists, a bank statement said, calling for draft regulations to be submitted “as soon as possible.”
PETROLEUM
Iran to up Japan’s shipments
Iran plans to increase daily crude oil exports to Japan to 240,000 barrels this year, the Tehran Times said, citing Mohsen Qamsari, head of international affairs at the state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. Iran’s oil exports to Japan declined by 100,000 barrels a day last year, Qamsari said, without giving an export figure. He cited Japan’s decision to reduce oil imports to 3.5 million barrels a day from 5.5 million barrels earlier.
BANKING
China to focus on risk
China Banking Regulatory Commission Chairman Shang Fulin (尚福林) said the regulator would focus on risk prevention and control this year, particularly potential credit and liquidity risks and prevent the spreading of off balance sheet risks. China’s banking sector environment will be “more complicated and competitive” this year, Shang said in a work meeting, according to a statement posted on its Web site yesterday. The regulator will strengthen financial services support to small enterprises, continue reform of policies and support the development of western and central regions, the statement said.
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],”