CANADA
Firms urged to raise wages
The government said on Friday that companies should raise wages to encourage more people to apply for unfilled jobs, saying the freeze it imposed this week on restaurants hiring temporary foreign workers is a wake-up call for all employers. The moratorium is on foreign hires in food-service businesses only. It follows media reports that McDonald’s restaurants turned away qualified locals, while using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to fill job openings. The program was designed to let employers go outside the country for new hires when unable to find locals to do the job.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford posts lower profit
Ford Motor Co posted a lower-than-expected first-quarter profit on Friday as the No. 2 US automaker reported US$400 million in higher warranty costs in North America, sending shares down more than 3 percent. Across the auto industry, safety recalls and warranty costs have received increasing attention as cars have become more complex and loaded with technology, Ford chief financial officer Bob Shanks said. While Ford adjusts its warranty reserves every quarter, the total was larger in the first quarter because the company has dealt with more field service actions, such as recalls and addressing customer complaints over the past two years, Shanks said. Net income fell 39 percent to US$989 million, or US$0.24 cents a share, from US$1.61 billion, or US$0.40 a share, the year before.
RATINGS
Agencies upbeat on Europe
Agencies gave a broadly upbeat assessment of the eurozone’s creditworthiness on Friday, contrasting sharply with the reviews of recent years and reflecting growing confidence in the region’s fiscal and economic recovery. On a day of credit updates scheduled for three of the region’s top four economies, Standard & Poor’s affirmed its ratings on France and Fitch raised its outlook on Italy and upgraded Spain. S&P also raised its rating on Cyprus, suggesting the recovery is spreading to the peripheral regions left most exposed to the eurozone’s financial crisis. The upgrade was its second of the bailed-out country, since it came close to financial collapse last year. Fitch improved by one notch Spain’s sovereign credit rating to “BBB+,” three steps above “junk.” Fitch also boosted its outlook on Italy to stable, with the sovereign rating affirmed at “BBB+.” That followed an upgrade earlier this month of its outlook on bailed-out Portugal to positive from negative.
AUTOMAKERS
Peugeot injection approved
Shareholders of French auto giant Peugeot Citroen on Friday approved a capital injection of 3 billion euros (US$4.15 billion) in a move that hands partial control to Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor (東風汽車) and the French state. Under the deal, Dongfeng and the French state would contribute 1.048 billion euros in capital. The second part of the injected funds reaching 1.952 billion euros would come from all of the group’s shareholders, including the French state and Dongfeng. France and Chinese state-controlled Dongfeng would then hold 14 percent of the company each, on par with the Peugeot family.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI