Chinese bank issues bonds
The Taipei branch of China-based Bank of Communications Ltd (交通銀行) yesterday issued four tranches of yuan-denominated bonds valued at 2 billion yuan (US$32.52 million), according to local bond market operator GRETAI Securities Market (GTSM).
The Chinese bank’s yuan bonds include a two-year tranche worth 200 million yuan with a coupon rate of 3.3 percent and a five-year tranche valued at 900 million yuan with a 3.75 coupon rate. The other two are a seven-year tranche worth 700 million yuan with a 3.9 percent coupon rate and a 10-year tranche valued at 200 million with a 4 percent coupon rate
Meanwhile, Natixis SA is scheduled to issue a tranche of US dollar-denominated bonds in Taiwan today. The French bank will issue US$295 million in corporate bonds with a maturity of 30 years and a zero coupon rate, the GTSM said, adding that investors are expected to receive a return of 4.67 percent.
MOF tightens hybrid tax cuts
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) yesterday tightened tax cut requirements for expensive hybrid electric vehicles on the grounds that they do little to promote green transportation.
Starting immediately, only hybrid electric cars priced under NT$1 million (US$32,110) and with carbon emissions lower than 120kg per kilometer will qualify for the 50 percent cut in sales tax, the ministry said.
In addition, they must meet engine displacement and fuel consumption requirements to qualify for the tax cut.
The tightening came after complaints that large expensive hybrid electric cars produce more carbon emissions than traditional cars.
Microsoft announces alliance
Microsoft Taiwan Corp (台灣微軟) yesterday announced the formation of an alliance with industrial computer supplier Advantech Co (研華科技) to build the first wireless Internet of Things solutions to embed a cloud platform in Asia.
Microsoft Taiwan said in a statement that the platform combines its Microsoft Azure cloud system and Advantech’s remote software management tool SUSIAccess, aiming to expand the business opportunities brought by the Internet of Things era.
The company said that the platform enables Microsoft Azure cloud system to analyze the data gathered from SUSIAccess.
DHL opens 650 service outlets
Deutsche Post DHL, one of the world’s leading mail and logistics services groups, announced yesterday that it has added 650 service locations in Taiwan at state-run Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) branches to fulfill customers’ peak pre-holiday season shipping needs.
DHL’s expansion of service locations will serve to provide greater accessibility and convenience to local customers and small and medium-sized enterprises, in addition to its neighborhood-based services at thousands of 7-Eleven convenience stores accepting documents, for their deliveries during this pre-holiday peak shipping season, the company said in a statement.
Google launches Chromecast
Google Inc yesterday launched its Chromecast device in Taiwan that enables consumers to cast media content such as movies, music and sports from mobile devices or computers to a television screen.
Google has launched its branded Chromecast in 24 markets, including Taiwan. The device is priced at NT$1,390 through stores operated by Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Web portal PChome’s (網路家庭) online shopping site.
Chromecast is a thumb-sized media streaming device that plugs into the HDMI port on a television set to cast the user’s mobile entertainment content or apps to the big screen. With Chromecast, a user’s smartphone or tablet can be used as a personalized remote control for the TV, according to Google.
Chunghwa raises 4G target
Chunghwa Telecom on Wednesday raised its annual target for 4G subscribers on optimism about local consumers’ smooth transitions from older 3G networks.
The nation’s largest telecom now expects to sign up more than 1.3 million 4G users by the end of this year, up from its previous target of 1.2 million, president Shih Mu-piao (石木標) told reporters on the sidelines of a 4G summit in Taipei.
The new target represents a market share of more than 40 percent, he said, as the National Communications Commission has estimated that the country’s 4G accounts will grow to 3 million this year, from 2.1 million users as of the end of October.
Best Buy exits China market
US home appliance giant Best Buy Co is leaving the Chinese market, selling its Five Star Appliance (五星電器) subsidiary there to a local group, the company said late yesterday.
Five Star, which Best Buy acquired in 2006, operates 184 stores in China. It will be bought by real-estate developers the Jiayuan Group (佳源集團).
Best Buy did not disclose terms of the transaction, but said the sale should not have a significant impact on its earnings.
The sale will allow Best Buy to concentrate more on its North American activities, the US company said in a statement.
The company has long been dominant in the US market, but is fighting online outlets which have lured away many of its customers.
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