POSTAL SERVICE
Savings hit NT$5.97tn
Total postal savings deposits reached NT$5.97 trillion at the end of June, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest tallies released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). Meanwhile, a total of 11.58 million parcels were delivered in the first six months of the year, up 1.9 percent from a year ago, while the number of express parcels grew 13.1 percent over the same period, the DGBAS said on Tuesday, citing tallies compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. However, the number of letters posted dropped 2.6 percent year-on-year to 1.25 billion, data showed.
GAMING
Nineteen win lottery
A record 19 people will each receive a prize of NT$10 million (US$314,960) in the latest uniform receipt lottery, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. The number 01099147 for the lottery’s Special Prize appeared on 19 sales receipts in the May-June period, the ministry said. This time, there were 19 special prize winners, the most in the history of the nation’s receipt lottery, it added. The winnings can be claimed between Saturday and Nov. 7, it said.
MACHINERY
Awea net profit dips 11%
Awea Mechantronic Co (亞崴機電), which makes bridge-type computer numerical control machinery, yesterday reported net income of NT$66.83 million in the first half of this year, down 10.97 percent from the same period last year. Earnings per share were NT$0.73, compared with NT$0.82 over the same period, Awea said in a filing with the Taiwan Sock Exchange. A stronger New Taiwan dollar affected shipments in the first half, leading sales to fall 9.04 percent year-on-year to NT$1.71 billion.
ELECTRONICS
Shin Zu Shing profit falls
Shin Zu Shing Co (新日興) yesterday said that second-quarter net income dropped to NT$180.51 million, or earnings per share of NT$1.01, from NT$186.78 million in the first quarter, due to falling revenue from sales of hinges for notebook computers, an appreciating New Taiwan dollar and asset impairment losses. Net income in the first half of the year totaled NT$367.29 million, or NT$2.06 per share, it said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company expressed optimism going forward, saying it expects metal injection molded parts to be an important growth driver in the second half of the year in view of rising demand for wearable and portable devices.
CHINA
Researchers advise easing
Researchers at the nation’s top economic planner yesterday called for further monetary easing this year to help lower business costs and boost investment. Interest rates and the required reserve ratio (RRR) for banks should be cut when appropriate, researchers at the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement. However, the section of the report about rate and RRR cuts was later deleted. The research office is an advisory body of the commission — the main government agency for economic planning and reform — and does not have direct power to set policy. The commission usually does not make public commentary on monetary policy, which is under the purview of the central bank. Researchers also called for implementing “proactive” fiscal policy and making investment more effective amid downward pressure on spending.
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
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last