ENERGY
Neo, Cathay announce tie-up
Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光能源) yesterday said it plans an initial investment of NT$1.5 billion (US$47.76 million) in a joint venture with Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) in new solar power plants in Taiwan. The joint venture will have paid-in capital of NT$3.5 billion, Neo Solar said in a statement, adding that second-round investments would be made in accordance with the development of the new venture. Neo Solar said it has plans for 800 megawatts worth of solar power plant construction with its 70 percent-owned subsidiary General Energy Solutions Inc (永旺能源). General Energy operates solar power plants in western Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
BANKING
High earnings reported
Southeast Asia-based branches of Taiwanese banks reported record-high earnings in the first half of the year, data from the Financial Supervisory Commission showed yesterday. Combined earnings from 33 branches in the region reached NT$4 billion, approaching the NT$5.4 billion recorded in the entirety of last year, the data showed. Singapore led the region with NT$2.51 billion in earnings contributions in the first half, while Vietnam and Cambodia had shown considerable growth momentum, the commission’s Banking Bureau said.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
TaiGen trials approved
TaiGen Biotechnology Co (太景生技) on Wednesday announced that its new hepatitis C virus inhibitor, Furaprevir, has received approval from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials under Class 1.1 designation. The drug has entered second-phase clinical trials in Taiwan and the US and is the only Taiwan-developed drug to be granted fast-track status by Chinese authorities. TaiGen said the Chinese study would explore Furaprevir’s efficacy when used in conjunction with antiviral drug Ribavirin. The company hopes to reduce the treatment period for hepatitis C from between 24 and 48 weeks to about 12 weeks. There are 160 million to 170 hepatitis C patients worldwide, of which a quarter are Chinese, the company said.
AUTOMAKERS
S Korean probe expanded
South Korea has expanded an investigation into the fabrication of emissions and noise-level test results to all foreign car brands after fining Volkswagen AG over breaches. The South Korean Ministry of the Environment last week launched a probe of 23 foreign automakers involving 110 diesel models, ministry director Hong Dong-kon said by telephone. The results of the investigation are to be announced in two to three months, Hong said. Earlier this month, South Korea blocked sales of 80 VW models and fined the company 17.8 billion won (US$16 million).
CHINA
Housing prices rise 0.8%
Housing prices in China rose 0.8 percent last month nationwide, but stalled or fell in more cities than in June, an official survey showed yesterday. Average new home prices in China’s 70 major cities rose 7.9 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 7.3 percent increase in June, the survey said. However, last month’s home prices rose at the same pace as in June, which was the slowest since April, according to a Reuters calculation based on data issued by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.
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],”