Parliament’s failure to agree on Brexit is holding back investment, British Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark said after Nissan Motor Co abandoned plans to expand production in the UK.
Clark said while the company’s decision to produce its X-Trail model in Japan instead of Sunderland, northeast England, was “made on broader business grounds,” there is “damaging uncertainty” about the terms of Britain’s departure from the EU.
Nissan, which has already received £2.6 million (US$3.4 million) of a nine-year, £61 million program of government support, will have to reapply for the grants “in the light of the changed investments that they’re making,’’ Clark told the House of Commons on Monday.
Across the industry “there are investments poised to be made if we can settle this question of the terms of our exit and future relationship,” Clark said, before warning that a no-deal divorce from the EU would be “ruinous for our prospects.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May started a two-day visit to Northern Ireland yesterday as she seeks support for her divorce deal with the EU. The embattled premier has until next week to secure changes that will satisfy anti-EU members of her Conservative Party and win her a majority in Parliament.
British Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, who said the Nissan decision had more to do with the market for diesel vehicles than Brexit, called on the EU to compromise and said the March 29 deadline for leaving the bloc will not be delayed.
“We want to work with the EU to reach a deal, but if they are not prepared to do that they will have to take responsibility that we are heading towards a no-deal exit,” Grayling said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph. “I’ve been in every Cabinet meeting, and there’s been no conversation about delaying post-March 29. We are not delaying Article 50.”
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