GOING STRONG: Shipments to Hong Kong, China, six ASEAN member countries and South Korea all saw growth of more than 31 percent last month from a year earlier
By Joyce Huang and Kevin Chen
The nation's exports last month continued to see robust demand from China and other Asian countries, compensating for sluggish demand from the US as a result of its subprime mortgage crisis, a Ministry of Finance official said yesterday.

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PRICEY PRIVACY: Closed-door negotiations may drive up the closing price for the hotel after an auction was scrapped to meet potential buyers' need for discretion
By Joyce Huang
Potential buyers interested in acquiring the Agora Garden (亞太會館) hotel, located in Taipei City's Xinyi District (信義), are entering direct price negotiations with the owner to close the deal by March 28, the hotel's real-estate consultancy DTZ (戴德梁行) said yesterday.

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By Jerry Lin
The new business-oriented San Want Residences (神旺商務酒店) will open today, targeting high-end business travelers.

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BEHIND THE FIGURES: A Credit Suisse analyst said the drop was a result of the holidays last month and a slowdown among chip designers in Asia
By Lisa Wang
United Microelectronics Co (UMC, 聯電), the world's second-largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said sales last month totaled NT$7.29 billion (US$237 million), the lowest in a year, citing inventory adjustment by customers as the primary reason.

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By Kevin Chen
Inflation in the first half of the year is expected to show a 3 percent growth from a year ago as fuel, food and raw material prices remain high, central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said yesterday.

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ALLEGATIONS: The economics ministry also rejected accusations it paid kickbacks to push its bid for the US$4 billion project to build desalination and power plants
By Shih Hsiu-chuan
Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) yesterday denied allegations that he had profited from Taiwan's bidding for a project to build a desalination plant and a power plant in Saudi Arabia.

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Pioneer Corp will stop making plasma display panels in an effort to turn around its money-losing business, the Japanese electronics maker said yesterday.

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NEARING PEAK: A Union Bank executive said that the rate for one-year deposits had gained 100 basis points over the past year to a high 2.6 percent
By Joyce Huang
Interest rates are nearing a peak and should see only a mild increase in the future, a Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) executive said yesterday.

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Shares dip on profit-taking
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