■ Trade
Saudis sign pact with EU
Saudi Arabia and the EU signed an agreement Sunday ensuring the free access of goods and services between the oil-rich state and the European bloc, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The signing brings Saudi Arabia a step closer to joining the World Trade Organization. The oil-rich state is the only country in the 15-member Gulf Cooperation Council without a place in the WTO. The agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia's commerce minister, Hashem Yamani, and Pascal Lamy, the EU trade commissioner, who arrived in Riyadh on Saturday. Under WTO rules, a country wishing to join the organization must agree on arrangements with its main trading partners on market access and customs duties. The EU is one of Saudi's biggest trading partners, but the Gulf state does not have a bilateral agreement with America.
■ Interview
Tiscali targets Germany
The Italian Internet services supplier Tiscali, Europe's third largest after T-Online in Germany and Wanadoo in France, is looking for acquisition targets in Germany, its chief Renato Soru revealed in a newspaper interview published on Monday. "We're casting a very strong eye on the German market," Soru told the Financial Times Deutschland. But Tiscali would not pay any price for an acquisition target, Soru added. A few months ago, Tiscali had been in talks with German telephone operator MobilCom to buy its Internet arm Freenet. "But Freenet's price increased ninefold. We can't make acquisitions at any price," Soru said. Tiscali is already present in Germany via Nextra, which it acquired two years ago.
■ Memory chips
Infineon wins ID card deal
Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's second-biggest semiconductor maker, is set to win a contract to supply the Chinese government with chips for about 1 billion identity cards, Handelsblatt said, citing unidentified people in the industry familiar with the situation. Infineon will supply the chips in cooperation with an unidentified Chinese partner, the paper said in an e-mailed copy of an article to appear in tomorrow's edition. China wants its own companies to profit as much as possible from the project and it isn't yet clear how much Munich-based Infineon will benefit from the agreement, Handelsblatt reported. Infineon last month posted its ninth straight loss as memory chip prices remained below production cost.
■ Semiconductors
Citigroup unit bids for Hynix
A unit of US banking giant Citigroup has been named a preferred bidder to buy the non-memory chip operations of South Korea's ailing Hynix Semiconductor, a Korean-language newspaper said yesterday. Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) and other creditors want to sign a memorandum of understanding with the investment unit in early September, the Digital Times said. It quoted an unidentified KEB official as saying Citigroup would conduct due diligence on Hynix's non-memory operations in the next two or three months. Hynix, the world's fourth-largest memory chip maker, was rescued in December by a multi-billion dollar bailout package arranged by South Korean creditor banks. The bailout worth 3.25 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) requires Hynix to restructure its debt-stricken operations.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft