■ Capital Markets
HK rated No. 1 in Asia
Hong Kong has been ranked the best capital market in Asia and globally for the second-straight year fol-lowed by Singapore in second place regionally and fourth in the world, a Milken Institute study showed yesterday. The Capital Access Index 2004 released by the US-based institute ranked the Nether-lands and Britain ahead of the city-state globally. Hong Kong's "top ranking is due to its strong and vibrant banking system despite regional public health problems," the institute said. The US landed sixth, falling three spots from last year. The fall was attributed to corporate governance issues follow-ing major accounting scandals at companies such as Enron and WorldCom. Covering 85 economies, the index is an annual examination of the openness of markets around the world.
■ Internet
Ad revenues shrinking
China may have the second-largest online population in the world but it only has about 1 percent of the global market for Web advertising, state media reported yesterday. Last year the Chinese Internet ad business was valued at US$130 million, compared with a worldwide market totalling US$11.5 billion, the People's Daily said on its Web site. The figure indi-cates that China's huge online numbers -- it had 79.5 million netizens by late last month -- do not necessarily translate into revenue for the country's ad-dependent dotcoms. Even more worrying for the Beijing leadership, which has said it is committed to developing a high-tech economy, China's market share is actually shrinking, according to Shanghai Research Co, the source of the data. The Chinese Internet ad market is expected to grow 67 percent this year compared with last year, below the 91 percent growth predicted for the world as a whole, the research company said.
■ Automakers
Mitsubishi gets funding
Ailing automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp will receive ?450 billion (US$4 billion) in funding from the Mitsu-bishi group and other investors as it struggles to draft a revival plan without additional money from German partner DaimlerChrysler AG, the company said yesterday. Under the plan, Mitsubishi Motors will keep its Illinois plant open and will target an overall sales increase over the next three years, the company said in a state-ment. The plan will also include thousands of job cuts to a global work force of 44,000 at factories and offices in Japan, the US, Europe and Australia. The company said it plans to shutter an engine plant in Australia next fiscal year but will leave open an passenger car plant there. In the next fiscal year, the company will close a passenger car plant in the southern Japanese city of Okazaki in fiscal 2006.
■ Indonesia
New gas stations planned
The state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has announced plans to build 300 gasoline stations nation-wide in anticipation of the liberalization of the market next year, news reports said yesterday. "The move is aimed at anticipating the introduction of a liberalized fuel oil market in November 2005," Pertamina spokes-man Hanung Budya told the state-owned Antara news agency. He said the 300 new stations would require a total investment of 1.3 trillion rupiah (US$151.2 million).
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
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