■ Chemical Industry
Bayer to sell plasma unit
German chemical concern Bayer disclosed yesterday that it has reached an agreement to sell its worldwide plasma products business to the US company NPS BioTherapeutics. Bayer put the value of the deal at US$590 million with the company based in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The deal is subject to the approval of regulators. "Divesting the plasma business is another important step in the repositioning of our health care business," Bayer chief executive officer Werner Wenning said, according to a company press release. "In the future we will focus increasingly on our compet-encies in the consumer health business, on inno-vative medicines for humans and animals, and on high-performance diagnostic systems. Our acquisition of the OTC business of Roche and the pharmaceuticals alliance with Schering-Plough underscore the new strategic alignment." The agreement with NPS covers the products, facilities and employees representing the plasma portion of Bayer HealthCare's Biological Products Division.
■ Computers
Great Wall, IBM in deal
China Great Wall Computer Shenzhen Co Ltd has signed an agreement to establish a new joint venture with IBM to produce computer servers for the Asian region, the company said yesterday. The agreement to form the International Systems Technology Co (ISTC) was signed on Sunday and would be based in Shenzhen where IBM eServer x series and IBM eServer p series will be produced, the company said on its Web site. A factory would also be established in the Futian Bonded Area of Shenzhen, it added. Sales of the joint venture are expect-ed to reach US$1 billion next year, press reports, citing company officials, said. IBM will hold 80 percent of the stake in the venture with Great Wall taking the rest. Financial details of the deal were not revealed.
■ Cellphones
New batteries to last weeks
Japanese electronics companies Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric said yesterday they have developed technology that will slash mobile-phone power consumption by 90 percent, allowing users to go weeks without having to recharge their batteries. The new technology, which will also enable handsets to process data 20 percent faster, is expected to enter production in about 2007 for next-generation telephones. The new chips were developed by Hitachi and Renesas, a joint venture between Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric. "Theo-retically, the technology will enable mobile phone batteries to last 10 times longer with a single charge, if the handset is in a standby status," said Hitachi spokesman Kantaro Tanii. Currently, phone batteries last two to three days with a single charge.
■ Oil
Demand expected to fall
Worldwide demand for oil is expected to drop by about 1 million barrels per day by the second quarter of next year after the northern hemis-phere's winter season ends, OPEC's president Purnomo Yusgiantoro said yesterday. He said no decision on cutting output quotas would be made until the organization's next meeting in Vienna early in the new year. "Let's see on Jan. 30," Yusgiantoro said. OPEC left unchanged its output quota of 27 million barrels per day at a meeting in Cairo last week, but agreed to scale back surplus production to try to regain control of the market after pumping close to capacity for months.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)