■ Auto industry
Toyota profits hit record
Toyota Motor Corp posted a record profit of ¥1.17 trillion (US$11 billion) for the last fiscal year as sales for the world's second largest car manufacturer grew across all key regions, the company said yesterday. Toyota recorded a 7.3 percent rise in sales to ¥18.55 trillion for the fiscal year ending March 31, from ¥17.3 trillion a year earlier. Net income for Japan's top automaker grew 0.8 percent to ¥1.17 trillion from ¥1.16 trillion the previous year. Global sales rose to 7.4 million vehicles, up 10.3 percent from 6.7 million vehicles, with solid sales growth in North America, Europe, Japan and the rest of Asia. Toyota expects sales to rise to 7.85 million for the year ending March next year.
■ Digital cameras
Kodak retains top position
Eastman Kodak Co, which shipped more digital cameras in the US last year than any of its Japanese rivals, retained its edge in the first quarter, a market research firm said on Monday. Kodak shipped 900,000 point-and-shoot digital cameras to domestic retailers in the January-to-March quarter -- 41 percent more than in the first quarter of last year -- and its market share rose to 20.4 percent from 18.1 percent a year ago, according to IDC. Canon Inc strengthened to a second-place ranking with 850,000 shipments, up 72 percent from a year ago.
■ Trade
Yuan's rise to curb exports
China's export growth may fall to 10 percent this year if the yuan is allowed to appreciate by 3 to 5 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report on its Web site yesterday. A gain of 15 percent or more in the yuan, whose value is maintained at about 8.3 per US dollar, may cause exports to drop, Zhai Zhihong, head of the department of statistics for trade and foreign economy, said in the report.
■ Development
Good governance essential
Good governance is a condition for higher living standards -- not the other way around, the World Bank said in a study released yesterday. "Good governance is not a luxury that only wealthy countries can afford," said the report issued in Washington, which evaluated the governments of 209 countries. It singled out Slovenia, the Baltics, Botswana and Chile as emerging economies with high-quality governments. Poor countries, however, have a way to go in fair laws, a dependable bureaucracy, a reliable judicial system, political stability and control of corruption, it said. "On average, the quality of governance around the world has remained stagnant, highlighting the urgent need for more determined progress in this area in order to accelerate poverty reduction," the report said.
■ Music industry
BMG buys Columbia House
German media giant Bertelsmann said yesterday that its US subsidiary BMG Direct, had agreed to buy The Columbia House Company from the Blackstone Group for an undisclosed sum. Columbia House is the biggest specialist retailer of DVDs in the US with more than 8 million customers, Bertelsmann said in a statement. BMG Direct is the largest direct-to-consumer distributor of recorded music in the US. A combination of the two businesses "will create broader product offerings for their members," Bertelsmann said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2