■ Auto industry
Fuji plant to make Toyotas
Toyota Motor Corp and its new partner Fuji Heavy, the maker of Subaru brand cars, have agreed to make Toyota vehicles at Fuji's US plant in Indiana, both sides said yesterday. The two Japanese automakers said that the decision was finalized when company presidents met on Monday. However, details such as job additions, what model will be manufactured, vehicle numbers and when the production will start at the factory in Lafayette, Indiana, still need to be worked out. The Indiana plant now makes about 100,000 vehicles a year.
■ Telecoms
Vodafone chair to retire
Vodafone, the British telecommunications giant, announced on Monday that its chairman Ian MacLaurin will retire from the board in July, to be replaced by John Bond, the outgoing chairman of banking group HSBC. Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said in a statement that MacLaurin had been an "outstanding" chairman who had overseen the company's transition from a British telecoms operator into "a major global" business. HSBC had announced a week ago that Bond will retire next May after nearly half a century working for the London-based bank.
■ Energy
Exxon Mobil, Libya in deal
Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corp said on Monday that it has agreed to an exploration and production sharing pact with Libya's National Oil Corp -- the company's first re-entry into that country since leaving in the early 1980s. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement covers 1 million hectares of the Cyrenaica Basin in waters between 3m and 3,000m deep. Exxon exited the country in 1981, while Mobil had left in 1982, according to Exxon Mobil spokesman Len D'Eramo. In 1986, the US imposed comprehensive trade and financial bans on Libya.
■ Software
Microsoft facilities planned
Microsoft Corp said it will set up a global network of 90 "innovation centers" to support software and economic development in countries, including India and South Korea. The centers will be operated in partnership with local governments, universities, software makers and other industry groups, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said in a statement yesterday. The centers will start operating immediately from 60 existing facilities in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan and Malaysia, the statement said. Microsoft will set up an additional 30 centers in India, South Korea and South Africa next year, it said.
■ Aviation
Boeing may top Airbus
US aerospace giant Boeing said on Monday that it had booked 800 commercial plane orders in the first 11 months of this year, giving it an apparent lead over European rival Airbus. Airbus, which has been the market leader in recent years, was due to release its figures for the same period yesterday. As of October, Airbus had booked 494 orders compared with 674 for Boeing for the same period. Boeing is expected to overtake Airbus this year in terms of orders. But the European consortium was expected to remain ahead of Boeing in aircraft deliveries, most recently estimated at 360. Boeing said it plans 290 deliveries for this year.
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
‘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)
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