■ Trade
Saudi Arabia joins WTO
Saudi Arabia formally joined the WTO yesterday, bringing the global body's membership to 149 just two days before a key summit in Hong Kong. The Middle East kingdom was admitted to the WTO by its then-148 member governments on Nov. 11, capping more than a decade of negotiations, and the move came into force one month later. WTO head Pascal Lamy has hailed the acceptance of another heavyweight of world trade into the organization, which sets the rules for global commerce. Saudi Arabia is the world's top oil producer and the main force in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). After missing its target of joining the WTO last year, Saudi Arabia set its sights on membership in time for the WTO ministerial conference, which is due to begin in Hong Kong tomorrow.
■ Energy
OPEC won't pump more oil
Oil heavyweight Saudi Arabia set the tone yesterday on the eve of an OPEC meeting on prices and output, saying there was no need to change present output at least for the first quarter of next year. OPEC is currently pumping some 30 million barrels a day of crude, a third of world demand. Most of the organization's 11 countries are producing flat out to meet strong and growing demand from the US, China, India and other nations. The Saudis account for nearly a third of OPEC output. Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said on arrival for today's conference in Kuwait City that his country's production this month was at 9.5 million barrels a day.
■ Exploitation
China gets McDrive-thru
McDonald's Corp, the world's largest restaurant chain, opened its first drive-through restaurant in China on Saturday, where more than 2 million passenger cars were sold last year. The restaurant in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, also has more than 50 parking spaces, McDonald's said in a statement. Dongguan is in southeast China, near Hong Kong. The city has a high per-capita income and many car owners, McDonald's said. Passenger-car sales in China may rise more than 12 percent this year to 2.6 million, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said this month. McDonald's plans to build more drive-throughs to accommodate the millions of new auto-owners.
■ Entertainment
DreamWorks may be sold
DreamWorks SKG's founders may soon announce plans to sell the movie studio to a group led by Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures for as much as US$1 billion, according to people briefed on the discussions. Buying DreamWorks almost doubles Paramount's slate of films for next year and will bring a library of 60 movies including Gladiator. Los Angeles-based Paramount will also take on as much as US$600 million in debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. The purchase is a coup for Paramount chief executive officer Brad Grey, hired this year by Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone to revive the studio. DreamWorks' Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen are handing over a business they formed 10 years to pool their talents in film, animation and music. While they found success with Oscar winners including American Beauty, films this year such as The Island disappointed.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it
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