■ Electronics
Intel, BMW seek standard
Intel Corp and BMW are seeking a common industry standard to make it easier to use laptops, telephones and portable MP3 players in cars. The standard would be the result of a broader cooperation between Intel and BMW, according to recent reports by the chipmaker. The two firms will be working together in both the motorsport and IT system fields.
■ Forex
China's reserves ballooning
China's foreign exchange reserves reached US$818.9 billion at the end of last year, up 34.3 percent year-on-year, state press announced yesterday, citing central bank figures. China's foreign exchange reserves, second largest in the world after Japan, have grown remarkably in recent years thanks to strong fund inflows and a burgeoning trade surplus. Forex reserves hit a record US$609.9 billion in 2004, up from US$403.3 billion in 2003. Thanks to its booming exports, China's trade surplus tripled to a record US$101.9 billion last year.
■ Steel
ThyssenKrupp increases bid
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG said on Saturday it was increasing its takeover bid for Dofasco Inc of Canada as it tries to beat out competition from Arcelor SA. ThyssenKrupp has agreed to increase its offer from C$63 (US$54.25) per share to C$68 (US$58.55), the companies said in a joint statement. It did not provide an overall valuation of the offer. The German firm said it would inform Dofasco's shareholders of the higher offer today and extended its deadline by one day to Jan. 26. Dofasco said it would also write to its shareholders, urging them to accept.
■ World Trade
Trade talks to resume
Top trade officials from 30 countries plan to resume talks this month on a new global treaty based on an agreement made at the WTO meeting in Hong Kong, India's commerce minister said yesterday. The talks in Davos, Switzerland, will be held at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum summit, said India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath. The forum's five-day meeting begins on Jan. 25. After missing an initial target to set a framework for a new trade liberalization treaty during the Hong Kong talks last month, ministers from the WTO's 149 member governments now aim to hammer out specifics of tariff and subsidy cuts on industrial and farm goods by the end of April.
■ Investment
Foreign investors wooed
Japan plans to step up measures to woo foreign firms to purchase companies or make other direct investment here in a bid to invigorate its economy, a report said yesterday. The government wants to boost foreign direct investment in Japan to ¥26.4 trillion (US$232 billion) by the end of 2011, double the level estimated for the end of this year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will mention the plan in his policy speech on Friday when parliament convenes, the respected economic daily said, adding that a taskforce would draw up plans to achieve the target. The government is hoping that foreign investors will introduce new technology and management systems into the country, it said.
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