■ Energy
Moscow reconsiders PSAs
Russia may cancel the licenses of three foreign companies with production sharing agreements (PSAs) to develop oil and gas fields for not fulfilling the terms of the agreements, the ministry of natural resources said yesterday. "At the present time, not one technical project has been carried out at any of the three Russian PSAs," which is one of two terms under which the agreements can be canceled,ministry director of government policy Sergei Fyodorov said. The three companies currently holding PSAs are US ExxonMobil and British-Dutch Shell, which have agreements to develop offshore oil and gas fields at the far eastern Sakhalin Island, and France's Total, which has a PSA for the northern Kharyaginsk oil field.
■ Electronics
Samsung predicts big sales
Samsung Electronics Co said sales of its semiconductors for games and graphic design will exceed 1 trillion won (US$1.05 billion) this year. The company forecast total revenue from its semiconductor division will reach US$40 billion in 2010, Choi Hae-won, a Samsung Electronics spokeswoman said yesterday. Choi confirmed details in a Korea Economic Daily report that said the company forecast memory-chip sales for games and graphics this year would reach 1 trillion won, and an article in the Dong-a Ilbo, which said revenue at the semiconductor unit would reach US$40 billion in 2010. Both reports cited interviews with Samsung president Hwang Chang-gyu. Sales of dynamic random access memory chips will be driven mainly by demand for digital televisions, games and mobile phones, the Korea Economic Daily reported, citing Hwang. The demand will probably continue until 2008 because personal-computer makers are also increasing output ahead of Microsoft Corp's release of its new Windows Vista operating system, the newspaper said.
■ Aerospace
Boeing buys Huneed stake
US aerospace giant Boeing has acquired a 16.93 percent stake in South Korean defense firm Huneed Technologies for US$20 million, both companies said yesterday. Boeing's purchase of 16.5 million new common shares in Huneed was agreed late last month and completed with regulatory approval on Friday, they said in a statement. Huneed is a leading supplier of communications network systems for South Korea's military. It said the deal will help it build up its expertise in areas including command, control, communications and networks. Boeing and Huneed have also signed a 10-year partnership agreement.
■ Auto industry
Scania rejects takeover bid
Swedish truckmaker Scania AB yesterday rejected a 9.6 billion euro (US$12.2 billion) cash and stock takeover offer from Germany's MAN AG. The board "unanimously decided not to support the proposals outlined," Scania said in a statement. MAN, Europe's third-largest truckmaker, offered 0.151 new shares and 38.35 euros in cash per Scania share, valuing the company at 48 euros per share. The offer represents a premium of 39 percent and 36 percent for each Scania class A and B share respectively, based on the three-month weighted average price up to Sept. 11. MAN said it would pay for the cash part of the deal from cash reserves and a credit facility. A tie-up would create a challenger to Volvo and DaimlerChrysler in the commercial vehicles market.
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)