■ Motorcycles
Firm eyes big bike market
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd will increase motorcycle production on surging demand for large bikes in the US and Europe, the Nihon Keizai Shinbum said. The Kobe-based maker of the Ninja motorcycle plans to invest ¥50 billion (US$425 million) in its Akashi plant in Hyogo Prefecture over the next five years, the paper said. Kawasaki will boost its annual output by 50 percent to 300,000 units in the fiscal year starting in April 2010 from the current 200,000, the paper said. Kawasaki will also develop next-generation motorcycles, such as hybrid models and electric vehicles, to catch up to its rivals, the paper said.
■ Gaming
Nintendo moves into Russia
Nintendo Co will start selling video game products in Russia to boost profits, the Nihon Keizai Shinbum said. Nintendo of Europe GmBH has appointed ND Videogames to act as the official distributor of Nintendo products for the Russian market, the paper said. The distributor will start offering Nintendo's products from next month. The products to be sold in Russia include the Nintendo DS portable player and Nintendo's new home console, Wii, which will be launched in December, the paper said.
■ Automobiles
VW building Russian plant
Volkswagen became the latest foreign car maker to establish a foothold in Russia on Saturday, as the German company laid the foundation stone for its first factory in Kaluga, 160km southwest of Moscow. Volkswagen's factory -- which will produce both Volkswagens and Skodas, its other brand -- is expected to be finished by the end of next year and will create 3,500 jobs. Production will begin at 20,000 vehicles annually before eventually topping out at 115,000. Skoda Octavia will be the first model assembled at the plant, with other models -- including Polo, Passat, Tuareg and another brand specifically tailored for the national market -- to follow.
■ Labor market
Youth unemployment rises
The number of unemployed youth aged 15 to 24 has risen worldwide over the past decade, with the highest increase seen in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, a report by the International Labor Office (ILO) revealed yesterday. While the number of unemployed youth increased globally by 14.8 percent between 1995 and last year, rising from 74 million to 85 million, in Southeast Asia and the Pacific it shot up 85.5 percent, from 5.2 to 9.7 million, the ILO said. In East Asia, comprising Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan, there was a decrease in youth unemployment of 8.2 percent between 1995 and last year, falling slightly from 13.1 to 12 million.
■ Economy
Foreign investment down
Foreign direct investment in South Korea plunged in the first nine months of this year amid a worsening business climate and falling growth potential, official data showed yesterday. Just US$790 million flowed in for the nine months to Sept. 30, just a fourth of the US$3.42 billion invested during the same period last year, the central bank said in a report released by the Yonhap news agency. South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, has attracted less and less foreign direct investment with US$9.25 billion in 2004 and US$4.34 billion last year, it said. South Korea recorded a net outflow of foreign investment of US$2.2 billion last month.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft