■ Trade
G7 renews push for Doha
Finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the G7 leading industrial countries said on Saturday they supported resumption of stalled Doha trade talks aimed at tearing down barriers to global trade. "We remain committed to resisting protectionist sentiment and fully support the re-launch of the Doha trade negotiations announced in Geneva," the world finance chiefs said in a final communique issued at the end of their two-day summit in Essen, Germany. "We firmly believe that all participants have the responsibility to ensure a successful outcome of the Doha round as it will enhance global growth and contribute to poverty reduction," the G7 statement said.
■ Finance
Greece targets tax evaders
Short of funds for social spending, Greece is putting the squeeze on a vast army of tax evaders -- believed to run in the millions -- to bring in the necessary cash. The chosen method was through a "guilty conscience" campaign to root out a decades-old mentality that sees dodging the taxman as an admirable feat of skill. The exact size of Greece's black market economy is unknown. But a 2001 study by the Greek foundation for economic and industrial research placed it at over 35 percent of GDP, worth close to 44 billion euros (US$57.2 billion). The study also found that 50 percent of Greeks would not declare their full income if they thought they could get away with it.
■ Industry
Hindalco to acquire Novelis
Hindalco Industries Ltd, India's biggest producer of non-ferrous metals, plans to acquire Novelis Inc, a Canada-based aluminum-sheet maker for as much as US$6 billion, company spokeswoman Pragnya Ram said yesterday in Mumbai. Indian companies have been expanding overseas to tap mature industrial markets. Tata Steel last month succeeded in its US$12 billion bid to acquire Corus Group Plc, the biggest British steelmaker, outbidding Cia. Siderurgica Nacional SA of Brazil. Hindalco's parent, the Aditya Birla Group, has interests in telecommunications, cement, metals, textiles and financial services.
■ Electronics
LG.Philips boosts production
LG.Philips LCD Co, the world's second-largest liquid-crystal-display maker, said it will boost production capacity of the flat panels by 22 percent to meet rising demand. The Seoul-based company will increase the monthly production capacity at its factory in Paju, north of Seoul, to 110,000 glass substrates by the third quarter from the current 90,000. LG.Philips' so-called seventh-generation plant in Paju is designed to manufacture 42-inch and 47-inch screens. Each glass plate used in the factory can make eight 42-inch panels or six 47-inch screens.
■ Gaming
Macao tough for competition
Macau gaming billionaire Stanley Ho (何鴻燊) said his company had a 63 percent share of the city's casino market last year and it will take "a lot of time" before the new entrants are fully competitive. Speaking at the opening of the 40-story Grand Lisboa casino, Ho said the market share of Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau, which for 40 years had a monopoly on gaming in the former Portuguese colony, was based on last year's gaming tax revenue. Ho said he was confident the proposed HK$15 billion (US$1.9 billion) listing in Hong Kong of Sociedade de Turismo's casino-operating unit will go ahead 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