■ INVESTMENT
Canada to mull tie-up rules
Canada said on Thursday it was creating a panel to review government rules on foreign takeovers, amid a flurry of bids for Canadian companies. The Competition Policy Review Panel will review two key competition and investment policies, as well as the treatment of state-owned enterprises and the possibility of adding a clause to nix tie-ups deemed a threat to national security. The aim is to encourage greater foreign investment and create more and better jobs for Canadians, Industry Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement.
■ AUTOMAKERS
Mustangs get soybean seats
Ford Motor Co will put soybean-based foam cushions in the seats of the 2008 Mustang in a move that could spread to other Ford vehicles and eventually save thousands of barrels of oil in the manufacturing process, the company said on Thursday. Ford is teaming with seat supplier Lear Corp to install the seats at a joint Mazda-Ford factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, the company said. Most automakers today use petroleum-based foam, with an average of 13.5kg going into each vehicle, Ford said. The annual worldwide market for automotive foam is 4 billion kilograms.
■ OIL
Product demand to rise: IEA
The International Energy Agency (IEA) yesterday said it expected world oil product demand to rise 2.5 percent next year and slightly revised downward its demand forecast for this year. "Global oil product demand is expected to rise by a robust 2.5 percent to 88.2 million barrels per day in 2008, largely due to a weather-related rebound in the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] and strong demand in non-OECD countries," it said in its monthly oil market report. "This represents an increase of 2.2 million bpd [barrels per day], from the slightly revised [-0.1 million bpd] 2007 level of 86.0 million bpd," it said.
■ STEEL
ArcelorMittal signs pact
Japan's Nippon Steel Corp said yesterday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Europe's ArcelorMittal to form a global alliance with the world's largest steelmaker and to expand upon existing joint ventures in North America. Japan's biggest steelmaker said in a statement on its Web site that the two companies are studying expansion of their automotive sheet steel business in North America. Also, the previous alliance between Nippon Steel and Arcelor will be replaced with an alliance between Nippon and ArcelorMittal. Nippon Steel is also considering expanding joint ventures with ArcelorMittal in China, a company spokesman said.
■ TELECOMS
NextWave to enter Japan
US telecom firm NextWave Wireless is set to become the second foreign company to enter Japan's crowded mobile telephone business after agreeing to buy a controlling stake in IP Mobile. NextWave will acquire a 69.23 percent stake in IP Mobile -- which was awarded a cellphone operating licence in November 2005 -- from Japanese real estate group Mori Trust Co, IP Mobile said yesterday. The value of the deal was not been disclosed. NextWave is a supplier of wireless broadband products, technologies, and network solutions including the TD-CDMA mobile broadband technology.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2