■ TRADE
Danone China head resigns
French giant Danone said yesterday the head of its operations in China had resigned, a development that could help build bridges with its Chinese joint venture partner Wahaha (娃哈哈) after legal battles. "Emmanuel Faber resigned as chairman of the board," Danone spokeswoman Ying Ding said after Faber said he would quit in a letter sent to joint venture board members on Tuesday. "Taking into account the status of the joint venture company within the Groupe Danone, and Groupe Danone's internal corporate policy, I can no longer serve as the chairman of the board," Faber said in the letter.
■ TRADE
LSE set to open in Beijing
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is to open an office in Beijing today to better tap the rapidly growing Chinese market, its public relations agency said. The move, coming after the inauguration last month of offices by the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ in Beijing, will display the London bourse's commitment to the Chinese market, according to Burson-Marsteller. "[It is also] to more greatly assist Chinese enterprises which are already listed on the stock exchange," Matthew O'Mara, a Burson-Marsteller executive, said yesterday. So far, 68 Chinese companies have been listed in London, he said, including Sinopec and Air China.
■ BANKING
eBANK to debut in US
The US Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it had approved a request by the Japanese Internet bank eBANK to establish its first office in the US. The Tokyo-based eBANK's application to set up a representative office in San Francisco, California, is only its second outside Japan, after Hong Kong, the Fed said in a statement. The proposed representative office would research technology related to Internet banking and identify business and investment opportunities in the US for the bank's dollar-denominated deposits in Japan.
■ AVIATION
Airport efficiency listed
Travelers wanting to avoid flight delays should head to Japan and South Korea and avoid Brazil, Forbes.com said. Six of Japan's airports figured in the US Web site's top 10 for on-time departures, with Osaka Itami International airport emerging as the world's most efficient airport with 97 percent of flights leaving on time last year. By comparison, Brasilia International emerged as the world's worst airport terminal for on-time departures, with less than 27 percent of flights taking off within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time. New York's LaGuardia was the worst US airport for arrivals, with just 58 percent of flights arriving on schedule, Forbes.com said.
■ CURRENCY
Zimbabwe issues new notes
Zimbabwe's central bank on Wednesday introduced higher denomination banknotes and increased daily cash withdrawal limits, barely a month after a similar move to end a severe cash shortage spawned by inflation. Central bank Governor Gideon Gono told journalists and bankers that the 1,000,000 Zimbabwe dollar notes (US$33 at the official exchange rate but US$0.33 on the black market) as well as new Z$5,000,000 and Z$10,000,000 bills, would start circulating today to help thousands of people who have jammed banks seeking cash.
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