■ GERMANY
Business confidence jumps
German business confidence jumped unexpectedly this month, a closely watched survey showed yesterday, pointing to dogged resilience by Europe’s biggest economy. The business climate index, calculated each month by the Munich-based economic research institute Ifo, rose to 103.5 points. Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had forecast the index would fall to 101.9 after dropping to 102.4 last month, the biggest monthly drop since September 2001. For its monthly survey, Ifo polls 7,000 companies about their assessment of current business and their expectations for the next six months. It is considered the most reliable barometer of the current state of the German economy and its outlook.
■ OIL
Nigeria demands payment
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua on Tuesday ordered the state-run oil firm NNPC to recover payment arrears of US$1.91 billion from Shell and ExxonMobil, a statement said. The sum represents outstanding payments on the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) on the Bonga and Erha oilfields, accounting for about 20 percent of Nigeria’s total oil production, it said. A senior Shell official, who asked not to be named, said that the company was consulting with other partners, including the NNPC, on its reaction to the government statement. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer.
■ INSURANCE
Allianz eyes Turkish firms
The German insurance group Allianz is in advanced talks to buy Turkish insurers Yapi Kredi Sigorta and Yapi Kredi Emeklilik from Koc Holding, the Financial Times Deutschland reported yesterday. “Allianz is on the short list in the sale process for the insurers,” Koc chief executive Buelent Bulgurlu told the newspaper in an interview. Analysts estimate the value of the two insurance companies at US$1.2 billion, the report said. In Turkey, Yapi Kredi Emeklilik holds about 7 percent of the life insurance market and almost 16 percent in pension insurance, while Yapi Kredi Sigorta has a market share of about 6 percent in property insurance, the report said.
■ INTERNET
Microsoft not buying Yahoo
Microsoft Corp is not looking to make a bid to buy Yahoo Inc, but the company was in talks to make other types of deals with Yahoo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said yesterday. “We are not bidding to buy Yahoo,” Ballmer said at the launch of Microsoft’s new research and development center in Israel. “Yet, we are trying to have discussions about deals with Yahoo that might create value but not a whole acquisition of the company,” he said without elaborating further.
■ FINANCE
Singapore a model: Fitch
Singapore is emerging as an Asian role model for infrastructure finance with its small but active “public private partnership” (PPP) program, Fitch Ratings said in a report released yesterday. “While other Asian countries have executed larger PPPs, only a few have had Singapore’s success in sustaining a steady supply of new projects,” Fitch said. The program diversifies the way the city-state finances and operates key infrastructure projects, said William Streeter, managing director of global infrastructure and project finance in the Asia-Pacific region. Unlike some Asian countries, the report said Singapore’s PPP framework was administrative in nature and was not statutorily authorized.
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
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source