■ ECONOM
Japan’s GDP growth higher
Japan raised its reading for economic growth in the first quarter, due mainly to a stronger-than-expected increase in capital investment. Japan’s GDP in the January to March period grew at an annual pace of 4 percent, up from a preliminary reading of 3.3 percent, revised figures released yesterday by the Cabinet Office showed. On a quarterly basis, GDP grew a revised 1 percent. Growth in capital expenditures was a key factor in the revised GDP figures. They posted a 0.2 percent quarterly rise, markedly better than a preliminary reading of a 0.9 decline, the government said.
■PRODUCTION
Chavez favors cooperation
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is encouraging Venezuela’s private sector to work with his government to create new businesses and factories that would produce consumer goods. The socialist president said he was open to joint ventures with private companies in “non-strategic” areas of the economy. He gave no other details. Chavez on Tuesday said he hoped the cooperation would spur growth, which hit a four-year low of 4.8 percent in the first quarter. Annual inflation in the oil-rich country reached 29.3 percent in April. Chavez has nationalized the country’s largest steel, cement and electricity companies in the last two years.
■MANUFACTURING
Beijing slaps toy factories
Beijing has revoked the export licenses of 700 toy factories over safety failings, state media reported yesterday, after a series of high-profile scandals hit the image of Chinese goods overseas. Beijing launched a massive campaign to inspect all 3,540 toy firms with export permits last August after tens of millions of Chinese-made toys were recalled globally over design or manufacturing flaws. It barred 700 firms — nearly one in five — from exporting because they failed to meet safety standards, the China Daily quoted a senior safety official as saying. China exported about 22 billion toys globally every year, a quarter of which went to Europe, the China Daily said.
■FOREX
China eyes US portfolio
China’s foreign exchange regulator is to invest more than US$2.5 billion in the latest portfolio launched by US private equity fund TPG, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The fund that China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) plans to invest in is worth US$17 billion, the report said, citing unnamed sources. The administration manages the bulk of China’s US$1.76 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. SAFE has kept a low investment profile but previously built up small stakes in French oil giant Total and British energy giant BP, earlier media reports said.
■TAKEOVERS
Distributor mulls Staples deal
The Dutch office supplies distributor Corporate Express NV said yesterday it would recommend a 9.25 euros per share takeover bid by Staples Inc to shareholders, reversing an earlier plan to merge with a French competitor. The boards of Corporate Express said they decided to endorse the Staples deal after the US company raised its offer for the fourth time to 9.25 euros per share. Including Corporate Express debt, the offer values the company at about 3.1 billion euros (US$4.8 billion), the companies said in a joint statement. The companies said they “have agreed on a number of key issues with regard to strategy, employees and integration process.”
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
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