■REAL ESTATE
Citi dismisses Asian staff
Citigroup Inc dismissed most of the employees at its real estate investment banking team in Asia after slumping property prices stifled share sales and acquisitions in the industry, three people familiar with the matter said. The bank dismissed at least five people two weeks ago, the people said, declining to be identified. Citigroup, which last month embarked on a plan to shed 52,000 jobs worldwide, will serve property clients through its country and corporate bankers after closing down the team, the people said. The bank, with operations in more than 100 countries, last month received US government insurance on US$306 billion in toxic assets.
■ELECTRONICS
LG forecasts slowdown
LG Electronics Inc, Asia’s second-largest mobile-phone maker, forecast its shipment growth will slow next year amid the global recession. “Growth will clearly slow down and we are aiming for a small increase from this year,” Skott Ahn, president of LG’s mobile-phone business, said in a statement yesterday, without giving details. The Seoul-based company said it expects to meet its shipment target of 100 million units for this year and hasn’t set a goal for next year because of the “uncertain” market outlook. LG, the world’s fifth-largest handset maker in the third quarter, said it plans to increase its market share to 10 percent next year. The phone maker had a 7.8 percent share in the July-to-September period, researcher Gartner Inc said.
■ENERGY
Temasek sells power utility
State-linked Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings has sold its last remaining power utility to a Malaysian company — days after saying the tender process had stopped because of market conditions. Sabre Energy Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s YTL Power International Berhad, will pay S$3.6 billion (US$2.4 billion) and assume S$200 million in net debt, a Temasek statement said late on Tuesday. The sale of PowerSeraya is part of Temasek’s divestment plans announced in July last year, and the transaction with YTL Power International is expected to be completed early next year, Temasek said.
■TELECOMS
Telecom Italia to cut jobs
Italian telecommunications group Telecom Italia said yesterday it would cut a further 4,000 jobs in Italy from next year to 2011 as part of a restructuring plan. Telecom Italia, saddled with 35 billion euros (US$44 billion) in debt, launched a savings scheme last June that called for the elimination of 5,000 jobs in Italy. The June initiative aims at savings of 2 billion euros by 2011 and a sharp cut in the debt. The group has also announced its intention to sell off non-strategic operations in deals that could be worth up to 3.0 billion euros.
■JAPAN
Mergers increase 40%
Mergers and acquisitions involving Japanese firms surged 40 percent in the first 11 months of this year from a year ago, Recof Data Corp said. The total value of takeovers or investment deals reached ¥11 trillion (US$118 billion) this year through last month, compared with ¥7.83 trillion for the same period last year, according to data provided by a unit of Recof Corp, a mergers and acquisitions adviser. Among the top deals announced this year are Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc’s US$9 billion investment in Morgan Stanley and the US$8.8 billion acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, Japan’s largest drugmaker.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from