■TRADE
India, S Korea ink pac
gned a free trade deal yesterday that a minister said had the potential to nearly double the more than US$15 billion in annual trade between Asia’s third and fourth-biggest economies in the next decade. The deal requires ratification by South Korea’s parliament, but can take effect without further steps by India, South Korea’s trade ministry said. The deal will eliminate tariffs on three quarters of India’s imports from South Korea by value, and more than 80 percent of South Korea’s imports from India.
■ECONOMY
‘Free fall’ over, ECB says
The world’s economic “free fall” is over but “uncertainty” still remains, European Central Bank (ECB) chief Jean-Claude Trichet told RTL radio yesterday. “We are still in a period of contraction of the economic activity,” Trichet said. “We are coming out of the period of free fall.” But he warned against being too optimistic. “The zone of uncertainty in which we have been since the crisis intensified in mid-September 2008 is not yet behind us,” he said.
■BANKING
DBS profits slump
Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings Ltd said yesterday that profit in the second quarter fell 15 percent from a year earlier as bad debt charges jumped amid a sluggish regional economic recovery. DBS, Southeast Asia’s biggest bank, reported earnings of S$552 million (US$384 million) for the three months ended June 30, down from a profit of S$652 million in the same period last year. The bank said it took allowances for loans and other losses of S$466 million for the second quarter, up from S$56 million a year ago.
■ELECTRONICS
Sanyo to invest in solar
Japan’s Sanyo Electric Co said yesterday that it would boost its solar panel production capacity by 30 percent within the next two years to meet surging demand fueled by government subsidies. Sanyo will invest about ¥4.2 billion (US$44 million) in a domestic plant in Shiga Prefecture to double the facility’s annual production capacity to 200,000 kilowatts, company spokeswoman Kumiko Makino said. In total, Sanyo’s solar panel production capacity will rise to 450,000 kilowatts, she said.
■INSURANCE
Allianz 2Q profit advances
German insurer Allianz SE said yesterday its second quarter net profit rose 21 percent as its life and health insurance business improved and said it was adjusting to the “new normal” of reduced returns. The Munich-based company said it made 1.9 billion euros (US$2.7 billion) in the April-June period, up from 1.5 billion euros in the second quarter of last year. Revenues for the quarter were slightly higher at 22.2 billion euros, compared with last year’s 21.5 billion euros.
■BANKING
Top official resigns
Societe Generale SA says that a top executive whose career was damaged by the French bank’s multibillion dollar trading scandal last year has resigned. Jean-Pierre Mustier is the former head of corporate and investment banking and one-time boss of disgraced trader Jerome Kerviel. Societe Generale SA said in a statement on Wednesday that Mustier and Robert Day, a board member, were told by the financial watchdog AMF that its sanctions committee was opening an insider trading inquiry.
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
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
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