■AUTOMOBILES
Toyota to increase hybrids
Toyota Motor Corp plans to double its global production of hybrid vehicles in about two years, positioning fuel-sipping cars as a core profit earner, a report said yesterday. The automaker recently notified parts suppliers that it intends to roll out about 800,000 hybrids domestically this year, with the figure to be raised to about 900,000 in 2011 and 1.1 million in 2012, the Nikkei reported. Last year’s output was estimated to be about 500,000, it said without citing sources. Toyota also plans to sell an additional 10 new hybrid models, from minivans and subcompacts to luxury cars, within a few years, on top of its current lineups such as the Prius, Sai and Lexus HS250h, the Nikkei said.
■FINANCE
French bank considers exit
French bank Societe Generale yesterday said it was considering pulling out of Australia and was in discussions with regulators regarding its banking license. Australian branch chief executive John Harvey said no decision had yet been made but that a total exit was “clearly on the agenda,” adding that the bank was in talks with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). “We are in regular dialogue with APRA and their position is that we retain our branch banking licence while Societe Generale continues to conduct banking operations in Australia,” Harvey said, Dow Jones Newswires reported. “There is no official close date as we continue to operate substantial businesses in treasury and equipment finance.”
■SINGAPORE
Exports jump again
Exports jumped last month for the second month as global demand for the city-state’s electronics surged. Exports excluding oil rose 26.1 percent from a year earlier to S$13.2 billion (US$9.5 billion), Trade and Industry Ministry figures showed yesterday. The ministry said sales abroad rose a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent from November. Electronics — which account for 40 percent of non-oil exports — rebounded strongly, rising 25.2 percent from a year earlier after falling 6.1 percent in November.
■LUXURY GOODS
Richemont sales gain
The Swiss group Richemont, which markets watches and other luxury items, reported yesterday a modest third-quarter sales gain thanks to a strong performance in Asia. Richemont said sales rose 2 percent from October to last month to reach 1.6 billion euros (US$2.3 billion), beating a forecast of 1.5 billion euros from analysts surveyed by the financial agency AWP. Sales last month alone were up 12 percent, said Richemont, whose product range includes such names as Cartier, Vacheron-Constantin, Piaget, Montblanc and Baume & Mercier. Richemont recorded a quarterly sales gain of 25 percent in Asia, notably in China and Hong Kong.
■FINANCE
Thai lending to grow 9.8%
Thailand’s central bank said lending by commercial banks is expected to grow 9.8 percent this year, boosted by a recovery in the economy. “Lending started to pick up late last year and the trend should continue,” Assistant Governor Sorasit Soontornkes told reporters in Bangkok yesterday. The combined loan portfolio of Thailand’s banks contracted 1.78 percent last year as demand for new money declined amid the nation’s economic recession, he said. Lenders including Bangkok Bank PCL, the nation’s biggest, have said loans will probably expand this year, led by demand from consumers and small and medium-sized companies.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique