Taishin plans to sell debt
Taishin Financial Holdings Co (台新金控), owner of Taiwan's second-largest credit-card issuer, said it plans to sell NT$5 billion (US$143 million) of debt backed by mortgage income.
The company expects to sell the debt by the second quarter of 2003, subject to the easing of government restrictions on such debt, Chief Financial Officer Carol Lai said.
"We are focused on growing our fee-based income and this will be a great boost to our income next year," Lai said at a press briefing.
International investment drops
Taiwan's inbound and outbound investment both dropped in the first 10 months of 2002 caused by the global economic slowdown and a potential US invasion of Iraq, the Investment Commission said in a statement yesterday.
Between January and October, inbound investment totalled US$2.68 billion, down 37.19 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, outbound investment -- excluding to China -- totalled US$2.69 billion, down 26.12 percent from the same period in 2001.
Account surplus widens
Taiwan's current-account surplus widened in the third quarter to US$4.96 billion from a year earlier.
The surplus, the broadest measure of the flow of goods, services and money in and out of Taiwan, rose from US$4.23 billion a year earlier, the central bank said.
The trade surplus widened to US$4.86 billion from US$4.62 billion.
Japan considers switch to Linux
Eager to catch up with nations that are switching to computer systems other than Microsoft Windows, Japan will study the possibility of using open-source software such as Linux at the government level.
The public management ministry is earmarking 50 million yen (US$410,000) for a panel of scholars and computer experts, including Microsoft officials, to finish the study by March 2004, Tatsuya Kawachi, a ministry deputy director, said yesterday.
53% of Taiwan wired
Fifty-three percent of the households in the Taiwan area are now wired and connected with the world online at "Internet speed," the government-funded Institute for Information Industry (III) said yesterday.
In its survey this year of Net users in Taiwan, III found that the popularity of the Internet among local households has increased significantly to 14 percent this year from the 39 percent recorded last year.
Aussie carrier to fly to Taipei
Australian Airlines, a wholly owned Qantas Airways Ltd, though operated independently from the larger carrier, is scheduled to launch a new service between Taipei and Cairns on Nov. 22, the company said in a statement yesterday.
The new service presents a unique opportunity for the carrier, said Denis Adams, CEO of Australian Airlines.
"Our lower operating costs will allow us to serve markets from which Qantas and other airlines have had to withdraw," he said.
The carrier will have three weekly return services between Taipei and Cairns on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
NT dollar continues to decline
The NT dollar yesterday remained declining against its US counterpart in line with a weak yen. The unit closed down NT$0.084 at NT$34.865 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$471 million, compared with the previous day's US$360 million.
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