Fri, Feb 21, 2003 page11

• Business Briefs

  • STAFF WRITER WITH AGENCIES
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  Taipower ponders recreation

  Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has commissioned a US property agency to assess the possibility of building recreational facilities on the state-run company's land.

  The proposal includes existing hydro power stations in remote areas or substations in urban area, officials at the CB Richard Ellis Ltd (Taiwan) said.

  "We're currently conducting a feasibility study for Taipower," CB Richard Ellis (Taiwan) managing director Andrew Liu (劉學龍) told reporters at a press gathering yesterday.

  Taipower hopes the plan will increase income to their existing core business, he said. The company is under increased pressure from the authorities to complete its privatization in two years.

  Liu said CB Richard Ellis has surveyed all Taipower's facilities, but declined to say when the study will be completed.

  James Ting (丁福致), director of valuation and advisory services at CB Richard Ellis, said Taipower's power stations are mostly located in upstream river sections in mountainous areas -- where natural resources are intact and scenery is beautiful.

  "Among state-run companies, Taipower has the best prospect to develop recreational business," Ting said. "If the plan is to proceed as expected, it will strengthen Taipower's core electricity business further."

  The plan will also help reduce protests by residents living near Taipower substations by creating more park-like settings, Ting added.

  UMC still mulling Singapore

  United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) said yesterday it and Advanced Micro Devices Inc of the US have yet to decide on whether to jointly build a semiconductor plant in Singapore due to the slump global demand for microchips.

  "The joint venture legal entity still exists and the blueprint is for a joint plant in Singapore to start mass production from 2005. We still have time to assess whether to build such a plant," a UMC official said.

  The official was responding to reports that the Singapore plant would be dropped although the agreement for UMC to make some chips for AMD would continue.

  Current account surplus grows

  The nation's current-account surplus widened to US$7.72 billion in the fourth-quarter after exports revived from a year earlier.

  The surplus, the broadest measure of the flow of goods, services and money in and out of the country, rose from US$6.74 billion in the year-earlier period, the central bank said.

  Yamanouchi to close plant

  Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co will close its only pharmaceutical plant in Taiwan, as Japan's third-biggest drugmaker moves to cut costs and revamp its global production operations.

  The factory, which has been making drugs such as the stomach ulcer treatment Gaster for the Taiwanese market, is no longer needed because the company now exports its products directly to Taiwan, Yamanouchi said in a statement. Some 50 people working at the factory will lose their jobs.

  MediaTek overtakes Via

  MediaTek Inc (聯發科技), the world's biggest maker of chips for DVD players, has overtaken rival Via Technologies Inc (威盛電子) to become the world's fifth-largest chip designer, a market research company said.

  MediaTek's sales last year almost doubled to US$854 million, while Via's dropped 28 percent to US$729 million, according to IC Insights Inc.

  NT dollar trades higher

  The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.012 to close at NT$34.792 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.

  Turnover was US$387.5 million.
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