Alcatel promises R&D center
Alcatel Taiwan Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up a research and development center in Taiwan with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
Chang Chiang-lin (張江林), vice president of Alcatel Taiwan Ltd, and Paul Lin (林寶樹), director of ITRI's Computer and Communication Research Lab, signed the memorandum at the 2003 Taiwan Business Alliance Conference.
Alcatel has set up several businesses in Taiwan, including Taiwan International Standard Electronics Ltd, a joint venture between Alcatel and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).
AIDC wins Boeing contract
The state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) and Boeing Co of the US yesterday jointly announced that the local company landed a long-term contract to provide main landing gear doors for Boeing's 737 airplanes.
The 10-year contract is expected to bring about NT$70 billion for the state-owned company as the US plane maker will have 20 percent of the conversion projects, from passenger planes into cargo planes, estimated David Chu (祝如竹), director of the committee for aviation and space industry development of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
"We believe the deal will bring huge profits for AIDC as the cargo shipment will be a lucrative business," Chu said.
The unexpected demand for air freight during the height of SARS this summer has made Asian air carriers shift their focus to cargo business, which is ignored by big airplane company such as Cathay Pacific Airways, he said.
Businesses attend conference
About 30 British companies have sent representatives to attend the 2003 Taiwan Business Alliance Conference because they have confidence in Taiwan's market potential and economic prospects, the head of the British delegation said yesterday.
The delegation includes representatives of MG-Rover, the largest British automaker; Tesco, the top British retailing group; B&Q -- a DIY products retailer; and MFI furniture manufacturing group.
Peter Kent, chairman of the Taiwan Advisers Group under the British Trade International Agency, said MG-Rover is currently using Shanghai as its Asian auto parts purchase center.
In the future, MG-Rover will set up a marketing foothold in Taiwan, he added.
China investment rises
Taiwanese companies' investment in China rebounded in September after the end of SARS outbreak enabled businessmen to conclude deals shelved during the epidemic.
Investment in China rose 65 percent from a year earlier to US$518.6 million, the Investment Commission said.
Foreign investment in Taiwan rose by 46 percent to US$323.5 million last month after the government sent delegations overseas to lure investors, the commission said.
In the January-September period, Taiwanese companies invested US$3.26 billion in China, 21 percent more than a year earlier.
Joint bid wins MRT contract
The Aston Martin Corp of France and CTCI Corp (中鼎工程) of Taiwan has won a tender to supply electrical and mechanical facilities for the Taipei MRT system at NT$14.99 billion (US$440 million).
The facilities will be used in the new MRT lines going through several districts in suburban Taipei.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday moved up against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.005 to close at NT$33.915 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$580 million.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to resume operations at two coal-fired power generators for three months to boost security of electricity supply as liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply risks are running high due to the Middle East conflict. The two coal-fired power generators are at Mailiao Power Plant in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮). The plant, operated by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), supplied electricity to Taipower’s power grid until the end of last year. Taipower’s decision came about one month after Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on March 10 said that the nation had no imminent
Some robotaxi passengers were left stranded in the middle of fast-moving traffic in a major Chinese city after their driverless vehicles stopped running, according to police and media reports on Wednesday. A preliminary investigation indicates more than 100 robotaxis came to a halt because of a “system malfunction,” police in the city of Wuhan said in a statement, without elaborating. No injuries were reported. One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner. An instruction on a screen read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” After no one showed up, the passenger pushed
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