Investment in China up 6.2%
Taiwan's corporate investment in China rose 6.2 percent last month as businesses took advantage of lower production costs and a growing consumer market in China.
■ Investment increased to US$280.5 million from US$264.2 million the same month a year earlier, the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on its Web site.
Taiwanese manufacturers are shifting labor-intensive production to factories in China, where wages are as little as one-tenth of those in Taiwan.
In the first two months, Taiwan's corporate investment in China rose to US$782.4 million from US$719.4 million a year earlier.
For last year, investment rose to a record of US$4.6 billion.
Overseas companies' investment in Taiwan more than doubled last month to US$174.2 million from US$81.6 million, the commission said. Foreign investment into Taiwan rose to US$354.5 million from US$291.9 million
■ Mosel responds to lawsuit
Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽), parent company of the nation's second-largest memory-chip manufacturer ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), said yesterday that the lawsuit filed by Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Co (太電) against Mosel chairman Hu Hung-chiu (胡洪九) has nothing to do with the company's operation.
Pacific Electric filed a lawsuit against Hu with the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office late last month, accusing Hu of embezzling about NT$10 billion from Pacific Electric when he served as a board member between 1998 and 1999.
"Our company's operation will remain unaffected by the lawsuit. As the case is under judicial procedure, it's improper for us to make any comment," Mosel said.
Mosel said earlier this month that it plans to completely repay next month a NT$1.6 billion (US$48 million) bond it defaulted on in June last year.
■ Chi Mei wins Sony deal
Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) won an order to supply Sony Corp with 20.1-inch and 30-inch flat panels for televisions, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, without quoting sources.
Chi Mei aims to sell 2 million flat panels this year. It has received an order to supply plasma displays to Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the paper said.
Chi Mei, the nation's second-largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions, said last month that last year's sales rose by more than 50 percent to NT$62 billion (US$1.8 billion) from NT$40.7 billion.
■ Quanta pushing own TVs
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world's largest notebook computer maker, has started selling flat-panel TVs under its own brand to increase profit, a Chinese-language newspaper reported from a European electronics fair.
Quanta Computer was demonstrating the TVs at the Cebit fair in Hanover, Germany, under the NU brand name, the report said.
Quanta Computer buys flat-panel displays from Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子), a venture started with Japan's Sharp Corp. Quanta Computer has shifted into production of mobile phones and flat-panel televisions as profit margins in the notebook computer market have slimmed.
■ Swiss insurer approved
The Ministry of Finance gave its approval on Thursday to allow London-based Swiss Reinsurance to set up a branch in Taiwan, making the company the first foreign-based reinsurer to explore the domestic market.
The ministry's decision was made in line with government policy changes made in 2002 aimed at boosting the liberalization and globalization of the country's reinsurance market
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