■ TOURISM
Science park does well
The Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) posted NT$100.39 billion (US$3.1 billion) in sales for July and August, the highest level ever recorded by the park for a two-month period, tallies released on Friday showed. The amount marked an increase of 13.26 percent over May and June and a rise of 40.33 percent over the same period last year, park officials said. For the first eight months of this year, turnover topped NT$330 billion, or 63.71 percent of the target set by the park for this year. The officials attributed the performance in July and August to a strong growth momentum in the semiconductor and photonics industries.
PHOTO: AFP
■ DEVELOPMENT
Park's future looks bright
Output at Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park is expected to reach at least NT$18 billion (US$545.5 million) within 10 years, the Ministry of the Interior's Construction and Planning Administration (CPA) said yesterday. CPA officials said the first stage of construction at the park had been completed and estimated that 20 manufacturers would be stationed in the park by the end of this year. Within six years, 120 manufacturers will have entered the park, providing 8,000 jobs and boosting the southern job market, they said. The construction of amenities such as banks, a post office, telecommunications, eateries and supermarkets will be completed in May, they said.
■ HEALTH
FDA clears AIDS drug
A new AIDS treatment made by Merck & Co, the first in a new class of drugs aimed at preventing replication of the virus, has been approved by US regulators, Merck said on Friday. The drug will be available in about two weeks, Merck said. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared Isentress, a pill given twice a day and known generically as raltegravir. An FDA advisory panel recommended approval of the drug last month. It was the first in a new class of HIV treatments called integrase inhibitors that seek to block insertion of HIV genetic material into human DNA.
■ MINING
Japanese firms join efforts
Two Japanese mining firms will invest as much as US$1.7 billion in jointly developing copper production bases in Peru and Chile to secure supplies amid growing demand worldwide, a report said yesterday. Nippon Mining and Metals Co and Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co will build the facilities by 2011 to produce up to 250,000 tonnes of copper ore a year, the Nikkei Shimbun reported. The project will be undertaken by Pan Pacific Copper Co, a joint copper smelting venture set up by the two firms last year. It will be the biggest nonferrous metal mining endeavor by Japanese companies, the report said.
■ AVIATION
AirAsia X sells stakes
Malaysia's first long-haul budget carrier, AirAsia X, will sell a 10 percent stake each to Japan's Orix Group and Bahrain's Perigon Capital for a total of US$75 million, a report said yesterday. The deals are part of a second wave of fundraising for fleet expansion as the airline prepares to launch operations next month by flying to Australia's Gold Coast, the Star newspaper said, quoting unidentified people. Two months ago, billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group purchased a 20 percent stake in AirAsia X for an estimated US$7.2 million. AirAsia subsequently bought a 20 percent stake in the long haul carrier.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
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A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective