Former minister-without-portfolio Joseph Lyu (
"With his financial expertise, Lyu is quite suited for the chairman's job," DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
Ker confirmed that Lyu is one of the DPP government's candidates for the post, but he refused to reveal names of other possible candidates.
After Lyu stepped down from his previous post as finance minister in 2006, rumor had it that he would take up an executive post at government-controlled Mega Financial, the nation's third-largest financial service provider by assets. But that never materialized and he quitted his minister-without-portfolio position shortly after.
Currently working as a university professor, Lyu, 52, also served as a board member at Mega Financial in 2004, chairman at the state-owned Bank of Taiwan (台銀), president at Land Bank of Taiwan (土銀) and vice president at the nation's top telecom operator Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) before leaving his executive posts at Taipei-based foreign banks including KBC Bank, BNP Paribas and the Bank of New York Mellon.
Lyu, however, denied that he had been asked to replace Cheng on Monday when Cheng's sudden resignation was made public, his staff was quoted as saying.
Deputy Minister of Finance Liu Teng-cheng (
The board's remaining six seats are for representatives of the financial company's private shareholders, led by Cheng.
If no replacement is appointed by Jan. 15, when Cheng's resignation takes effect, Mega Financial president Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才) will step in and work as interim chairman, Liu said.
Tsai, who was appointed by the finance ministry, currently doubles as the chairman of subsidiary Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀).
Moreover, Tsai and former Mega Financial president Lin Tzong-yeong (林宗勇) were tapped as possible candidates for the chairman's position, local media reported yesterday.
Ker said yesterday that Cheng chose to step down because he felt he wasn't at the helm of Mega Financial as its chairman.
Local media, however, speculated Cheng's resignation had something to do with Cheng's relationship with the Evergreen Group founded by Cheng's father-in-law Chang Jung-fa (張榮發). The group is said to be distancing itself from the DPP administration.
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
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As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. However, the charcoal they were making is known as “green,” and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. “Green charcoal” aims to protect what