UNITED KINGDOM
PM issues China directive
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has instructed civil servants to make plans to end the UK’s reliance on China for vital medical supplies and other strategic imports in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Times reported yesterday. The plans, which have been code named “Project Defend,” include identifying the UK’s main economic vulnerabilities to potentially hostile foreign governments as part of a broader new approach to national security, the newspaper reported, adding that the efforts are being led by Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Raab. Two working groups have been set up as part of the project, according to the report, with one source telling the Times that the aim was to diversify supply lines to no longer depend on individual countries for non-food essentials. Johnson told lawmakers that he would take steps to protect Britain’s technological base, with the government review also expected to include personal protective equipment and drugs, the report said.
UNITED KINGDOM
Borrowing sets record
Britain’s government last month borrowed more than it has done in any month on record, pushing up a measure of public debt to close to 100 percent of economic output. April’s borrowing of £62.1 billion (US$75.80 billion) was six times higher than in the same month last year and March’s figure was revised up sharply to almost £15 billion as the government’s emergency job-saving scheme began. Public debt, including the Bank of England’s massive bond-buying, jumped to nearly 98 percent of GDP, reflecting higher borrowing and a lower estimate of the size of the economy based on a scenario by Britain’s budget forecasters. That was the highest share of GDP by that measure since 1963, the Office for National Statistics said. The office also said that British retail sales last month fell by the most on record, as much of the sector was shuttered by the government’s COVID-19 lockdown.
TECHNOLOGY
IBM reduces US workforce
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) cut an unspecified number of jobs across the US, eliminating employees in at least five states. The company declined to comment on the total number, but the workforce reductions appear far-reaching. “IBM’s work in a highly competitive marketplace requires flexibility to constantly add high-value skills to our workforce. While we always consider the current environment, IBM’s workforce decisions are in the interest of the long-term health of our business,” company spokesman Ed Barbini said in a statement on Thursday. IBM is offering subsidized medical coverage to all affected US employees through June next year, he said.
AUTOMAKERS
Nissan planning job cuts
Nissan Motor Co is planning to cut more than 20,000 jobs across the world as the Japanese automaker grapples with factories and showrooms that have been shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kyodo News reported. The outbreak is forcing Nissan to cut back on production and restructuring measures in Japan are also being considered, the news agency reported. The job reductions are part of a mid-term reorganization plan that Nissan is due to unveil on Thursday next week, Kyodo said. The reduction is much larger than the 12,500 staff cuts Nissan announced in the middle of last year.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six