INVESTMENT
Eight projects approved
The Investment Commission yesterday approved eight investment projects totaling NT$25.8 billion (US$885.81 million): two foreign direct investment projects in Taiwan, one investment project in the US and five investment projects in China. The foreign projects are in renewable energy, with GRP III Taiwan UK Ltd buying NT$7.6 billion of stock in New Green Power Co (永鑫能源), a photovoltaic systems company, and Germany-based Yunlin Holding GMB investing NT$2.8 billion in Yunneng Wind Power Co (允能風力發電), the developer of a Yunlin offshore wind farm, the commission said. Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) also gained approval to invest NT$5.46 billion in its US-based subsidiary, Formosa Industries Corp (台塑工業美國), it added.
SHIPPING
Yang Ming names new head
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) yesterday announced that its board of directors approved the appointment of National Development Council Deputy Minister Cheng Chen-mount (鄭貞茂) as company chairman and CEO from today. Cheng replaces Bronson Hsieh (謝志堅), who retired yesterday. Cheng in 2018 joined the board as a representative of the National Development Fund, which is Yang Ming’s second-largest shareholder, the company said in a statement, adding that Cheng has become familiar with the container shipper’s operations and strategies over the past two years.
ELECTRONICS
Unity Opto to be delisted
LED company Unity Opto Technology Co (東貝光電) yesterday said that its shares are to be delisted from the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Nov. 10, as its book value has fallen into negative territory, a company regulatory filing showed. Unity Opto’s book value fell to minus-NT$5.27 per share by the end of last year due to chronic losses. The debt-ridden firm last year posted losses of NT$7.31 billion, or losses per share of NT$15.86. The company has yet to submit financial statements for this year to regulators.
AUTOMAKERS
Hua-chuang’s Huang retires
Hua-chuang Automobile Information Technical Center (華創車電) vice president Huang Chen-hung (黃振宏) has retired, parent company Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) said in a statement. Hua-chuang Automobile is 100 percent owned by Yulon Motor. Huang’s retirement preceded the creation of an electric-vehicle venture between Yulon Motor and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密). Hon Hai plans to unveil an outlook and blueprint for the venture on Oct. 16, while Yulon Motor said that the venture is to begin by the end of this year.
ELECTRONICS
Sony unveils 5G Xperia 5 II
Sony Mobile Taiwan has launched its flagship 5G Xperia 5 II smartphone in Taiwan for the price of NT$29,990. The Xperia 5 II builds on the success of the Xperia 1 II 5G, Sony Mobile Taiwan president Jonathan Lin (林志遠) told a launch ceremony on Monday. “The Xperia 1 II 5G was the best-selling flagship Android phone in June, July and August,” Lin said, adding that the two phones’ features mostly share the same specifications, while the Xperia 5 II is smaller and has a 6.1-inch screen. Product marketing manager Jerry Peng (彭浩正) said that the camera can take a string of 20 photographs auto-focused on the eyes, to spontaneously capture the subject’s emotions.
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV yesterday said that it has reached an agreement to acquire a subsidiary brewery of Taiwan’s Sanyo Whisbih Group (三洋維士比集團). Heineken is to assume majority ownership and management rights of the Long Chuan Zuan Co (龍泉鑽興業) brewery in Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔), the Dutch company said. It would become the first multinational brewing company to operate brewery in Taiwan once the acquisition is completed. The deal has been approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission, but details of the financial transaction cannot be disclosed at this time, as terms of the settlement have not been completed,
Had Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck hopped on an electric scooter rather than a Vespa in the classic film Roman Holiday, their spin around the Eternal City might have ended in tears. The number of crashes and near-misses involving the two-wheelers has prompted Rome authorities to impose some order on a booming rental market that began two years ago. The havoc came to a head earlier this month when two US tourists attempted a night-time drive down the Spanish Steps, causing more than 25,000 euros (US$26,392) worth of damage to the 18th-century monument. Caught on security footage, the couple in their late 20s
LOOK WHO OWES: China’s exposure to Taiwanese banks was the second-largest, with Luxembourg third, followed by Hong Kong and Japan, the central bank said The US remained the largest debtor country to Taiwan’s banking sector for a 27th consecutive quarter in the first quarter of this year, with its exposure rising 8.3 percent from a quarter earlier on the back of an increase in US bonds, the central bank said on Friday. Data compiled by the central bank showed that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks on a direct risk basis to the US stood at US$125.38 billion as of the end of March. Department of Financial Inspection deputy head Pan Ya-hui (潘雅慧) said that the US Federal Reserve’s launch of a rate hike cycle in
GREEN CITY: The company is set to invest US$8 billion to make electric vehicles and batteries for a new city that would rely entirely on renewable energy sources Indonesia said that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is considering investing in the country’s new capital city, a move that would bolster the US$34 billion construction project. Hon Hai, which is known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is looking at setting up an electric bus system and an Internet of Things network at Nusantara, as Indonesia’s new capital is to be called, Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia said in a statement yesterday. Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday to discuss the company’s plan to invest US$8 billion to build a manufacturing plant
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