Taiwan and Brunei on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote a halal economy between the nations.
The document, titled the MOU on Syariah Compliance Products, Development and Trade, was signed by Pengiran Haris Duraman, chairman of the Brunei Darussalam BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BD BEBC), and witnessed by Taiwan Representative to Brunei Andrew Lee (李憲章).
The document next heads to Taipei to be signed by an official at the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會), the other signatory of the MOU.
The BIMP-EAGA refers to the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area, which covers 80 million people. It was launched in 1994 in Davao City, the Philippines, to promote subregional economic cooperation.
The MOU was a result of 10 months of discussion initiated by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Brunei and the BD BEBC, Lee said.
“It will serve as a catalyst and platform for connectivity and cooperation, and to explore opportunities in creating a new supply chain linking Taiwan and Brunei and the global Muslim markets,” Lee said.
The MOU aims to foster cooperation in the halal industry, reduce technical barriers to trade and facilitate bilateral relations between Taiwan and Brunei, particularly with respect to halal export development and promotional programs, Lee said.
It also focuses on investment opportunities in the halal economy and possible joint ventures in the halal value chain between Taiwan and Brunei, he added.
Brunei is well positioned to bridge the gap with Europe, the Middle East, South America and Taiwan in the halal industry, which is a global economic driver encompassing 1.9 billion Muslims, Lee said.
Taiwanese-made halal-certified foods were displayed outside the MOU-signing event as part of the representative office’s effort to showcase Taiwan’s efforts to break into the global halal food market, he said.
RECORD BUDGET: TSMC does plan to raise its proposed capital expenditure a lot, and could benefit if Intel outsources more of its production to foundries, analysts said Intel Corp’s earnings conference call on Thursday is expected to clarify the US semiconductor giant’s outsourcing production plans, which would be crucial regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) performance, analysts said. “TSMC stands to benefit if Intel outsources more of its fabrication to foundries,” SinoPac Securities Investment Service Corp (永豐投顧) analysts said in a note on Friday. Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) was more cautious, saying that Intel’s contribution initially would be limited, but its outsourcing plans would still highlight TSMC’s leadership in technology, it added. “Intel will continue to manufacture server or high-end central processing units [CPUs], which have higher
MOBILE SMART: The Dimensity 1200 is 22 percent better in terms of performance than its predecessor, and 25 percent more power-efficient, the handset chip designer said MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday unveiled its premium 5G processors — the Dimensity 1200 and Dimensity 1100 — as it vies for a larger slice of the world’s rapidly growing 5G smartphone market. Manufactured using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) 6-nanometer process technology, the Dimensity 1200 processor performs 22 percent better than the previous generation Dimensity 1000+ processor, and is 25 percent more power-efficient, MediaTek said. Chinese smartphone brands Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Realme Mobile Telecommunications (Shenzhen) Co (銳爾覓移動通信) are to be the first adopters of the latest Dimensity chips, the companies said during a virtual media briefing. Xiaomi plans to equip its first
Norway’s oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world’s wealthiest countries, but its dreams for deep-sea discovery now center on something different. This time, Oslo is looking for a leading role in mining copper, zinc and other metals found on the seabed and in hot demand in green technologies. The country could license companies for deep-sea mining as early as 2023, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said, potentially placing it among the first countries to harvest seabed metals for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and solar farms. However, that could also place it on the front line of
‘BROAD RANGE’: The US Department of Commerce intends to deny a significant number of license requests for exports to Huawei, an industry association said US President Donald Trump’s administration notified Huawei Technologies Co (華為) suppliers, including chipmaker Intel Corp, that it is revoking certain licenses to sell to the Chinese company and intends to reject dozens of other applications to supply the telecommunications firm, people familiar with the matter told reporters. The action — likely the last against Huawei under Trump — is the latest in a long-running effort to weaken the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, which Washington sees as a national security threat. The notices came amid a flurry of US efforts against China in the final days of Trump’s administration. US president-elect Joe