Tue, May 31, 2022 page11

• Twaiwan Business Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  TAIEX

  Foreigner stock buys surge

  Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$7.73 billion (US$265.23 million) of local shares after buying a net NT$2.18 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$773.03 billion of local shares since the beginning of the year, the exchange said. The top three shares bought by foreign investors last week were Innolux Corp (群創光電), Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), while the top three shares sold by foreign investors were Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) and China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), it said. As of Friday, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$20.56 trillion, or 40.73 percent of total market capitalization, it said.

  BIOMEDICAL

  Local drug gets foreign deal

  PharmaEssentia Corp’s (藥華醫藥) board of directors on Sunday gave approval to a non-binding term sheet to authorize a foreign company to market PharmaEssentia’s blood cancer drug Ropeg in the Latin American market. PharmaEssentia would disclose the name of the firm and the income generated from the deal when a formal agreement is signed, it said in a regulatory filing. The number of people with the rare type of blood cancer, polycythemia vera, is estimated to be more than 100,000 in Latin America, but as the area has a comparatively low insurance coverage rate, the companies plan to target specific groups initially. PharmaEssentia has obtained marketing approval for Ropeg in Taiwan, South Korea, the EU and the US. It holds an upbeat outlook for the second quarter given robust sales of Ropeg in the US.

  ENERGY

  Taipei signs Somaliland deal

  Taiwan and Somaliland signed an agreement on energy and mineral resources cooperation last week that Taiwan’s office in Somaliland said provides a legal foundation for joint resource exploration, drilling activities and other initiatives. A task force is to facilitate information sharing, exploration and drilling, training and capacity building, Taiwan’s representative office in Hargeisa said on social media. CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) in December last year signed a farm-out agreement with UK-based Genel Energy PLC to acquire 49 percent of the rights to explore hydrocarbon resources in the SL10B/13 mining area, and the deal was later approved by the Somaliland government. Taiwan Representative to Somaliland Allen Lou (羅震華) said the first exploration well is to be drilled next year.

  CRYPTOCURRENCY

  XREX enters European market

  XREX Inc (鏈科), a Taipei provider of blockchain cross-border payment solutions, obtained approval from Lithuania’s regulator to provide cryptocurrency services in the country, enabling it to set foot in the European market. The company said it would mainly target firms based in Lithuania, and aims to serve as a bridge to link firms in advanced economies and those in emerging markets. As a registered cryptoasset service provider in Lithuania, XREX would be able to help customers exchange cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, provide a virtual wallet service and act as an online payment guarantor similar to BitCheck, it said. Established in 2018, the company has received regulatory approvals from Estonia, Canada and the US over the past few months, while it is applying to enter the Singaporean market, it said.
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