DBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣) yesterday announced that it has offered polyester and textiles producer Far Eastern New Century Corp (FENC, 遠東新世紀) a blue loan of NT$1 billion (US$33.65 million), which would help FENC recycle more marine waste and implement ocean protection projects, the bank said.
The loan is not only the first blue loan in Taiwan, but also the first blue loan provided by Singapore-based DBS Group Holdings Ltd, the local unit of DBS Group told a news conference yesterday.
FENC has since 2016 collaborated with Adidas AG and non-governmental organization Parley for the Oceans to commercialize trainers using recycled plastic dredged from the oceans to raise awareness about the environmental issue, the bank said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
By the end of last year, they had reprocessed more than 11,000 tonnes of marine waste and used the recycled materials to produce 60 million sports shoes, the bank said.
“Sustainability and innovation are already embedded in the Far Eastern New Century’s DNA,” FENC chief financial officer David Wang (王健誠) told a news conference.
The blue loan would enable FENC to devote itself more to ocean-friendly and water resource protection initiatives, so that it can achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Wang said.
As the market leader in sustainable finance in Taiwan, FENC is the only local company that has issued green bonds, sustainability bonds and social bonds in Taiwan, Wang said.
While green loans or sustainability-linked loans have gained acceptance in Taiwan in the past few years, blue loans are discussed a lot less as they are only offered to companies focused on improved water treatment and ocean protection, DBS Bank’s data showed.
While the proceeds of green loans and sustainability-linked loans can only be used for green power projects or achieving sustainability goals, blue loans can only be used for projects such as water sanitation, clean water supply, ocean friendly products or marine ecological restoration, the bank said.
The bank offered the innovative financing tool not because it thinks the market has great potential, but because there is a necessity to promote such tools for marine sustainability, DBS Bank head of institutional banking Tony Luo (羅綸有) said.
“As Taiwanese companies have become stronger, they can do more to protect the ocean... Though Taiwan has great precipitation, there is still lots to be improved in the conservation of water resources,” Luo said.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS