Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) yesterday became the nation’s first public transport service provider to issue sustainability bonds to fund its green initiatives and social investment projects.
Sustainability bonds refer to financing instruments in which the issuer uses all the funds raised for green initiatives, social investment projects or other related plans. The bonds must be issued based on the Taipei Exchange’s “Rules Governing the Issuance of Sustainability Bonds,” and can be traded on the over-the-counter market.
“The issuance of the sustainability bonds shows our determination to fulfill our responsibilities to the environment, society and corporate governance, as well as our commitment to pursuing the sustainable development of the rail service,” it said in a statement.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
The NT$1 billion (US$35.95 million) sustainable bond issue has a maturity of three years and a fixed annual interest rate of 0.3 percent.
The funds raised through the issuance of the bonds would be used to accelerate the automation of its Yenchao (燕巢) maintenance depot and update the passenger information system at high-speed rail stations, the company said.
The Yenchao project is a green investment plan, as it would prevent and control pollution. Meanwhile, the passenger information system update is a social investment that would integrate the internal broadcast system to provide riders with real-time train schedules, weather forecasts and information on major events and emergencies, it added.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS