■ Banking
Mizuho to write off loans
Mizuho Holdings Inc, the world's biggest bank by assets, plans to write off as much as ?1.6 trillion (US$13 billion) of its worst loans, the first Japanese bank to respond to the government's call to get tougher on delinquent borrowers. The lender will by March 2004 write off 80 percent of loans to companies that moved into the "near-to-failure" or a worse category in the year ended March 31, spokesman Misao Yoneyama said. About ?2 trillion of lending at Mizuho's two main units entered those categories in the year that ended March 31, the bank said in a May earnings report. Mizuho is taking the initiative two days after top bank regulator Heizo Takenaka outlined measures that may lead to the worst lenders being seized by the state.
■ Motorcycles
Vietnam allows imports
Vietnam said yesterday it would allow the immediate importation of 185,000 motorcycle kits in a bid to end a two-month stand-off with manufacturers that forced two Japanese manufacturers to suspend operations. The directive to ease the import quota restrictions was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Thursday, an official from the Government Office said. "This decision was made to help these assemblers keep their production on track," he said, requesting anonymity.
■ Petro-chemicals
Shell to invest big in China
Royal Dutch Shell said yesterday it will definitely proceed with a US$4.3 billion petrochemicals joint venture in south China, and expects to announce contracts worth more than a billion dollars by the end of the year. The boards of the Anglo-Dutch Oil giant and local partner, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), gave the formal go-ahead for construction of the complex earlier yesterday, Shell said in a statement. The green light for the 430-hectare facility in Daya Bay, Guangdong province, ends 20 months of talks on design and financing, as well as engineering, procurement and construction bid requirements.
■ Mobile phones
Nokia expects consolidation
Nokia Oyj Chief Executive Officer Jorma Ollila expects consolidation among cellular-phone makers as the cost for research and development rises, the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet said, citing an interview with Ollila. "I think the industry will go through an enormous change," he told the paper. "This is an industry where there are still too many players." Some mobile-phone makers won't make enough money on their own as the cost of research and development increases when handsets become more sophisticated, Ollila said. Espoo, Finland-based Nokia, the market leader, and rivals such as Motorola Inc are counting on new services such as image transmission to lift sales.
■ Computer services
EDS to cut thousands of jobs
Computer services company EDS is to cut 5,000 jobs in a bid to restore its lagging profitability. According to news reports Thursday, work-force cuts came as the world's number 2 technology services company -- only IBM is larger -- reels from a massive earnings shortfall. For its third quarter, EDS said that its profit fell to US$86 million, from US$212 million a year earlier. EDS revenue in the quarter fell 2.7 percent to US$5.41 billion from US$5.56 billion the year before.
Agencies
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
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