■ Energy
US advises Iraq
Washington is advising Iraq on establishing a state company to take over management of the oil sector by July as US-led occupation forces hand power to a new Iraqi government, a US official said on Sunday. "We are helping set up a mechanism that allows them to have a state oil company but also allows a significant outside investment into the industry," said Robert McKee, the outgoing oil chief in the US-led administration of Iraq. McKee, who will be replaced by Mike Stinson from yesterday, said Iraq had no choice but lure international investment even if the oil industry remained in state hands. He said Iraq needed tens of billions of dollars to double output to 5 million barrels per day in the next five years.
■ Cellphones
Alcatel to sell handset unit
Alcatel SA, the world's biggest maker of broadband Internet equipment, is about to sell its handset unit to China's Nanjing Panda Electronics Co, La Tribune said, citing unnamed people in the industry. Paris-based Alcatel reached an agreement with the Chinese phonemaker 10 days ago, according to the daily. Alcatel, which began talks last year via its Chinese unit, Alcatel Shangai Bell, had shortlisted Panda and TCL, the newspaper said.
■ Aircraft
UPS looks to cancel order
United Parcel Service Inc (UPS), the world's largest package-delivery company, is in talks to cancel more than US$1.6 billion of aircraft ordered from European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co's Airbus SAS division as clients shift to cheaper ground-based services, the Wall Street Journal Europe said. UPS aims to cancel at least 20 of the 90 Airbus 300-600 planes it ordered in 1998 and 2001, the paper said, citing people familiar with the situation. It had received 32 of the planes by the end of January.
■ Telecoms
NTT expects profit jump
Japanese telecoms giant NTT said yesterday it expects recurring profit to grow 52 percent in the year to March next year from an estimated profit for the current year. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp plans to generate ¥117 billion (US$1.07 billion) in group recurring profit, up ¥40 billion from its forecast for the year to this month. According to its business plan filed with the government, which still owns a stake in the former monopoly, NTT aims to increase revenue by 7.4 percent to ¥363 billion in the next fiscal year while cutting total costs by 5.7 percent to ¥246 billion.
■ Petroleum
Singapore firm to expand
Singapore Petroleum Co Ltd said yesterday it will buy British Petroleum Singapore's one-third stake in Singapore Refining Company Pte Ltd and one-sixth equity interest in Tanker Mooring Services Co Pte Ltd in a deal worth about US$140 million. Singapore Petroleum said the acquisition would double its refining capacity and strengthen its position as a leading petroleum products supplier in the Asia Pacific region. It said the acquisition is expected to be completed by June 30. The Singapore Refining Company is owned by a consortium that includes Singapore Petroleum and BP Singapore and runs an oil refinery situated on Singapore's Jurong Island with a maximum capacity of 285,000 barrels per day.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS