■ Auto industry
Fuji plant to make Toyotas
Toyota Motor Corp and its new partner Fuji Heavy, the maker of Subaru brand cars, have agreed to make Toyota vehicles at Fuji's US plant in Indiana, both sides said yesterday. The two Japanese automakers said that the decision was finalized when company presidents met on Monday. However, details such as job additions, what model will be manufactured, vehicle numbers and when the production will start at the factory in Lafayette, Indiana, still need to be worked out. The Indiana plant now makes about 100,000 vehicles a year.
■ Telecoms
Vodafone chair to retire
Vodafone, the British telecommunications giant, announced on Monday that its chairman Ian MacLaurin will retire from the board in July, to be replaced by John Bond, the outgoing chairman of banking group HSBC. Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said in a statement that MacLaurin had been an "outstanding" chairman who had overseen the company's transition from a British telecoms operator into "a major global" business. HSBC had announced a week ago that Bond will retire next May after nearly half a century working for the London-based bank.
■ Energy
Exxon Mobil, Libya in deal
Oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corp said on Monday that it has agreed to an exploration and production sharing pact with Libya's National Oil Corp -- the company's first re-entry into that country since leaving in the early 1980s. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement covers 1 million hectares of the Cyrenaica Basin in waters between 3m and 3,000m deep. Exxon exited the country in 1981, while Mobil had left in 1982, according to Exxon Mobil spokesman Len D'Eramo. In 1986, the US imposed comprehensive trade and financial bans on Libya.
■ Software
Microsoft facilities planned
Microsoft Corp said it will set up a global network of 90 "innovation centers" to support software and economic development in countries, including India and South Korea. The centers will be operated in partnership with local governments, universities, software makers and other industry groups, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said in a statement yesterday. The centers will start operating immediately from 60 existing facilities in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan and Malaysia, the statement said. Microsoft will set up an additional 30 centers in India, South Korea and South Africa next year, it said.
■ Aviation
Boeing may top Airbus
US aerospace giant Boeing said on Monday that it had booked 800 commercial plane orders in the first 11 months of this year, giving it an apparent lead over European rival Airbus. Airbus, which has been the market leader in recent years, was due to release its figures for the same period yesterday. As of October, Airbus had booked 494 orders compared with 674 for Boeing for the same period. Boeing is expected to overtake Airbus this year in terms of orders. But the European consortium was expected to remain ahead of Boeing in aircraft deliveries, most recently estimated at 360. Boeing said it plans 290 deliveries for this year.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
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