■ Electronic
Fujitsu eyes N America
Japanese computer maker Fujitsu will create a holding company by March 2008 to oversee its seven units in North America in an effort to have a bigger slice of the market there, a report of the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said yesterday. The new unified structure will allow the subsidiaries to share customer bases and technologies in order to market their devices and systems in package deals, the report said. Fujitsu Ltd aims to triple its sales over the next five years in North America -- which accounts for 40 percent of the global information technology market -- to ¥1.2 trillion (US$10.5 billion), the report said. Closer cooperation among the seven units through the holding company is expected to boost sales by ¥240 billion, the daily added. The subsidiaries include Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp, which sells servers and other computer equipment, and Fujitsu Consulting, a provider of management and technology consulting.
■ Automobiles
GM said mulling UK job cuts
General Motors Corp may cut almost 1,000 jobs at a Vauxhall plant as the world's largest automaker tries to deal with falling demand for the Astra, the Sunday Times reported, citing unspecified people close to the car industry. The job cuts are just one of the options at Ellesmere Port in Merseyside, northern England, where some of the Astras are built, and executives will continue talks with union leaders and plant bosses this week. No decisions have yet been taken, and job losses in the UK, or on such a scale, could still be avoided, the Sunday Times said.
■ Automobiles
Proton talking to Peugeot
Malaysian national auto manufacturer Proton is in talks with France's Peugeot, Europe's second-largest carmaker, to jointly develop a car for the Southeast Asian market, a news report said yesterday. Both sides are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding in a few months, which might also see PSA Peugeot Citroen SA taking up an equity stake in Proton Holdings Bhd, the Edge business weekly reported, quoting unidentified sources. The car would be marketed as a Proton or a Peugeot/Citroen, the Edge said, adding analysts expect it to be a compact car. Once dominant in Malaysia's auto sector, Proton has lost ground to foreign car makers, with its domestic market share down from around 60 percent in 2002 to 41 percent last year.
■ Electronics
Dell plans Malaysia center
US computer giant Dell Inc will set up a technology and development center in Malaysia's high-tech city Cyberjaya, news reports said yesterday. Dell announced the decision during a visit to the company's headquarters in Round Rock, Texas by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Friday where he met with Dell's founder and chairman Michael Dell and chief executive Kevin Rollins. "Dell's global growth and need for additional development activity, coupled with the success of our Malaysian facilities since 1995, gives us confidence that this new facility will enhance our ability to deliver the industry's best value and customer experience," the national news agency, Bernama, quoted Rollins as saying. The center will be involved in value-added activities, including process design and software development, and employ as many as 1,000 people, Bernama said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
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