■ Energy
Hydro Texaco to be sold
The US-based Chevron Corp and Norsk Hydro ASA yesterday announced the sale of their joint Hydro Texaco gas station chain to Norway's Reitan Servicehandel group. Norsk Hydro said it would receive 1 billion kroner (US$161 million) for its 50 percent stake in the 768 gas station chain, which operates under the Hydro Texaco and Uno-X brands in Norway and Denmark. In a separate statement, Chevron said its Texaco Investments (Netherlands) Inc subsidiary would also sell its half interest, but did not disclose the price. Norway's Reitan group has 210 7-Eleven stores in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and the convenience store chains Narvesen in Norway and Pressbyran in Sweden.
■ Auto Industry
GM leads China sales
Auto sales in China rose nearly 50 percent in the first half of this year, with US giant General Motors taking the lead, according to industry data reported yesterday. The data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed total sales in the first half at 1.8 million units, up 46.9 percent from the same period last year. Shanghai GM, General Motors Corp's joint venture with state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp (SAIC, 上海汽車工業), nudged aside former market leader FAW Volkswagen, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Next was Shanghai Volkswagen Co, Volkswagen AG's venture with SAIC, the Xinhua report said, followed by FAW Volkswagen, domestic maker Chery Automobile Co (奇瑞汽車), Beijing Hyundai Motor Co, Tianjin FAW Toyota Automobile Co, Tianjin-FAW Xiali Automobile Co, local maker Geely Automobile Co (吉利汽車), Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co, the report said.
■ Aviation
Thai drops no-frills plan
Thai Airways International (THAI), the national carrier, has scrapped plans to set up a new no-frills airlines after the government said all carriers must use Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport as their base, media reports said yesterday. THAI president Apinan Sumanaseranee announced after a board meeting over the weekend that the national carrier would not establish the planned no-frills subsidiary Royal Orchid Airlines, the Thai News Agency said. THAI already holds a 39 percent stake in Nok Air, a low-cost airline that services many domestic routes in Thailand.
■ Credit cards
LG Card's stake sale OK
LG Card's key creditors have conditionally approved the regulator's decision that a public tender offer be held to sell a controlling stake in South Korea's largest credit card issuer, officials said yesterday. Major creditors led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) had sought to sell a stake of more than 50 percent in LG directly to strategic investors through a bidding process. But the Financial Supervisory Commission ruled last month that creditors should sell their stake through a public tender process involving minority shareholders. The watchdog said its decision was aimed at preventing LG Card from becoming the target of a direct takeover bid. KDB and 13 other key creditors own 72 percent of LG card after injecting US$4.2 billion into the company in 2004 to prevent its collapse.
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
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