■ Nationalization
Calderon invites big firms
Multinational companies facing nationalizations by unfriendly governments are welcome to invest in Mexico, President Felipe Calderon told executives on Thursday. Calderon said Mexico needed more long-term investment from multinational corporations to create jobs and boost economic expansion. "While other governments in the world and Latin America are thinking about expropriating or seizing your investments, in Mexico we are thinking about how to give guarantees to increase investment in our country," Calderon told businessmen representing foreign companies.
■ Automakers
Toyota recalls vehicles
Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday it was recalling 544,000 pickup and sport utility vehicles mainly in the US because of a defect that could affect the steering. Of the total, 533,000 vehicles -- Sequoia SUVs and Tundra pickup trucks -- were recalled in the US and the remainder in Canada and Germany, a Toyota spokeswoman said. Toyota sold a record 2.54 million vehicles in the US last year. "There is a possibility that the front suspension lower ball joint may experience excessive wear and looseness, causing increased steering effort, reduced vehicle self centering and noise in the front suspension," Toyota said in a statement. The recall covers certain 2004 through early 2007 model Sequoias and 2004 through late 2006 model Tundra vehicles.
■ Outsourcing
Philippines expects boom
The Philippines expects a huge jump in its outsourcing business, with earnings forecast at US$12.4 billion by 2010 after US$3.63 billion last year, the Trade and Industry Department said yesterday. Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila said that the number of Filipinos working in the sector was expected to jump to 920,764 in 2010 from the current 244,675. The anticipated upturn will follow efforts to encourage more outsourcing of high-value back-office business operations in the country, Favila said. Call centers in the country earned a total of US$2.69 billion last year.
■ Telecoms
HDTV hits Singapore
Singapore's sole cable operator, StarHub, has launched a high-definition TV (HDTV) service for subscribers in the city-state, making it the first to offer the facility in Southeast Asia. StarHub will offer viewers two HD channels -- the National Geographic Channel HD and Discovery HD. The US, Australia, Korea and Japan have already launched HDTV services, while China has committed to HDTV telecasts of next year's Olympic Games.
■ Computers
IBM profit tops forecasts
IBM Corp topped analyst forecasts on Thursday with a reported US$3.5 billion profit in the fourth quarter, bringing its full-year earnings for last year to US$9.5 billion. The profit in the October-December quarter was 11 percent higher than a year ago and translated to US$2.26 per share, compared with analyst forecasts of US$2.19. Revenues for IBM increased 7 percent to US$26.2 billion in the quarter, ahead of Wall Street forecasts of US$25.6 billion. For the full year, profits rose 19 percent on revenues of US$91.4 billion, a gain of just 0.3 percent. IBM ended the year with US$10.7 billion of cash on hand and said the company "is well positioned to take advantage of opportunities."
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
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