■MINING
States eye lithium deposit
Companies from Spain, Canada and Asia have expressed interest in investing in a giant deposit of lithium and potassium discovered in Mexico last year, the company that found the deposits said. “The Canadian company Potash Corps visited us last week and next week representatives from a Spanish company will be coming. Some Asian companies, [South] Korean and Japanese, are also interested,” Pietro Sutti director Martin Sutti said. Pietro Sutti uncovered the deposits in October between Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi in northern Mexico. The discovery could make Mexico one of the world’s top producers of lithium, which has become prized for use in the batteries that power electric cars, but is also used in medicine and other industries.
■OIL
PDVSA debt soars
State-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) saw its debt jump 42 percent last year, compared to a year earlier, climbing to US$21.4 billion, official figures showed. In 2008, PDVSA’s debt was US$15.09 billion, but in the early months of last year the energy crisis, along with falling oil prices, saw the state cut costs and delay service payments, leading to soaring debt. Oil represents some 90 percent of Venezuela’s export earnings, most of which goes to the US. Venezuela, a member of OPEC, produces 3.06 million barrels per day.
■ENERGY
Guyana drilling to begin
A Canadian company will soon begin drilling for oil and gas in Guyana’s southwestern savanna region that borders Brazil. Calgary-based Groundstar Resources is targeting the Takutu Basin where earlier explorations showed potential for resource-rich deposits, spokesman Dilorece South said late on Friday. Groundstar Resources is teaming up with Canacol Energy Ltd to pursue commercial oil production in the South American country. Late last year, Canacol paid Groundstar US$3.45 million to buy an additional 35 percent stake in the prospecting license.
■MINERALS
PRC No. 2 diamond market
China last year overtook Japan to become the world’s second-largest diamond market behind the US, with trade on the Shanghai diamond exchange rising 16.4 percent to more than US$1.5 billion, state media said. Xinhua news agency said yesterday the year-on-year rise, when much of the rest of the world was mired in deep recession, was because of China’s boisterous economic growth last year, which reached 8.7 percent. “As the economy continued to develop in a stable manner, consumer demand for jewelry continued to grow, especially for diamonds for the wedding market,” Xinhua said on its Web site.
■INFRASTRUCTURE
Dubai releases budget
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will spend 10.74 billion dirhams (US$2.9 billion) this year, of which almost half will be allocated to the metro. The Rail Agency will receive 46 percent of the budget, while 29 percent is allocated to roads, 13 percent to public transport and the remaining 12 percent to licensing and marine agencies, the RTA said in a statement on Saturday. The operational budget is 2.8 billion dirhams and 7.9 billion dirhams is for capital and project spending, the statement said. The agency expects revenue of 3.3 billion dirhams.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the