■RECREATION
Shanghai Disney goes ahead
Disney could start building its planned theme park in Shanghai as early as November, a year after Chinese authorities gave the green light for the project, the China Business News reported yesterday. “Talks on the Disney project are in the final stages and the construction is expected to start as early as November,” the report said, citing an unnamed source. The park would be Disney’s fourth outside the US and its third in Asia, after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
■EQUITIES
China to lead IPO market
China is on track to become the world’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) market this year in terms of both the number of new listings and funds raised, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The total number of new listings on the country’s two bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen may reach 300 this year, compared with 99 last year, a forecast published this week said. Chinese companies are expected to raise 500 billion yuan (US$73.6 billion) in IPOs this year, it said.
■ARGENTINA
Restructuring deal accepted
More than two-thirds of the nation’s creditors have accepted a deal with Buenos Aires ending their long-running debt dispute, the Ministry of Economy said on Monday. Heralding the country’s return to the financial mainstream, the ministry said 70.2 percent of creditors who held debt that the country defaulted on had agreed to the latest restructuring deal, worth US$18.3 billion. That topped the preliminary news announced last month of a 66 percent acceptance rate, worth more than US$12 billion. The government has offered to swap defaulted bonds at a third of their nominal value in a bid to restore its international credit standing.
■ELECTRONICS
Samsung raises sales target
Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s largest television maker, raised its target for global flat-panel television sales this year to as many as 50 million units on increased demand. The company previously set a target of 39 million units, company spokesman James Chung said yesterday by telephone. Meanwhile, Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor Group will team up to develop flexible display material, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported, citing officials from the South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy and related industries.
■AVIATION
Air France to cut 4,100 jobs
Air France will cut its work force by about 4,100 people by March 2013, union sources said on Monday. Jose Rocamorra, of the CGT union, said there was no plan for layoffs but over the next three years the airline will see its workforce reduced by way of voluntary departures. A document seen by reporters showed that Air France planned to shrink its work force by 4,109 posts to just under 47,700 by end-March 2013.
■MINING
Rio completes Alcan sales
Mining company Rio Tinto Ltd said yesterday it had completed divestment of its Alcan Packaging business following the sales of its final two assets, Medical Flexibles and Alcan Beauty Packaging. Medical Flexibles, which comprises four North American plants, has been acquired by Amcor for US$66 million after recently receiving approval from the US Department of Justice. The beauty packaging business was acquired by Sun European Partners LLP for an undisclosed sum, Rio said in a statement.
SECRET OUT: Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung yesterday accidentally revealed that the infections occurred at the ministry’s Taoyuan General Hospital The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the fifth COVID-19 case in a cluster infection at a Taoyuan hospital, where four other medical workers were confirmed to have been infected over the past week. The latest case is a nurse who had tested negative on Tuesday last week, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a news conference. However, on Thursday, she developed symptoms, such as nasal congestion and a cough, and a second test yesterday found that she was infected, Chen said. She is the head nurse of a ward where two
VIGILANCE: While two of the cases are family members of a nurse, there is no sign of community spread and the source of infection is identifiable, the CECC said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported four new domestic COVID-19 cases associated with a cluster infection at a Taoyuan hospital. Since the first case was identified on Tuesday last week, five healthcare workers — two doctors and three nurses — at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taoyuan General Hospital have tested positive for the virus. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that two of the four new cases are the husband and daughter of a nurse (case No. 863) who had earlier been confirmed to have COVID-19. The husband (case No. 864)
PILLARS OF DEMOCRACY: US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft posted online after the virtual meeting that Taiwan should be able to share its successes in global venues President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft yesterday held a virtual meeting, during which Tsai described Taiwan as a “force for good” that deserves a place on the world stage, while Craft reaffirmed Washington’s support for Taiwan’s international participation. The virtual talk was held at about 11am, after Craft’s trip to Taiwan was abruptly canceled. She had been scheduled to meet with Tsai in person at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday morning as part of a three-day visit to Taiwan. On Tuesday, the US Department of State canceled all of its planned trips, citing a need
Don Quijote, the biggest discount store in Japan, is opening its first store in Taiwan today. The three-story Don Don Donki store in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) area, which operates 24 hours a day, has already created 400 jobs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said in a press release. Many Taiwanese, including Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), consider a trip to Don Quijote an essential stop in Japan. “I have been to Don Quijote at least 10 times myself,” Huang said yesterday at a news conference announcing the store’s opening. “They are rendering an important service, because we cannot travel
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