The Alstom-Siemens Eurotrain consortium has filed a US$800 million civil lawsuit claim against Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) after it failed to obtain a high-speed rail contract.
Eurotrain filed its claim with the Singapore International Arbitration Center to arbitrate the dispute in February and demanded a claim for its expenses over the past four years, a THSRC executive said.
"We have prepared for the lawsuit, which was expected," the executive said, adding that progress on the 345km rail between Taipei and Kaohsiung in the island's south would not be hampered.
THSRC named Eurotrain its "preferred bidder" in a preliminary 1997 deal for the supply of train carriages, locomotives, electronics and communication systems, and maintenance.
But THSRC switched the US$3 billion deal in December 1999 to Taiwan Shinkansen Consortium (TSC,
The Taiwan High Court rejected in June of last year an appeal filed by Eurotrain seeking an injunction to stop the signing of the agreement with TSC.
THSRC and TSC finalized the contract in December 2000.
"The Japanese side offered a better package in terms of price, financial planning and maintenance. This is a commercial decision," the official said.
The issue resurfaced in Taiwan on Monday when David Lee (李大維), Taiwan's representative to Belgium, told lawmakers that the pursuit of compensation by Eurotrain through international courts was damaging Taiwan's relationship with European nations.
In February 2000, European External Relations Commissioner Christopher Patten, urged Taiwan to warn "internationally recognized principles of transparency, objectivity and nondiscrimination," regarding the deal.
Construction of the high-speed rail project began in 1999 and the system is expected to become operational in 2003.
VALUABLE STOCK: The company closed at NT$1,005 a share, on demand for AI and HPC chips, and is expected to issue a positive report during its earnings conference Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares rose 2.66 percent to close at a record high of NT$1,005 yesterday. as investors expect the company to continue benefiting from strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) chips. TSMC is the 19th member of the local bourse’s NT$1,000 stock club, which includes smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and electric transformer manufacturer Fortune Electric Co (華城電機). Yesterday’s rally swelled TSMC’s market capitalization to NT$26.06 trillion (US$802.3 billion) and contributed about 211 points to the TAIEX, which closed up 350.1 points, or 1.51 percent, to 23,522.53, another record high, Taiwan Stock
Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), a subsidiary of Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said it is again offering a NT$100,000 discount for its entry-level n7 electric vehicle models. The n7’s price has gone down from NT$1.099 million to NT$999,000, Luxgen said, adding that there are 25,000 preorders for the model. MG Motor’s electric hatchback, the MG4, entered the market in the middle of last month, with a starting price of NT$990,000. China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which distributes MG vehicles in Taiwan, said it aims to sell 1,600 MG4s this year. MG, originally a British brand, was acquired by China’s SAIC Motor
Google on Monday said it is planning to invest in New Green Power Co (NGP, 永鑫能源), a solar energy developer owned by BlackRock Inc, to build 1 gigawatt of solar capacity in Taiwan to supply clean energy for its local data center and offices. “Our investment in NGP, subject to regulatory approval, will serve as development capital toward its 1 GW pipeline of new solar projects, catalyzing critical equity and debt financing for those projects,” Google’s Data Center Energy global head Amanda Peterson Corio wrote on a company blog. It did not disclose financial details. “We expect to procure up to 300 megawatts
‘MORE PRACTICAL’: If the cap were lowered, it would spark an influx of funds that would be difficult to track as insurance firms adjust to the new rules, an official said Overseas investment would remain capped at 45 percent of local insurers’ total assets, as there are scant investment tools at home and potentially significant losses from sudden divestments, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday. The commission’s comments came in response to a legislator’s concern over the effect of a proposed revision to the Insurance Act (保險法) to lower the upper limit to 25 percent. The revision was proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才). The proposed 25 percent cap is even lower than the 35 percent implemented before 2007. About 17 years ago, the legislature raised the upper limit