■Info tech
Sales in Taiwan increase
The local buying offices of foreign information and communication technology (ICT) companies procured US$86.8 billion worth of ICT and electronics goods in Taiwan this year, a 6.9 percent increase from a year earlier, the nonprofit Institute for Information Industry (III) reported on Friday. The foreign companies bought US$48 billion worth of notebook computers from local manufacturers this year, making it the backbone of foreign high-tech outsourcing in Taiwan. Nine foreign companies have each made over US$2.5 billion in purchases in Taiwan through their local buying offices this year, the III said. Ten foreign firms procured between US$400 million and US$2.5 billion this year, it said.
■labor
Trade Unionists rally
Some 30,000 workers protested yesterday against moves to revise protections for part-time and temporary employees, police and organizers said. Trade unionists gathered at a park in Seoul to rally against plans to re-draw a 2006 law forcing bosses of “irregular workers” to hire them as permanent staffers or fire them after two years. The ruling conservative Grand National Party and the labour ministry plan to extend the period to four years, sparking protests from opposition parties and labour unions. There were no immediate reports of any clashes during the rally.
■finance
Capital flow under threat
The global financial crisis risks causing a 50 percent slide in capital flows to developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America next year, according to the World Bank’s chief economist. “We must intensify our efforts to catalyze and leverage private capital in support of development,” including the use of public-private partnerships, World Bank Senior Vice President Justin Lin (林毅夫) said in a statement prepared for delivery yesterday to a UN development conference in Doha, Qatar. Lin’s statement said developing countries are entering a “danger zone” where economic growth could slow to 4.5 percent next year from an average of 7.8 percent in 2006 and last year. Every percentage point decline will push 20 million people into poverty, according to his statement.
■Banking
Commission blocks plan
The European Commission is blocking the French government’s plan to bail out its six largest banks by insisting that state funds can not be used for commercial lending, Britain’s Financial Times reported on Friday on its Web site. According to the report, EU Competition Commissioner Nellie Kroes has rejected pleas by French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to approve the French 10.5 billion euro (US$13.3 billion) plan. In the French plan, the government would subscribe to subordinated five-year debt issued by the six banks. In exchange, the banks committed themselves to increasing their loans to individuals and companies by 3 percent to 4 percent next year.
■internet
Icahn increases stake
Corporate raider Carl Icahn increased his stake in Yahoo following the decision of co-founder Jerry Yang (楊致遠) to step down as head of the Internet firm, documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. Icahn acquired 6.77 million more shares of Yahoo stock from Monday to Wednesday for US$67 million, taking his stake in the firm to 5.4 percent, up from the 5 percent he owned previously, the documents filed with the SEC and dated on Wednesday showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the