■HOUSING
Taiwan rental prices drop
The average price of apartments in Taiwan fell to the lowest in almost two years last month, with replacement demand from home owners ebbing as the country’s economy enters recession. Housing prices declined 7.8 percent to an average NT$228,700 (US$6,800) per ping (3.3m²), the lowest since March 2007, said Stanley Su, senior researcher at Sinyi Realty Co, Taiwan’s only listed property broker. Prices in the capital Taipei averaged NT$368,800, he said. “Dwindling replacement demand is the main reason prices fell,” Su said yesterday. “Home owners who wish to move into nicer apartments in better locations are holding back as the recession deepens.”
■EMPLOYMENT
Cabinet to create jobs
The Cabinet expects to create more jobs this year to help combat the rising number of unemployed, an economic planning official said on Friday. Vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development San Gee (單驥) said the number of created jobs would be increased to 330,000 this year, from 150,000 jobs estimated previously. To help solve the unemployment problem for college graduates, the government will offer 35,000 internships in local enterprises for unemployed college graduates who got their degrees between 2006 and last year, at a monthly salary ranging from NT$22,000 to NT$35,000, San said. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and the National Science Council would offer the same monthly pay to college graduates serving as assistants in research projects.
■CONSUMING
Ma La Sun sold in China
The “Ma La Sun” millet wine made famous by Taiwan’s blockbuster movie Cape No. 7 has made inroads into China’s market even before the movie opens there next Saturday. The millet wine producer, the Shinyi Hsiang Farmers’ Association from Nantou County, has already begun exporting the liquor to a Xiamen-based trading company that is serving as its exclusive distributor in China. Jin Jun (金君), the deputy general manager of the trading company, said yesterday that the Ma La Sun millet wine went on sale in China on Jan. 8.
■OIL
Offshore Group bought
Colombia and South Korea’s state oil companies announced on Friday their US$900 million purchase of US-based Offshore International Group Inc, whose main asset is the oil developer Petro-Tech Peruana SA. Ecopetrol SA and Korean National Oil Corp will each have a 50 percent interest in Petro-Tech, which has 11 blocks in Peru — one in production and the rest in exploration. Petro-Tech has been operating on the country’s northern coast since 1994, producing nearly 12,000 barrels of crude daily and has more than 100 million barrels in reserves, Ecopetrol said in statement issued in Bogota.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Glaxo eyes Piramal
British drug developer GlaxoSmithKline PLC is reportedly in talks to buy Indian generic drug developer Piramal Healthcare Ltd for about US$1.5 billion. Late on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that people familiar with the potential deal said the companies are at an early stage of talks. GlaxoSmithKline said it would not comment and Piramal could not be reached for comment. In December, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to buy Bristol-Myers Squibb Pakistan Ltd and certain associated trademarks for about US$36.5 million, adding an emerging market to its business.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
Taiwan would remain in the same international network for carrying out cross-border payments and would not be marginalized on the world stage, despite jostling among international powers, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday. Yang made the remarks during a speech at an annual event organized by Financial Information Service Co (財金資訊), which oversees Taiwan’s banking, payment and settlement systems. “The US dollar will remain the world’s major cross-border payment tool, given its high liquidity, legality and safe-haven status,” Yang said. Russia is pushing for a new cross-border payment system and highlighted the issue during a BRICS summit in October. The existing system
Convenience store operator Lawson Inc has registered trademarks in Taiwan, sparking rumors that the Japanese chain is to enter the local market. The company on Aug. 30 filed trademarks for the names Lawson and Lawson Station, according to publicly available information from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Intellectual Property Office. The product categories on the application include some of Lawson’s top-selling items for use in the convenience store market. The discovery has led to speculation online that the popular Japanese chain is to enter the Taiwanese market. However, some pointed out that it might be a preemptive application to avoid others from co-opting the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to grow its revenue by about 25 percent to a new record high next year, driven by robust demand for advanced technologies used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and crypto mining, International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday. That would see TSMC secure a 67 percent share of the world’s foundry market next year, from 64 percent this year, IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) predicted. In the broader foundry definition, TSMC would see its market share rise to 36 percent next year from 33 percent this year, he said. To address concerns
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