■TOURISM
Ministry to push local shops
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will push to expand the distribution network for products specific to localities in the latter half of the year, a ministry official said yesterday. Michelle Lin (林美雪), deputy director general of the ministry’s Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, said that by adopting the local marketing concept of “One Town One Product” from Japan, the association started from 1989 to help stimulate distinctive local industry by integrating local resources and specialties. However, the display and distribution network for these types of products is still limited to places such as the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Chiayi Station, Nantou’s scenic Sun Moon Lake resort and the Dream Mall in Kaohsiung. Lin said that 70 percent of the products are agricultural or area specialities, with the local governments deciding on the display and distribution network.
■FINANCE
China to allow managed float
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said the country would gradually adopt a floating exchange rate system, but it must be controllable and initiated by China itself. Hu’s comments to a summit of China, India, Brazil and Russia were made on Thursday, but posted on Friday on the Web site of China’s Foreign Ministry. The comments are in line with what Chinese officials have been saying on the country’s currency in response to pressure from the US and other countries that want the yuan to be allowed to rise in value.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Companies misled patients
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Novartis AG and Astellas Pharma Inc used misleading promotions for cancer, pain and bladder drugs, US regulators said in letters released on Friday. A medical journal advertisement by Glaxo “omits important information” about the safety and effectiveness of cancer drug Arzerra, the Food and Drug Administration said in a letter to the British drugmaker. In a separate letter, the administration said a promotional Web page had overstated the effectiveness of Glaxo’s and Astellas Pharma’s overactive-bladder drug Vesicare.
■CONGLOMERATE
GE earnings fall 32 percent
General Electric Co (GE) said on Friday that its first-quarter earnings fell 32 percent, but the industrial and financial bellwether said it saw signs of improvement in its own results and the broader economy. The results from GE, one of the world’s largest companies that operates in most major segments of the economy, signals that some sectors may be in recovery from the deep recession. GE said there were positive indications in commercial aviation, freight rail and advertising. The company earned US$1.87 billion, or US$0.17 per share, after deducting preferred dividends in the January-March period, down from US$2.75 billion, or US$0.26 per share, a year ago — a 32 percent drop. Revenue fell 5 percent to US$36.6 billion from US$38.4 billion a year ago.
■BANKING
Bank of America in black
Bank of America returned to profit in the first quarter of this year, the firm said on Friday, reporting better than expected profit of US$3.2 billion. After a boardroom shake-up and losses of more than US$2 billion last year, the largest US bank returned to the black, providing a glimmer of hope that its crisis-inflicted wounds could be on the mend.
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
Twenty years after he was a young, struggling actor in Toronto, Thomas Lo (盧瑞麟) is now the one giving young Asian actors their big breaks. He just had to go to Hong Kong to do it. The Chinese Canadian has been the creative director of one of the territory’s biggest TV broadcasting companies for only a few years, but is already making original English-language content to reach viewers around the world. “It was a bit of a full-circle moment for me,” Lo said. “You see more Asians, but you’re still seeing the same Asians on screen, right? We’re looking for more opportunities
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