TELECOMS
FIH India workers arrested
Nearly 200 employees at a factory operated by FIH Mobile Ltd (富智康), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), were arrested on Monday for trying to force their way into the plant in Sriperumbudur Taluk, India, after production was suspended last week. It was the second attempt at a forced entry into the facility after a similar attempt by hundreds of employees on Tuesday last week, according to the Press Trust of India. Three rounds of tripartite talks were held in the presence of Sriperumbudur’s labor commissioner, but they had yet to reach any conclusions, the report said. A fourth round of talks was scheduled to take place today.
INVESTMENT
Delegation to visit India
Taiwan will send a delegation composed of officials from the ministries of economic and foreign affairs and business representatives to an investment summit in India next month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. “The business representatives on the delegation are mainly from the electronics, shipbuilding and textile industries,” Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Elliott Charng (常以立) said at a news conference. The delegation is scheduled to visit India from Jan. 10 to Jan. 14, and the investment summit is to be held from Jan. 11 to Jan. 13 in the state of Gujarat, Charng said.
FOUNDATIONS
Chang Gung names chair
Chang Gung Medical Foundation (長庚醫療) yesterday appointed Lee Pao-chu (李寶珠), the third wife of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) cofounder Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), as chairperson, replacing Wang Yung-tsai (王永在), the foundation said in a statement. Known for its operation of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, the foundation is one of the group’s nonprofit organizations as well as its investment arm. Wang Yung-tsai, another cofounder of the group and a younger brother of the late Wang Yung-ching, passed away on Nov. 27.
TRAVEL
Richmond plans listing
Richmond International Travel & Tour Co (山富旅遊) yesterday said the company is seeking to list on the Emerging Stock Market, which is a preparatory board for the nation’s two main bourses, the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the GRETAI Securities Market. The company said in a statement that its board had authorized chairman Chico Chen (陳國森) to negotiate terms with potential underwriters and proceed with the planned market debut with the stock exchange regulator. No specific date has been set for the debut.
HOUSEWARES
Xiaomi working on purifier
Xiaomi Corp (小米) is working on a water purifier as it expands its range of home products that can be controlled over the Internet, an early investor in the company said. The company has shown some backers a prototype of the new purifier, said Jenny Lee, managing partner at GGV Capital, an early investor in China’s largest smartphone vendor. Xiaomi spokeswoman Joy Han declined to comment on products that have not been announced. Xiaomi founder and chief executive officer Lei Jun (雷軍) said on Monday that the company would unveil a new “flagship product” next month, without supplying further details. GGV’s Lee did not say if the water purifier would be that product.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE: The group is proposing a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, and possibly a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Nissan Motor Co shares jumped after the Financial Times reported that a high-level Japanese group has drawn up plans to seek investment from Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc to aid the struggling automaker. The group believes the electric vehicle (EV) maker is interested in acquiring Nissan’s plants in the US, the newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify. The proposal envisions a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, but also includes the possibility of a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to prevent a full takeover by the Apple supplier, the report said. The group is
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