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.
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