■FINANCE
AIG, MetLife discuss deal
American International Group Inc (AIG) is discussing a deal for all or part of its foreign unit, American Life Insurance Co, with MetLife Inc, according to a published report on Wednesday that cited people familiar with the matter. Alico operates in 50 countries, and a deal could offer its rival a chance to expand overseas quickly, the Wall Street Journal said in a report on its Web site. AIG must repay tens of billions of dollars to the US after it rescued the firm in September from potential bankruptcy, the newspaper said.
■ASIA
IMF raises growth outlook
The IMF has raised this year’s growth forecast for Asia’s developing economies from 4.8 percent to 5.5 percent, but cautioned that a sustained rebound would depend on recovery in developed economies. The Washington-based IMF cited improved prospects for regional giants China and India. In a report on Wednesday, it raised its growth outlook for China by 1 percentage point to 7.5 percent and for India by 0.9 percentage points to 5.4 percent. The IMF raised next year’s growth projection for developing Asian economies from 6.1 percent to 7 percent.
■AUSTRALIA
Jobless rate hits 5.8 percent
The unemployment rate rose to a six-year high of 5.8 percent last month as companies shed workers despite the government’s massive stimulus spending, official figures showed yesterday. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of people in jobs fell by 21,400, with a small increase in the number of part-time employees overwhelmed by losses in full-time employment. The increase in joblessness was more moderate than economists had predicted. The rate hit 5.8 percent for the first time since October 2003, rising from 5.7 percent in May.
■SOUTH KOREA
Key rate still frozen
The central bank yesterday froze its key interest rate for the fifth straight month at a record low 2 percent, a statement said. The Bank of Korea’s decision to leave the seven-day repo rate unchanged came amid signs of economic improvement and easing inflationary pressure. The bank had made six consecutive rate cuts totalling 3.25 percentage points between October and February to prop up the export-dominated economy.
■LCD PANELS
Sharp to boost production
Bucking the economic gloom, Japan’s Sharp Corp said yesterday that it would move to boost production of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels to meet increasing demand for flat-screen TVs. Sharp will increase production capacity by 10 percent at its Kameyama No. 2 plant in central Japan sometime from August. The company, which makes the popular AQUOS brand of LCD TVs, is also preparing to put a new LCD plant in Sakai, western Japan, into operation in October, ahead of the original schedule.
■CELLPHONES
NTT DoCoMo raises goal
NTT DoCoMo Inc aims to ship as many as 1 million smartphones in Japan this year, helped by the release of a model running Google Inc’s Android operating system. The company aims to capture half of the country’s market for smartphones, estimated to be between 1.5 million and 2 million units in the 12 months ending on Dec. 31, president Ryuji Yamada said yesterday. The Tokyo-based carrier will begin selling an Android handset made by Taiwan’s HTC Corp (宏達電) tomorrow to compete with Apple Inc’s iPhone offered by rival Softbank Corp.
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and