■ECONOMY
Stiglitz issues warning
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said there is a “significant” chance that the US economy will contract in the second half of next year and urged the government to prepare a second stimulus package to spur job creation. “The likelihood of this slowdown is very, very high,” Stiglitz told reporters in Singapore. Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University, called on Washington to make more funds available to state governments that face a drop in tax revenue. The US economy, the world’s largest, must grow at least 3 percent to create enough jobs for new entrants into the labor force, he said.
■CONSTRUCTION
Terex sells mining business
Terex Corp, the world’s third-biggest maker of construction equipment, agreed to sell its mining business to Bucyrus International Inc for US$1.3 billion in cash after a slump in demand drove losses this year. The purchase is expected to be completed the purchase in the first quarter of next year, the South Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company said in a statement yesterday. It estimates it can cut operating costs by more than US$100 million a year by 2012. Bucyrus said the acquisition will double its addressable market to more than US$30 billion. Terex in October reported its fourth straight quarterly loss as the global recession slowed demand for construction and mining equipment. Terex fell 0.6 percent to US$19.21 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. Bucyrus fell 2.7 percent. Terex may request to get US$300 million of the purchase price in shares, Bucyrus said.
■ELECTRONICS
LG unveils thinnest TV
South Korea’s LG Display said yesterday it had developed the world’s thinnest LCD TV panel, measuring 2.6mm. The company, the world’s second largest maker of liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), said the panel uses an ultra-slim, edge-lit light emitting diode backlight system and proprietary optical film technology. It said in a statement the 42-inch panel weighs less than 4kg, making it ideal for wall-mounted TVs.
■SECURITIES
Mizuho, Maybank tie up
Mizuho Securities Co announced yesterday a business tie-up with Malaysian Maybank Investment Bank Berhad targeting corporate clients, part of a push by Japanese banks to expand abroad. The deal is Mizuho’s first alliance with a Southeast Asian partner, a company spokesman said, adding that their joint operation has already begun. The two companies will team up to provide corporate clients with advisory and other information related to merger and acquisition as well as fundraising. “Under the new cooperation, the two companies can jointly offer business advice to our Japanese and other clients operating in Malaysia,” said the spokesman for Mizuho Securities, part of Japan’s No. 2 banking group, Mizuho Financial.
■OIL
Prices agreeable to OPEC
OPEC is comfortable with current oil prices and will maintain output levels, Angolan Oil Minister and the group’s president, Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, told state radio station Radio Nacionale de Angola. Everything indicates that we will maintain the present situation” when OPEC ministers meet today, he said. OPEC, supplying about 40 percent of the world’s oil, is meeting in the Angolan capital Luanda amid expectations that crude demand will rebound next year after a two-year slump as the global economy mends.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
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