■TAXATION
Global bank agreement near
Large economies are nearing agreement on a global bank tax, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in an interview yesterday, but he played down expectations a deal could be struck as soon as June. Britain, France and Germany were broadly agreed on the need for a levy that would cost financial institutions billions of dollars, Brown told the Financial Times newspaper, adding he hoped the US would join them. But the prime minister sought to play down suggestions the levy, which he has been promoting for some time, could be agreed upon at the G20 summit in June in Toronto, the paper said.
■OIL
Crude rises above US$85
Oil prices rose above US$85 a barrel yesterday in Asia, extending gains from last week as investors bet an improving US job market will herald growing crude demand. Benchmark crude for May delivery was up US$0.30 to US$85.17 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract climbed up US$1.11 to settle at US$84.87 on Thursday following a gain of US$1.39 on Wednesday. Global oil trading was closed for the Good Friday holiday. In London, Brent crude was up US$0.12 at US$84.13 on the ICE futures exchange.
■SOUTH KOREA
Early rate hike unlikely
The government and central bank agreed yesterday to cooperate closely in economic and monetary policy, a statement seen by analysts as ruling out an early interest rate rise. “Both sides agreed to share information and work closely for harmonized economic and monetary policies,” they said in a joint statement after a meeting between Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun and the new Bank of Korea governor, Kim Choong-soo. Kim took office on Thursday. The bank last month kept its key rate at an all-time low of 2 percent for a 13th straight month. It will hold the next rate-setting meeting on Friday.
■RESOURCES
Japan eyes rare metals
Japan is planning to offer economic aid to countries rich in rare metal resources, with an eye on securing supplies of the materials used in environmentally friendly cars, a report said yesterday. In the first of such deals, Japan is looking to offer hundreds of millions of dollars in loans as early as next month to help build a 100-megawatt geothermal power plant in Bolivia, the Nikkei Shimbun reported, without citing sources. About half of the world’s lithium deposits are believed to be in Bolivia’s Great Lake of Uyuni. Lithium is used in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars. It is also used in pharmaceutical and fine-chemical industries as well as in the manufacturing of alloyed metals.
■CAMBODIA
Foreign ownership allowed
The Cambodian parliament yesterday approved a law allowing foreign ownership of property such as apartments and office buildings, in a measure intended to increase economic growth. The draft law, which will permit foreigners to buy leaseholds on buildings and apartments, but not own the land beneath them, was passed when 85 of 96 members of parliament who attended the meeting voted in favor. The law will take effect after approval from Cambodia’s Senate and promulgation from King Norodom Sihamoni.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’