Central bank raises key rates by 0.125%, despite Fed cut

The China Post -- It seems the central bank has taken a conservative approach in setting its monetary policy as it raised key interest rates for a 13th consecutive quarter, citing inflationary concerns. Full Story

South Korea, Taiwan miss FTSE upgrade again

The China Post -- Global index compiler FTSE again dashed hopes that South Korea and Taiwan would be upgraded to developed market status, saying more work was needed to improve foreign investor access. Full Story

Medco technician admits to 'logic bomb'

The China Post -- A former employee of Medco Health Solutions Inc., the biggest U.S. manager of drug benefits, pleaded guilty to charges that he engaged in a failed plot to sabotage company computers by hiding a destructive code. Full Story

Supply of E3 ethanol-blended gasoline to start on Sept. 29

The China Post -- Starting Sept. 29, eight gas stations in Taipei of the state-run CPC Corp. Taiwan will supply E3 ethanol-blended gasoline, in line with the government's efforts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, officials with the Energy Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Full Story

The Council of Agriculture carries out trial planting of corn for biomass energy

The China Post -- The Council of Agriculture (COA) has carried out a trial planting of corn on 300 hectares of fallow farmland in Chiayi County, southern Taiwan to be used as raw material for the production of biomass energy, COA Chairman Su Jia-chyuan said yesterday. Full Story

AmCham holds discussion on employee assistance programs

The China Post -- Corporations are increasingly implementing employee assistance programs to enhance the skills as well as the well-being of employees, said speakers at a discussion held by AmCham yesterday. Full Story

Taiwan's real salary increase to reach 3.1 percent for '08

The China Post -- The real salary increase in Taiwan is expected to register 3.1 percent for 2008, the fourth lowest increase among 13 Asia-Pacific economies surveyed, according to a report published recently by a global consulting firm. Full Story

Arima to sell notebook, server ops to Flextronics

The China Post -- Taiwan's Arima Computer said yesterday it has signed a letter of intent with Flextronics to sell its notebook PC and server operations to Flextronics for US$191.5 million. Full Story

Formosa to restart one cracker, shut down another

The China Post -- Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp. has restarted its 700,000 tons per year (tpy) No.1 naphtha cracker but will skip spot buying for November as it plans to shut down another naphtha unit, a company source said yesterday. Full Story

Forbes: Taiwan leads China on list of best Asian SMEs

The China Post -- Technology firms dominated as Taiwan led China in a list of the best 200 Asian companies with annual revenues of under US$1 billion, Forbes Asia business magazine said yesterday. Full Story

Asian markets rise, buoyed by Wall Street

The China Post -- Most Asian markets rose Thursday, lifted by overnight gains in commodity prices and a further rise on Wall Street on this week's larger-than-expected cut in the key U.S. interest rate. Full Story

Shares up 0.63 percent; off highs

The China Post -- Taiwan share prices closed up 0.63 percent Thursday but off highs as pre-holiday caution put a lid on an early rally driven by extended gains on Wall Street, dealers said.Full Story

AmCham celebrates its 56th anniversary with style

The China Post - The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei -- Taiwan's oldest, biggest and most influential grouping of foreign business on the island -- celebrated its 56th anniversary at the elegant National Taiwan Museum last night. Full Story

All eyes on Taiwan's central bank after Fed rates cut

The China Post - Now that the U.S. Federal Reserve has cut key interest rates by half of a percentage point, all eyes are on Taiwan's central bank to see whether it will follow suit. Full Story

Shares close up 0.3 percent after rates cut

The China Post - Taiwan share prices closed 0.3 percent higher Wednesday as late profit-taking limited gains propelled by Wall Street and the U.S. Federal Reserve's larger-than-expected interest rate cut, dealers said. Full Story

E.Sun's debt downgraded by Moody's in first Taiwan cut

The China Post - E.Sun Commercial Bank's structured bonds had their credit ratings reduced by Moody's Investors Service, with one tranche of the debt cut to junk status from the top investment grade. Full Story

HP to double Taiwan headcount, boost R&D

The China Post - Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's top PC maker, said yesterday it will double the number of employees in Taiwan by 2009, part of a strategy to move more product development to the world's top PC-manufacturing hub. Full Story

Report: China's trade with Taiwan up 13%

The China Post - China's trade with Taiwan rose 13 percent to US$77.5 billion (euro55.5 billion) the first eight months of this year compared with the same period a year ago, a state news agency said Wednesday. Full Story

Cathay best-performing financial firm: survey

The China Post - Cathay Financial Holding Co. has been ranked as the best-performing financial holding company in Taiwan for the third consecutive year, according to the results of a survey released yesterday. Full Story

Great Taipei Gas gains as company may raise prices

The China Post - The Great Taipei Gas Corp. yesterday rose by the maximum daily movement allowed by the Taiwan Stock Exchange because the city gas company may raise prices next year. Full Story

High Tech shares rise on Sony Ericsson order report

The China Post - High Tech Computer Corp., the largest maker of handsets using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system, gained the most in two weeks after a report the company won orders from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd. Full Story

Taiwan sells NT$40 billion in ten-year bonds

The China Post - Taiwan's government sold NT$40 billion in 10-year bonds at a yield of 2.42 percent, lower than the rate of return from the last sale of comparable debt. Full Story

Taiwan economy better than Korea's: Chen

The China Post - President Chen Shui-bian yesterday rebutted criticism by the opposition that Taiwan's economy has worsened over the past seven years under his leadership. Full Story

Taiwan's digital opportunities now rank 7th worldwide: CEPD

The China Post - Taiwan's digital opportunities are now rated seventh best in the world,thanks to the country's ever-narrowing digital divide, officials at the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday. Full Story

Taiwan-UK confab on telecare held to share experience

The China Post - Experts from the public and private sectors of the U.K. and Taiwan shared experience and expertise on the telecare industry Tuesday during an international conference. Full Story

Goldman, Lehman get bargain fees for merger

The China Post - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. are getting less than half the minimum fees typically charged for arranging a US$3 billion Taiwan banking merger, three people familiar with the terms of the deal said. Full Story

Taiwan Mobile seeks United States, European investors

The China Post - Taiwan Mobile Co., the island's second-largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, is looking for a strategic investor from the U.S. or Europe to buy a 27 percent stake in the company. Full Story

Taiwan-Thailand confab opens in Bangkok

The China Post - The 18th Taiwan-Thailand economic cooperation conference was held in Bangkok yesterday on the theme of goods distribution and technological cooperation. Full Story

Typhoon break makes banks tender foreign currency

The China Post - Taiwan's central bank offered 20 banks foreign currency yesterday because financial markets were closed due to Typhoon Wipha. Banks were offered US$3.06 billion in U.S. dollars and 2 billion yen (US$17.4 million), the central bank said in a faxed statement. Full Story

New biotech firm TaiMed soliciting investors

The China Post - TaiMed Biologics, a newly established biotechnology firm with the backing of government funding, has clarified that the company has no intention of competing with private companies for profits. Full Story

Korea Importers Association delegation to hold Taipei procurement meets

The China Post - A delegation of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) is scheduled to arrive in Taipei Tuesday to hold procurement meetings with local manufacturers and suppliers, the quasi official Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) announced Monday. Full Story

Taiwan trade delegation arrives to explore Panama

The China Post - A Taiwan trade delegation organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) arrived in Panama Sunday to conduct procurement and examine the investment climate of the Central American country. Full Story

Power generation in first seven months up 3.6%

The China Post - Taiwan's total electric power generation for the first seven months of this year reached 139.5 billion kilowatts-hour, up 3.6 percent from the same period of 2006, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. Full Story

Warburg Pincus says it 'won't intervene'

The China Post - Private equity firm Warburg Pincus, which will buy local TFT-LCD maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes for US$250 million in convertible bonds, will not intervene in Chunghwa's operations as a result of the deal, said Lin Wei-shan, chairman of the flat-panel maker. Full Story

Carlyle, Gable to invest in Ta Chong

The China Post - The Carlyle Group has teamed up with Cayman Islands-registered Gable Holdings Inc. to invest NT$21.5 billion in Taiwan's Ta Chong Bank Ltd., the island's financial regulator said. Full Story

Uni-President hits record on possible profit gain

The China Post - Uni-President Enterprises Corp., Taiwan's biggest processed-food maker, yesterday climbed to a record in Taipei on expectations that earnings from China will rise. Full Story

Shares fall ahead of Fed meeting

The China Post - Taiwan shares fell Monday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates this week. Full Story

Warburg Pincus to buy CBs in Taiwan LCD maker

The China Post - Warburg Pincus will buy US$250 million in convertible bonds from Taiwan's Chunghwa Picture Tubes, in the first private equity investment by a major firm in the fast-growing LCD industry, Chunghwa's advisor said yesterday. Full Story

Int'l Barcode of Life confab to open

The China Post - The Second International Barcode of Life Conference and Regional Collaborative Meetings for East Asia will be held from today to Sept. 21 in Taipei under the auspices of Academia Sinica's Research Center for Biodiversity (RCB) and the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL). Full Story

Consortium to take over ROC's Primax

The China Post - A consortium led by a Taiwanese private equity firm said Sunday that it had acquired a 70-percent stake in leading computer accessories maker Primax Electronics Ltd. for US$185.5 million. Full Story

Investment firms chosen to manage pension fund

The China Post - Taiwan has selected 10 investment trusts to manage NT$30 billion under the government's labor pension fund, possibly clearing the way for investment in the stock market before the end of the year. Full Story

India investment expects rapid growth

The China Post - Investment by private Taiwan companies in India is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the years to come, given that bilateral business and trade exchanges have grown rapidly in recent years, an Indian trade source said Wednesday. Full Story

The Straits Exchange Foundation seeks talks with China on investment protection

The China Post - The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Taiwan will try to negotiate with China on protection of the investment interests of Taiwanese businessmen operating in China, You Ying-long Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said Sunday. Full Story

TSMC's Chang talks high-tech development

The China Post - There is still much to be done in the fields of improving investment environment, cultivating talents, encouraging innovation, and providing a mature and sound legal framework if Taiwan aims to stay ahead of global competition, according to Chairman Morris Chang of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). Full Story

'New media shaking up public relations industry'

The China Post - Len Apcar, chief editor of the New York Times, once intoned that, "Newspapers, in the traditional sense are dead. PR people have an opportunity to create content that will be delivered to consumers and embraced by the media." The South China Morning Post, in an editorial, chimed in that, "Blogs and sites like Wikipedia have become the thinking man's graffiti." Full Story

Taipower to sell NT$10 bil. of bonds to fund expansion

The China Post - Taiwan Power Co., the island's biggest electricity producer, plans to sell NT$10 billion (US$302 million) of five-year secured bonds in a public tender next week to help fund construction of power plants and upgrades of grid. Full Story

Gov't to stop banks using derivatives for mergers

The China Post - Taiwan plans to amend its rules to prevent banks from using derivatives trading for mergers or acquisitions, the island's Financial Supervisory Commission said. Full Story

Hewlett-Packard reduces computer orders: Goldman

The China Post - Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's largest maker of personal computers, cut desktop PC orders for the fourth quarter, Goldman, Sachs & Co. said in a report, citing unidentified industry officials. Full Story

Grand Hall presents new X-Series outdoor kitchen

The China Post - Multinational gas barbecue manufacturer Grand Hall introduced a new product at Cologne's Spoga Exhibition Sept. 2-4 -- an outdoor kitchen designed and developed with the support of Porsche experts. Full Story

The Mainland Affairs Council warns of 'high risk' of investing in China

The China Post - The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday warned of the "high risks" of investing in China following a high profile dispute involving the island's largest retailer and its Chinese partner. Full Story

Shares rise on Wall Street gain

The China Post - Taiwan shares rose Friday on Wall Street's overnight gain. The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange climbed 104.21 points, or 1.17 percent, to 9031.63. Full Story

Nikkei jumps 2%; HK hits record

The China Post - Asian markets advanced Friday, buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street amid hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week. Hong Kong soared to its third straight record close. Full Story