Following its recent decision to build a $1bn industrial technology park in Vietnam, Hon Hai Precision Industries, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer by revenue, plans to invest an additional $4bn in Vietnam in the next few years, making it the largest private foreign investor in the country. Hon Hai signed a deal in January to construct its third-largest overseas industrial park…
Citibank announced on April 9 that it will acquire Bank of Overseas Chinese (BOOC), a small Taiwanese lender. The management of BOOC agreed to the deal after a year of negotiations. According to the US-based bank, Citibank will pay approximately $427.3m for BOOC, subject to closing adjustments. The acquisition will increase Citibank's branches in Taiwan from its existing 11 to 66 once the merger…
Taiwan's two biggest airlines, China Airlines and Eva Air, suffered first quarter losses at a time when there is increased domestic competition from the high speed train and a fall in cargo volumes. In a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday 30 April, China Airlines, which is 64% owned by the Taiwanese government, announced first quarter losses of $24.41m compared to profits of $11.5m in the…
The Taiwan Stock Exchange announced on May 9 that it is planning to merge with the island's smaller exchange and futures market, GreTai. It is hoped this merger will increase efficiency and make it more attractive for companies to list in Taiwan at a time when some companies are considering moving abroad to rival exchanges. The chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TSE), Gordon Chen,…
In an effort to reduce its dependence on imported oil, South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Central Energy Fund (CEF) announced earlier this month that they would be providing $448m in funding to establish biofuel operations in five communities across the country. Biofuel projects have been targeted as part of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa…
Chen Ming-tong, the chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the decision-making body on cross-Strait policy, said on June 21 that Taiwan and China would resume talks over lifting the ban on direct charter and cargo flights across the Taiwan Strait and the ban on tour groups going to Taiwan directly from China. The two sides have entered the seventh round of negotiations over the direct charter…
