Taiwan Cooperative Bank signs Myanmar deal
Taiwan Cooperative Bank (TCB) yesterday signed an MOU on business co-operation with Co-operative Bank Ltd of Myanmar, the third largest private bank in the country. Last month TCB was given permission to open a representative office in the capital Yangon, which is expected to be operational by year end.

Taiwan Business Quick Take

Agencies, with staff writer





CONSTRUCTION

Ruentex eyes projects

Supermarket operator and property developer Ruentex Development Co (潤泰創新) yesterday said it would book construction revenue from the Song Tao Yuan (松濤苑) project in Taipei’s Boai Special District (博愛) and from the Wan Hua Yuan (萬花園) project in Wanhua District (萬華) in the second half, as the number of available units left for sale has gradually declined as a result of a market downturn. However, the company expects construction revenue to increase next year, as expects to see contributions from the Neihu Zhan (內湖讚) project near the Neihu MRT Station and from the Ming Feng (明峰) project in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止), Ruentex Development president Li Chih-hung (李志宏) told an investors’ conference in Taipei. In the first eight months, the company’s total revenue plunged 30.1 percent year-on-year to NT$5.89 billion (US$179.8 million).

BANKING

TCB inks Myanmar deal

Taiwan Cooperative Bank (TCB, 合作金庫銀行) in Taipei yesterday inked a memorandum of understanding on business cooperation with Co-operative Bank Ltd of Myanmar. Taiwan Cooperative said its counterpart is the third-largest private bank by total assets in the former junta-ruled Southeast Asian country and expects the partnership to facilitate Taiwanese businesspeople’s investments there. Taiwan Cooperative last month received regulatory approval to set up a representative office in Yangon, which is expected to start operation by the end of this year, the lender said.

CHIP DESIGNERS

ARM to launch facility

UK chip designer ARM Holdings PLC yesterday said it is scheduled to launch a central processing unit (CPU) design center in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) on Tuesday next week, focusing on the development of the next generation of its Cortex-M processors. The company said the CPU design center will be its fourth and the first in Asia. The Cortex-M processors are mainly used in devices in the Internet of Things market, as well as wearable gadgets and embedded applications, ARM said.

AIRLINES

CAL launches new route

China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), the nation’s largest carrier, yesterday launched a new flight service between Kaohsiung and Changzhou in Jiangsu Province, China. CAL next month plans to provide new flights between Kaohsiung and Kumamoto, and between Kaohsiung and Fukuoka in Japan in addition to flights between Tainan and Osaka, with the carrier aiming to generate more revenue to buck the industry trend of a traditionally slow season in the fourth quarter. CAL reported cumulative revenue of NT$98.76 billion from January to last month, down 1.17 percent from the same period last year.

JAPAN

S&P cuts credit rating

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Service yesterday downgraded its sovereign credit rating for Japan by one notch from “AA-” to “A+,” saying the nation was unlikely to revive economic growth and end deflation within the next few years. “Despite showing initial promise, the government’s strategy to revive economic growth and end deflation appears unlikely to reverse this deterioration in the next two to three years,” S&P said in a statement. The downgrade came a day after the central bank held fire on expanding its monetary easing program, while economists warned more stimulus could be needed to boost the sagging economy.