In another push to elevate its international presence, Kaohsiung is hosting the biennial Asia-Pacific Cities Summit (APCS, 亞太城市高峰會), the second major event since the 2009 International World Games to come to town.

President Ma Ying-jeou praised the potential of the Taiwanese-European economy and encouraged Taiwan to pursue a steady trade relationship with European countries during the Europe Day Dinner held by the European Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

The number of workers on furlough in Taiwan has dropped by 25 percent to 1,177 in the past two weeks, according to statistics released by the Council of Labor Affairs yesterday.

Taiwan's central bank is unlikely to adjust interest rates in the short term even in the face of a weakening Japanese yen, according to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ).

The first stock gains tax review meeting was held yesterday evening, and the review team produced a new tax version which removes the 8,500-point market barrier and charges 0.1 percent on transactions over NT$1 billion.

Japan's three largest banks on Wednesday reported healthy annual profits driven by their overseas operations, reduced costs and investment gains, but warned over the outlook for this year.

Inflation in India eased to its lowest level since 2009 in April, data showed Tuesday, fanning hopes that the central bank would cut interest rates further to help spur a sharply slowing economy.

Industrial output in China rose 9.3 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday, accelerating from March but below market expectations, underscoring sluggish growth momentum.

Australia will delay its foreign aid spending targets and close its embassy in Budapest as the government scrambles to rein in costs to meet revenue shortfalls, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said Monday.

Fears that China will overtake the U.S. in the race to put electric vehicles on the road have fizzled.