The Tourism Bureau announced yesterday that all domestic travel agencies are banned from taking any tour groups to the Philippines after the Executive Yuan recently announced a “red” travel alert against the Philippines, one of eight second-stage sanctions issued against the Philippines over the shooting of a local fisherman in disputed waters.

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.

HTC yesterday announced its official partnership with Cirque de Soleil's “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour” in Taipei with many special offers for Taiwan's audiences to promote the show that recreates the classic performances of the King of Pop.

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).

HTC Corp. said Thursday that its production capacity for its new HTC One flagship phone is rising sharply month by month as its component supply issues continue to improve.

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.

Shares in Taiwan closed above the 8,300-point mark Wednesday on futures-led buying as foreign institutional investors pushed the spot market higher to add value to their futures holdings, dealers said.

Taiwan's HTC Corp. fell out of the world'stop 10 smartphone makers in the first quarter as the company's sales continued to slide, tech tracking firm Gartner Inc. said in a report.