US Congressman Bill Owens will arrive in Taipei Wednesday to visit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to discuss a possible investment plan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Japanese companies, Thailand's biggest foreign investors, may spend more to build factories in neighbors including Indonesia and Vietnam after the worst flooding in 70 years disrupted global production.

The hype for 3D content and devices pumped up through 2010 has steadily deflated through 2011 as expectations have been punctured by predictable barriers to adoption: screen price, consumer ambivalence about 3D glasses, gimmicky use of 3D by Hollywood studios, and lack of investment in 3D from broadcasters.

Infineon Technologies may scale back its investment plans amid a slowdown in the chip sector and as demand falls due to the uncertain economic climate, according to CEO Peter Bauer.

Taiwan and Japan are close to signing a historic pact that would see the island open up to Japanese firms. The pact will also pave the way for Taiwan and Japan to sign a broader free trade agreement in the future, the paper said.

Samsung Electronics CEO Choi Gee-sung said on July 26 that the firm has no plans to revise down its capex for the second half and that its bread-and-butter memory chip business would get additional investment this year.

A recent survey of 344 senior financial executives by Gartner and two financial management associations found that CFOs "authorized" 26% of IT investments.

The government also added that it is in the process of developing a policy to give preference to domestically-produced electronics goods in purchases by the government and government-linked projects.

Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) plans to increase its stake in the Globalfoundries microchip business to over 90% by the end of 2011, according to a senior executive. ATIC's stake rises as it pours investment into Globalfoundries, in which it last year acquired a 65.8% stake for US$2.1 billion.

The reserves increase as Beijing buys dollars and other foreign currency to restrain the rise of its yuan as export revenues and investment pour into its economy. In freer trading, that flood of cash would push up the yuan's value against the dollar, making Chinese exports more expensive abroad.

Hui Xian, a real estate investment trust, is selling yuan-denominated shares to investors in an initial public offering (IPO) at the end of April. The offer comes at a time when demand for investment products in the Chinese currency has been growing.

LDK Solar has announced a business investment of approximately US$40 million to establish a new manufacturing plant in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province (China). This new manufacturing facility will have capacity to supply two million 2-inch equivalent pieces of sapphire wafers per year and be positioned to capture the growing opportunities in the LED industry.

Its top shareholders have sought to sell their stake worth about US$2.6 billion, but failed to find interested investors for a company that requires heavy capital investment to weather the highly volatile memory chip cycle.

Any payouts or incentives to continue MeeGo development emphasize that Nokia's eggs are not all in Microsoft's basket when it comes to smartphones-or other devices, for that matter. MeeGo is an open-source platform that can power handsets, tablets, and netbooks, which may be why Nokia isn't letting go of MeeGo just yet.

Chinese companies will be allowed to buy a stake of as much as 10% in Taiwanese technology companies, according to a proposal by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Hynix Semiconductor said in a regulatory filing that it would spend KRW637 billion (US$567.7 million) by March to expand and upgrade its existing plant and conduct R&D.

Deutsche B繹rse and NYSE Euronext have unveiled their plan to create what would be the largest stock and derivatives exchange, while a second proposed merger would bring together the London Stock Exchange and Canada's TMX Group.

The arrest of a Taiwanese general accused of spying for China is a warning to Taiwan to be wary of its old foe despite warming economic links that are likely to stay unscathed by the case.

Japan's economy will emerge from a lull soon and is certain to pull out of deflation over time, a Bank of Japan policymaker said, offering a somewhat upbeat take on the outlook on budding signs of a recovery.

Taiwan's dollar rose past NT$29 against the greenback for the first time since 1997 on speculation the central bank is letting the currency strengthen as foreign funds buy the island's assets.

Tilera, among the first in a growing number of processor makers looking to manufacture non-x86 chips for servers in cloud computing and other high-performance environments, is getting more support from a number of capital venture companies and tech vendors like Cisco Systems and Samsung.

As reported, Unity recently ousted its chief executive and the company is moving from a fab to an IP model, according to sources. Unity has reportedly been on the block. And a fab alliance with Fujitsu has reportedly fallen through.

Just more than a week after Goldman Sachs offered its most prized clients a chance to invest in Facebook, the firm on Monday withdrew the opportunity from clients in the US because of worries that the deal could run afoul of securities regulations.

Foreign direct investment in China hit a record US$105.7 billion last year, highlighting growing confidence in the economy even as Beijing seeks to rein in growth. China attracted US$14.03 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in December alone, up 15.6% from a year earlier.

Two investment funds backed by the Chinese government are accelerating their purchases of stakes in major Japanese listed firms, with their total market value surging 10-fold to 1.5 trillion yen (US$18 billion) in less than two years, a recent study showed.

Hynix Semiconductor said in a regulatory filing on January 6 that it plans 3.4 trillion won (US$3.03 billion) in facility investment in 2011.

Gold prices surged above US$1,400 an ounce on December 28 as a weaker dollar pushed investors into the safe haven of precious metals. Gold also seems to be gaining value based on its own track record for 2010, when global economic instability made it the go-to investment for jittery traders.

Sony has announced plans to invest approximately 100 billion yen (US$1.2 billion) over the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, to double its production capacity for CCD and CMOS image sensors. The investment plan includes the transfer of a plant from Toshiba.

Germany's economy is fueling the euro region's recovery as declining unemployment encourages consumer demand and companies boost investment, helping counter weaker exports.

Taiwan's dollar and stocks advanced as the island's ruling party won key local elections, prompting speculation President Ma Ying-jeou will extend pro- China policies that boosted investment.

"Compared with its peer, Nanya Technology, which saw lukewarm demand and was undersubscribed in a mid--November offering, issued at par, too, we don't see significant upside potential to Elpida's planned TDRs," Primasia Investment Consultancy Co said in a client note.

Federal authorities, capping a three-year investigation, are preparing insider-trading charges that could ensnare consultants, investment bankers, hedge-fund and mutual-fund traders, and analysts across the nation, according to people familiar with the matter.

The investment will be spent by the end of December, the company told the stock exchange.

This new investment round was led by Intel Capital and includes new funding from strategic investors and Anobit's current investors. Anobit is a provider of NAND-based products and systems ranging from embedded flash controllers to enterprise-class SSD.

The Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) has announced it is extending its university research partnership to serve the needs of technology ecosystem in Abu Dhabi. Under the agreement SRC member companies will conduct research sponsored by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), the parent of Globalfoundries.