BUSINESS BRIEFS
Officer tower saves energy
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The owner of downtown Honolulu office tower Pioneer Plaza has earned a $70,882 rebate from Hawaiian Electric Co. for installing new air-conditioning equipment.
Building owner MW Group of Honolulu said the cooling system, which took three months to install, delivers 30 percent to 40 percent energy savings because of operating efficiency and will reduce system shutdowns during maintenance.
BIOTECH GROUP HOSTING SUMMIT
The Biotechnology Industry Organization is hosting the Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy through Friday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa.
The summit features panel presentations on bioenergy, biobased products, industrial biotechnology for drug discovery and production, and novel applications of marine biotechnology and nanotechnology.
For more information online, visit www.bio.org/pacrim.
MACS PACK INTEL CHIPS
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Computer Inc.'s historic shift to Intel microprocessors came months earlier than expected as CEO Steve Jobs debuted personal computers based on new two-brained chips from the world's largest semiconductor company.
The company's stock shot to a 52-week high as yesterday's news coincided with word on impressive holiday sales numbers for Apple's hugely popular iPod music players. The first Macs to deploy Intel Corp.'s Core Duo processors will be the latest iMac desktop and the all-new MacBook Pro laptop.
CHINA TRADE SURPLUS TRIPLES
SHANGHAI, China — China's trade surplus surged to $101.88 billion last year, more than triple the $32 billion surplus recorded the year before, according to customs figures released today.
Exports rose 28.4 percent year-on-year in 2005 to $762 billion, while imports rose 17.6 percent to $660 billion, the General Administration of Customs said in a report posted on its Web site. The figures were largely in line with expectations, but they were likely to draw more pressure for Beijing to loosen foreign exchange controls that U.S. officials and other critics contend keep China's currency, the yuan, undervalued.
