Monthly Archives: April 2016

Taiwan’s economics minister to visit Paraguay, Brazil

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/06
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Romulo Huang

Taipei, April 6 (CNA) Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) is 201604060030t0001scheduled to lead a trade delegation April 8-16 to Paraguay and Brazil to promote trade and investment cooperation with the two South American nations, his ministry said Wednesday.

In Paraguay, Deng will attend a Taiwan-Paraguay ministerial conference on economic cooperation on April 13 in Asuncion, at which representatives of the two nations will discuss cooperation in developing Asian markets and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), the ministry said.

Deng and his delegation, including representatives of domestic manufacturers of steel products, electrical engineering, environmental protection equipment, plastic machinery, textiles and LED lighting, will also hold a series of trade meetings with their counterparts in Paraguay and Brazil, the ministry said.

Deng will also meet with Taiwanese entrepreneurs based in the two Latin American countries to learn more about their operations and determine how the Taiwan government can better assist them, the ministry added.     [FULL  STORY]

TaiMed reassures on choice of partner

MARKETING:Picking Theratechnologies over bigger global firms assures TaiMed that its TMB355 HIV/AIDS drug would be given ‘top priority,’ the company said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2016
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter

TaiMed Biologics Inc (中裕新藥) yesterday downplayed concerns about the company’s choice of distribution partner for its new HIV/AIDS drug TMB355, citing a robust business plan and advantages in tax management.

The company last month announced that it had inked an exclusive 12-year contract with Montreal-based Theratechnologies Inc to market its new drug in the US and Canada.

Analysts were downbeat on the partnership, casting doubts on the Canadian company’s ability to market the new drug compared with large companies.

“While Theratechnologies might not be a big name, marketing our product would be the company’s top priority,” TaiMed chief financial officer James Chen (陳怡成) said at an investors’ conference in Taipei.

Chen said larger companies might not be as motivated in marketing TMB355, as they tend to have many products in the mix, including their own new drug development initiatives.     [FULL  STORY]

Four shows featuring auto and motorcycle parts open

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) chairman Francis 6746298Liang said during the joint opening ceremony of four shows featuring auto and motorcycle electronics and parts on Wednesday that TAITRA expects the four shows this year to generate more business opportunities and deals than last year.

The four shows—TAIPEI AMPA, AutoTronics Taipei, MOTORCYCLE TAIWAN, and EV TAIWAN—take place from April 6 – 9 at Nangang Exhibition Center and TWTC Exhibition Hall 1.

Liang said that 14 buyer delegations from around the world will come to visit the shows, and the number of pre-registered overseas buyers from many countries has increased, with buyers from Japan increasing 13 percent being the largest.

The four shows are expecting 7,000 buyers from about 130 countries around the world, Liang said. A total of 618 one-on-one procurement meetings will be held during the four days.  [FULL  STORY]

Ministry subsidiaries’ properties to be returned

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2016
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday passed a resolution 201604060028t0001asking the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to return to the government properties owned by the Telecommunications Association and Postal Association — two subsidiaries under the ministry — or to dismiss these two organizations, adding that the matter should be resolved within three months.

Lawmakers threatened to send the case to the Control Yuan for investigation if ministry officials fail to comply with the resolution.

The committee was scheduled to review the performances of all the subsidiaries under the ministry and National Communications Commission, but lawmakers in the question-and-answer session focused on whether the two agencies should be dismissed.

The lawmakers said that the two associations — which are under Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) — are only in charge of managing the properties they own and function more like real estate companies, adding that the properties managed by these associations belong to the state and could end up being in the hands of private owners.     [FULL  STORY]

Ministry subsidiaries’ properties to be returned

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2016
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday passed a resolution asking the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to return to the government properties owned by the Telecommunications Association and Postal Association — two subsidiaries under the ministry — or to dismiss these two organizations, adding that the matter should be resolved within three months.

Lawmakers threatened to send the case to the Control Yuan for investigation if ministry officials fail to comply with the resolution.

The committee was scheduled to review the performances of all the subsidiaries under the ministry and National Communications Commission, but lawmakers in the question-and-answer session focused on whether the two agencies should be dismissed.

The lawmakers said that the two associations — which are under Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) — are only in charge of managing the properties they own and function more like real estate companies, adding that the properties managed by these associations belong to the state and could end up being in the hands of private owners.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said that the committee had already passed a similar resolution in the previous legislative session, but the ministry chose not to do anything about it. Though five of nine seats on the board of directors of the Telecommunications Association are representatives of government agencies, Cheng said that the current chairman of the association also serves as the executive vice president of Chunghwa Telecom.     [FULL  STORY]

Ramos receives warm welcome from compatriots in visit to I-Mei

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Former President of the Philippines Fidel V. Ramos on Wednesday afternoon 6746368visited I-Mei Foods Co, one of Taiwan’s largest food companies and store chains, and was impressed by I-Mei’s facilities as well as warm welcome of his compatriots working for the company.

Ramos, with the company of 88 people, including delegates of the Taiwanese Chamber of the South Philippines and Philippine business owners, arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport on Thursday afternoon. Shortly after their arrival, they headed for I-Mei’s Nankan plant in Taoyuan.

The former president received warm welcome from I-Mei Foods Co Chairman Henry Kao and many of the company’s Philippine workers, who sang and danced to welcome their former president and his partners.

Ramus delivered a speech at the reception, saying that he knows I-Mei is a very good food company in Taiwan that has received acclaim from consumers for its food safety management.

He tasted some of I-Mei’s foods at the reception and raised his thumb up to express his appreciation.     [FULL  STORY]

Sunken containers pose no risk to Taiwan coastline: officials

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/06
By: Tai Ya-chen, Sunrise Huang and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 6 (CNA) Three containers, including one that contains toxic 201604060029t0001products, remain submerged off northern Taiwan on a ship that ran aground there March 10 but they pose no immediate risk to the environment, officials said Wednesday.

The toxic container, which holds detergents, is still intact and the contents are well packaged so there is no danger of a leak or pollution at this time, the officials said,

Eight other toxic containers that were on the the T.S. Taipei when it ran aground off Shimen, New Taipei on March 10 were safely removed on April 1, the officials said.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that on April 15 it will announce the winner of a bid to remove the remaining three containers and demolish the sunken ship, which has since broken up.

As of April 5, a total of 3,836 people had been mobilized to remove 26,840 kilograms of debris and clean up 30,499 liters of spilled oil from the wreck, according to the Environmental Protection Administration.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei urged to allocate extra funds for events

SHOW ME THE MONEY:Borough wardens took aim at Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, saying the funds granted to them by the city for special events are limited

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Taipei City Government should issue more public funds to help cover the cost of community events, several borough wardens said yesterday in response to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) suggestion that they hold more activities to help mentally unstable or reclusive residents fit into society.

“I have a lot of ideas and I am willing to cooperate with the mayor, but where does the money come from?” Zhengshou Borough (正守) Warden Lin Ju-hsuan (林洳萱) said.

Lin said that the funds granted to her borough are limited to the “basics,” and that she sometimes has to use her own money to cover some of the costs of community trips she organizes.

Lin said that larger events that require stages and sound equipment to be set up can cost tens of thousands of New Taiwan dollars.

The Daan District (大安) Office’s Civil Affairs Division said the city government allocates NT$60,000 (US$1,849.45) each year for wardens to hold events, in addition to a NT$300,000 “borough and community development fund” which wardens can use to hold special events on holidays, such as on Mother’s Day and the Double Ninth Festival.     [FULL  STORY]

MOF to form task force to decipher leaked papers

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford said on Wednesday that the Ministry 6746223of Finance (MOF) will form a task force to investigate Panama Papers files in connection with Taiwanese clients to understand if any of them were involved in tax evasion.

Chang said that the task force will begin with those who have strong possibility of committing tax evasion and will exclude government officials, scholars and individuals.

The reason to exclude them is because they usually are not very rich people and therefore have low possibility of using tax heavens, Chang added.

Some Taiwanese enterprises set up offshore companies for the purpose of indirectly investing in China during the era when direct investment in China was not legally allowed, while some set up offshore companies solely for the purpose of evading tax, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Tsai promises to boost cross-strait exchanges, communication

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/06
By: Sophia Yeh and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 6 (CNA) President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Wednesday 60764714that her administration will step up exchanges and communication with the Chinese government and will commit to maintaining peaceful and stable relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

“This will be an important task of the new administration,” Tsai was quoted as saying in a news release by her Democratic Progressive Party after she met with Richard Armitage, a former U.S. deputy secretary of state, and other former foreign officials.

Taiwan will cooperate with the United States on such substantive issues as humanitarian assistance and climate change, as part of its efforts to become a responsible member of the international community, Tsai said.     [FULL  STORY]