Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/10
By: Taiwan Today, Agencies

Taiwan remains fourth among 50 economies in the latest edition of the triannual Profit Opportunity Recommendation report by U.S.-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence SA.

Scoring 64 out of 100 in the three-index survey, Taiwan trailed Switzerland, 74; Norway, 69; and Singapore, 65. The country finished ahead of neighbors Japan, 62; South Korea, 62; and China, 49.

Taiwan’s second-best 1B investment rating indicates that the country is suitable for long-term equity investment. This assessment puts Taiwan on par with Norway and Singapore but behind No.1 Switzerland with 1A.

Other highlights for Taiwan include fourth in operations risk. This placed the country alongside India but behind Switzerland, the U.S. and Australia in that order.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/10
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, said it saw its August sales hitting a monthly record high in the company's history.

Market analysts said the August spike was partly the result of an increase in orders placed by Apple Inc., which was building up inventory in preparation for the launch of the next-generation iPhones scheduled for later in September.

In a statement, TSMC said it posted sales of NT$106.12 billion (US$3.40 billion), the highest-ever level, up 25.2 percent from a month earlier and also up 16.5 percent from a year earlier.

Analysts said the August sales even surpassed an earlier market estimate of NT$100 billion on the back of the peak-season effect at a time when several major clients, including Apple, are set to launch new devices.    [FULL  STORY]

The nation's businesspeople are pulling out of China and reinvesting in Taiwan, according to one science park official

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/09
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Southern Taiwan Science Park Deputy Director-General Su Chen-kang (蘇振. believes more Taiwan companies will reshore as the US-China trade war worsens.

Su said this would provide a good opportunity for the government to work with them and create a “Silicon Shield.” This would allow Taiwan to stabilize its economy in a challenging global environment, Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Monday (Sept. 9).   
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/09
By: Chang Chien-Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. said Monday that it has been gradually adjusting the dispatch workers ratio in its factories in China to meet legal requirements, in response to accusations that it was hiring too many temporary workers.

A report from U.S.-based labor rights advocacy group China Labor Watch (CLW) on Sunday accused Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn in the global market, of violating the Chinese labor law by hiring too many temporary workers in its Zhengzhou plant to make iPhones.

In the report released by the CLW, the organization said that in August 2019, around 50 percent of the workforce at Hon Hai's Zhengzhou plant were dispatch workers, even though China's labor law stipulated that temporary workers must not exceed 10 percent of a company's workforce.

In August 2018, dispatch workers even accounted for 55 percent of the total workforce at the Zhengzhou complex, the CLW report said.    [FULL  STORY]

Fierce Pharma
Date: Sep 6, 2019
By:: Angus Liu

Roche's Genentech has reached a settlement with JHL Biotech over allegations that the latter stole

trade secrets to make copycats of its top-selling cancer drugs. (Genentech)

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Genentech has called a truce with Taiwanese biosimilar firm JHL Biotech, which allegedly stole trade secrets to help it develop copycats to top-selling cancer drugs.

The Roche unit said the settlement requires JHL “to abandon development of and destroy” all cell materials related to the cancer drug brands involved—namely Rituxan, Herceptin, Avastin and Pulmozyme—and stop using or sharing them in any way. To make sure JHL complies, Genentech has the right to unannounced checkups.

According to an announcement JHL just posted, the Taiwanese firm “will reimburse Genentech for its legal fees and the cost of its investigation, but will not otherwise pay any damages.”

.Biopharma is a fast-growing world where big ideas come along daily. Our subscribers rely on FiercePharma as their must-read source for the latest news, analysis and data on drugs and the companies that make them. Sign up today to get pharma news and updates delivered to your inbox and read on the go.

We expect to execute the formal settlement agreement in due course,” Genentech said.

Making peace with the company without any cash payments for punishment’s sake could mean Genentech is now shifting focus to the individuals involved.

The case first erupted last October, when a federal grand jury indicted former Genentech employees and an ex-JHL staffer for conspiring to steal trade secrets for JHL. Three ex-Genentech workers—former principal scientist Xanthe Lam, her husband Allen Lam and James Quach—allegedly worked with John Chan on the JHL side to funnel proprietary information. All four have pleaded not guilty to the charges.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/07
By: Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 7 (CNA) Two foreign brokerages urged investors to buy shares in Largan Precision Co., a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc., after the company reported record high monthly sales in August.

In a research note, a U.S.-based securities house said Largan's sales growth momentum will continue, with the next generation iPhones scheduled to debut later in September, and the manufacturer's sales for September expected to beat those in August.

The brokerage said it has left an "overweight" recommendation on Largan shares unchanged and maintained a target price of NT$5,200.00 (US$166).

On Friday, shares in Largan, the most expensive stock on the local market, fell 1.24 percent to close at NT$3,980.00 with 1.50 million shares changing hands on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, where the benchmark weighted index ended up 0.22 percent at 10,780.64 points.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/06
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) Taiwan's consumer prices moved higher from a year earlier in August, largely due to an increase in vegetable and fruit prices, as well as medical care costs, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Friday.

Data compiled by the DGBAS showed that the local consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.43 percent from a year earlier in August after a 0.38 percent year-on-year increase in July.

On a month-on-month basis, the August CPI nominally fell 0.02 percent and also dropped 0.07 percent after seasonal adjustments, the DGBAS data showed.

The core CPI, which excludes fruits, vegetables and energy, rose 0.39 percent from a year earlier in August.    [FULL  STORY]