Business and Finance

Taichung Metro Green Line will open by end of 2020

The 16.71-km line in Taiwan’s second most populous city has 18 elevated stations

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/24
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taichung Metro Green Line (Taichung City Government photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) has set a goal of opening the Taichung Metro Green Line by the end of 2020, Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Monday (April 22).

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taichung City Councilor Chang Yao-chung (張耀中) said during a council meeting on Monday the Green Line has been under construction for more than 10 years. Even so, the opening dates for the line have veered from 2016 to 2020.

He said many portions of the Green Line are still under construction. He also questioned whether the line would actually open to the public by the end of 2020.

DPP Taichung City Councilor Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華) questioned whether the city had encountered insurmountable difficulties with test runs of the medium-capacity system. Chen asked whether this was why the city’s Transportation Bureau was afraid of giving an opening date for the line.    [FULL  STORY]

First Turkish MADO ice cream shop opens in Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/24
By: Jiang Ming-yan and Evelyn Kao 

Taipei, April 24 (CNA) The Turkish ice cream and pastry brand MADO opened its first shop in Taiwan on Wednesday in a joint venture with the Taiwanese conglomerate Teco Group.

The shop in Nankang Software Park in Taipei is part of the MADO Group’s chain that sells pastry and some 30 flavors of ice cream made from goat’s milk.

The goal of the partnership between Teco and MADO is to establish at least six such shops in Taiwan by the end of the year, and 84 in the next four years, according to Teco Group Chairman Theodore Huang (黃茂雄).

A renowned Turkish pastry chain with a 168-year history, MADO has about 300 outlets in Turkey and 22 other countries around the world.    [FULL  STORY]

Hon Hai succession plan queried

TERRY GUO FACTOR: Following fluctuations in Hon Hai’s share price, FSC Chairman Wellington Koo urged investors not to ignore the contract manufacturer’s fundamentals

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 25, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is to ask manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to reveal its succession plan after chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) confirmed his intention to run for president next year.

On the sidelines of a legislative committee meeting yesterday, FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that the commission would instruct the Taiwan Stock Exchange to the request that Gou makes known his plans to shift to politics from business.

Gou is the first-generation leader of Hon Hai, and as he now has a different career plan, investors would want to know whether the company has a succession plan, Koo said.

Gou, one of the nation’s richest men, last week announced that he would join the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential primary, adding that the sea goddess Matsu supported to his decision.    [FULL  STORY]

Singapore gets “pop-up” Shilin Night Market

Formosa News
Date: 2019/04/23

Singaporeans don’t need to go overseas to get a taste of Taiwan’s night markets. Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau took a piece of the world-famous Shilin Night Market to Singapore’s Turf Club last weekend, packing the venue with snack stands and arcade games.

The pop-up Shilin Night Market will open a second time in Singapore this Friday and Saturday. Visitors can fill up on Taiwanese delicacies and shop a teeming variety of cultural and creative goods.    [SOURCE]

Uber should make transition for fairer competition: MOTC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/23
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) on Tuesday urged ride-hailing service Uber Taiwan to register as a taxi service provider if it wants to maintain its current operation model in the country.

“I am all for the sharing economy, but Uber must follow the law to operate legally in Taiwan,” said Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in a meeting with the media, adding that it is a matter of market order in which Uber and local taxi companies can compete fairly.

It only takes NT$5 million (US$162,000) to set up a taxi company, and have its 10,000 drivers take the test to obtain a taxi drivers’ license and a taxi service operation permit in order to maintain Uber’s business model, added MOTC Deputy Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材).

Uber would then be covered by Taiwan’s multi-purpose taxi program, which permits upfront pricing and flexible rates with a minimum fare base, without having to change Uber’s general operation style, including the appearances of its vehicles, Wang said.
[FULL  STORY]

Industrial output plunges 9.88%

SLOW SEASON: Inventory adjustments and cooling demand for cryptocurrency miners were the main factors behind last month’s decline, an economics ministry official said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 24, 2019
By: Natasha Li  /  Staff reporter

Industrial production last month fell 9.88 percent from a year earlier, dragged mainly by weakness in the electronic components industry amid a slow sales season, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

Industrial output declined 4.58 percent last quarter from a year earlier, with a 4.8 percent drop in the electronic components industry, the ministry said in a report.

Electronics suppliers saw a 14.92 percent retreat in output last month, the steepest since May 2009, it said.

Inventory adjustments and cooling demand for cryptocurrency miners were the main factors leading to the decline, which might not improve until next quarter, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

2019 Taipei AMPA a 6-in-1 show

Smart technology solution suppliers will join this year’s shows, which will host 1,340 exhibitors

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(TAITRA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 2019 Taipei AMPA, AutoTronics Taipei, Taiwan International Intelligent Transportation Show (Taiwan ITS), and Taiwan EVS will be held April 24-27, while the Taiwan International Motorcycle Industry Show (Taiwan Motorcycle) and Taiwan International Car Tuning & Car Care Show (Taiwan Car Tuning) will take place April 25-28.

For the first time, the exhibitions will take place in both Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 and the newly-opened Hall 2. This year’s six exhibitions will host 1,340 exhibitors from 14 countries, according to the show organizer, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

The exhibitions will feature motorcycles, electric cars and motorcycles (EVs), electric buses, auto parts and accessories, telematics, and the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). TAITRA said many smart technology solution suppliers are expected to join this year’s show.

Taiwan and France, for example, have jointly developed a self-driving bus operator, 7StarLake, which will offer test rides at the show. FETC International, known globally for its ETC smart toll collection system, will present its Smart Parking and ETC 2.0 solutions.
[FULL  STORY]

End of U.S. sanction waiver on Iran oil to not hurt Taiwan: CPC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/22
By: Chiang Chin-yeh, Tsai Peng-min, Wei Shu and Emerson Lim 

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) Waiver exemptions the United States government gave to eight countries to allow them to continue buying oil from Iran despite sanctions will end in early May, but Taiwan’s state-run oil refiner did not expect the move to affect Taiwan.

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided not to reissue waivers regarding sanctions against countries importing Iranian oil when they expire in early May, foreign news services quoted the White House as saying.

This means that countries that continue purchasing crude oil from Iran will face sanctions from the U.S. after the waivers expire on May 2.

State-run oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan said it only purchased about 2 million barrels of crude oil from Iran last year and none so far this year, and it did not expect the termination of the sanctions waivers to affect the company.    [FULL  STORY]

Unemployment rate falls, but adjusted figure rises

‘HARMLESS’ SLOWDOWN: The unemployment rate last month fell 0.04 percentage points, but after seasonal adjustment increased 0.01 percent from a month earlier

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 23, 2019
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The unemployment rate last month fell to 3.68 percent, with fewer job losses from seasonal work, downsizing and closures, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The reading is down 0.04 percentage points from February, when a considerable number of people switched jobs after receiving year-end bonuses, the DGBAS said.

“Some of them have secured positions, sending the jobless gauge lower,” Census Department Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) told a media briefing.

The unemployment rate after seasonal adjustment was 3.72 percent, compared with 3.71 percent a month earlier, the agency said in a report.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan opens beauty-cosmetics pop-up store in Kuala Lumpur

Taiwanese beauty companies team up to impress Malaysian consumers boost exports

Taiwan News
date: 2019/04/21
By:  Central News Agency

Taiwan Beauty pop-up, MyTown shopping center, Kuala Lumpur, MY (By Central News Agency)

KUALA LUMPUR (CNA) — A group of Taiwanese beauty and cosmetics vendors have opened a pop-up store in a shopping mall in downtown Kuala Lumpur in a bid to impress Malaysian consumers there and eventually boost exports.

A total of 13 Taiwanese beauty and cosmetics brands brought together by the government-sponsored Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) opened the pop-up store Friday and will keep it open until Sunday in the MyTown shopping center in Malaysia’s capital.

The 13 Taiwanese companies with products in the pop-up shop include vendors of skin care products, such as facial masks, and color cosmetics items, according to TAITRA.

Chiu Hui-li (邱揮立), the head of TAITRA’s industrial promotion section, told CNA Saturday that the pop-up store is part of the Bureau of Foreign Trade’s effort this year to boost the global visibility of Taiwan’s beauty and cosmetics industry.    [FULL  STORY]