List of investors includes 15 Tesla suppliers with investments totaling NT$100 billion

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The amount of investment arriving in Taiwan from overseas under a government program launched in August 2019 has passed the NT$1 trillion mark (US$39.09 billion), officials said Thursday (Oct. 15).

The 682 corporations which have invested in Taiwan include 15 suppliers for electric car manufacturer Tesla, with their combined NT$100 billion favoring sectors such as battery and engine manufacturing, CNA reported. The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is optimistic that the investments will boost the development of technology related to electric and self-driving vehicles in Taiwan.

The investment program is expected to eventually create 94,050 jobs. Last year saw NT$250 billion of related investment, and 2020 saw another NT$374.9 billion — good for GDP growth of 1.7 percent, according to government officials.

At the weekly Cabinet meeting Thursday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said forecasts by international financial organizations are showing Taiwan to be the only economy of the "Four Dragons" to register positive economic growth this year.    [FULL  STORY]

UNFAVORABLE FOR EXPORTERS: While non-tech firms ‘take a hard hit,’ high-tech companies remain unmarked in their international sales, the central bank governor said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 16, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The New Taiwan dollar might trade above the NT$29 level against the greenback in the next six to 12 months, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee.

Asked by lawmakers whether the NT dollar’s fast appreciation would erode exporters’ profitability, Yang said that strong exports would bolster current-account surpluses and demand for the local currency.

“It might become the new normal for the NT dollar to trade above the NT$29 notch against the greenback given Taiwan’s strong exports and the weakening US currency,” Yang said, but declined to comment on potential developments beyond the six-to-twelve-month time frame, saying it would be risky and inappropriate.

The NT dollar rose 1.38 percent against the US dollar last month.    [FULL  STORY]

Sept. 17 agreement will allow joint delegations to visit New Southbound Policy countries

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

AIT Director Brent Christensen (second from right) and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (first right) at the MOU news conference on Sept. 30  (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A recent Memorandum of Understanding between Taiwan and the United States will allow Taiwan to overcome its problem of not having diplomatic allies in Southeast Asia, reports said Tuesday (Oct. 13).

The two countries reportedly signed the agreement on Sept. 17 to cooperate on developing infrastructure in Latin America and Southeast Asia. However, as Taiwan has no official diplomatic relations with any country in the latter region, it has been difficult to send senior government officials on visits to discuss concrete cooperation projects, the Liberty Times noted.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/13/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its forecast for Taiwan's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2020, as the country is doing better than most other countries at fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the IMF, Taiwan's GDP growth for 2020 is expected to stand at zero, a significant upgrade from a 4 percent contraction forecast by the organization in April.

The IMF said that with the global economy gradually moving away from the impact resulting from COVID-19, Taiwan's economy is expected to recover in 2021 and grow 3.2 percent, compared with an earlier estimate of a 3.5 percent increase.

However, Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), minister of the National Development Council (NDC), said Taiwan's economic strength has been undervalued by the IMF despite the upgrade.
[FULL  STORY]

ILLEGAL ACQUISITION: The FSC did not disclose the identities of the investors, who over six months purchased 130 million shares at an estimated cost of NT$2.7 billion

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 14, 2020
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined several Chinese investors a total of NT$25 million (US$864,454) for illegally buying 130 million shares of Tatung Co (大同) last year through a financial institution in Singapore.

The commission declined to disclose the names of the investors, or whether they are individual or institutional investors.

It only said that they are not from Hong Kong Dragon Peak International Co Ltd (香港龍峰國際), which was fined three times for illegally purchasing Tatung’s shares in 2018 and last year.

The commission found that the Chinese investors provided funds to a non-Chinese individual who opened an account at a financial institution in Singapore and began buying Tatung shares in May last year, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Kuo Chia-chun (郭佳君) told a news conference in New Taipei City.    [FULL  STORY]

New service will be focused on Douliu City, Huwei Township, and Dounan Township

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/12
By: Eric Chang, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Yunlin County Government and Gogoro’s GoShare have teamed up to launch the first electric scooter sharing service in the county.

After downloading the GoShare app, users will have 130 brand-new Gogoro electric scooters to choose from 24 hours a day, according to Zeek Magazine. The new service will be focused on three areas in Yunlin County: Douliu City, Huwei Township, and Dounan Township.

The plan is to utilize green transportation to connect colleges, public transportation hubs, and tourist attractions throughout Yunlin County. Planners hope the service will help people commute between the county’s three science and technology universities, in addition to the 40 public transportation hubs and historical and cultural sites in the area.

To use the service, customers must first upload their driver’s license and payment details to the GoShare app and then complete the authentication process with a facial recognition scan. Logging into the app, users can then view nearby GoShare scooters and then select the one they want.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/12/2020
By: Wu Chia-jung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) The commission in charge of the National Stabilization Fund decided on Monday to pull the fund out of Taiwan's stock market as local share prices have rebounded from their lows in March when they were brought down by COVID-19 fears.

The commission said in a statement it made the decision at its quarterly meeting on Monday because the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark weighted index, the Taiex, has made a strong comeback from its March lows to nearly reach the 13,000-point mark.

During the fund's presence in the stock market, the Taiex has risen 4,274.57 points, or 49.24 percent, from the low of 8,681.34 seen on March 19 to close at 12,955.91 on Monday.

The fund was authorized by the commission on March 19 to step in as Taiwan's stock market came under heavy downward pressure amid escalating fears over COVID-19, which was sending ripples through the global economy.    [FULL  STORY]

SAVING FOR LATER: The firm said that it expects the supply-demand situation to stabilize in the first half of next year, which would help memorychip prices rebound

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 13, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said it would hold on to 30 percent of its overall capital expenditures earmarked for this year to use next year, given slackening market demand.

That would reduce the company’s spending on new facilities and equipment to about NT$10.7 billion (US$370.13 million) this year, instead of the NT$15.7 billion budgeted.

The move is in line with its bigger competitors’ conservative outlook about the memory industry.

“That is primarily because of the overall [changes] in market situation,” Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a media briefing at the company’s headquarters in New Taipei City’s Taishan District (泰山). “We have a conservative view of capital expenditures.”
[FULL  STORY]

Companies see lucrative prospects in country with 2.5 million vegetarians

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/11
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Coffee and convenience store chains are looking to tap into Taiwan’s faux meat market, which they believe has tremendous potential in a country with a NT$60 billion (US$2.09 billion) per year vegan meals industry.

In September, Starbucks added three items to its Taiwan menu from Beyond Meat, a U.S.-based producer of plant-based meat substitutes. Following the move — after similar launches in Canada, China, the U.S., and Hong Kong this year — there has been 10 percent sales growth in such meals at the coffeehouse’s Taiwan branches, reported CNA.

FamilyMart, a major convenience store franchise chain in Taiwan, is also cashing in on the growing popularity of meat alternatives. Buoyed by the well-received Beyond Meat burgers launched in November 2019, it introduced vegan meat frozen food in March, with sales of over 10,000 units a day.

Retailer Carrefour has five mock meat items in stores, including chicken nuggets and sausages. The main consumers of the products are people in their 20s or 30s, a tech-savvy group inclined to try out new foods, the company observed.    [FULL  STORY]