‘UNSURPRISING’: The WTO said that worldwide trade growth might rebound to 3 percent next year, if there is a decline in the tensions between the US and China

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 08, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan’s exports accounted for 1.7 percent of worldwide exports last year, making it the 18th-largest exporter, the same place it held the previous year, according to global commodity statistics released by the WTO on Tuesday last week.

Taiwan’s exports last year hit a record of US$335.9 billion, up from US$317.2 billion in 2017, the Ministry of Finance said.

China was the biggest exporter last year, accounting for 12.8 percent, or US$2.49 trillion, the WTO data showed.

The second-largest global exporter was the US, with US$1.66 trillion in exported goods, accounting for 8.5 percent of the world total, the data showed. Germany was third, with 8 percent (US$1.56 trillion) and fourth was Japan, with 3.8 percent of global exports.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 06, 2019
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Property transactions in the six special municipalities totaled 18,365 units last month, a 1.5 percent fall from the same period last year, as buying interest picked up in southern Taiwan, but lost steam elsewhere, real-estate brokers said.

Housing deals gained 26 percent in Kaohsiung to 3,808 units, making it the only bright spot, attributable mainly to the completion of a presale residential complex and the inauguration of a pro-business mayor, the nation’s largest broker Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) said.

Neighboring Tainan also posted a 6 percent pickup in housing deals to 2,001 last month from a year earlier, according to data from the local government.

Property trading held steady in Taichung with 3,222 units, and declined between 4 percent and 29 percent in Taoyuan, New Taipei City and Taipei, local governments’ data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Formosa News
Date: 2019/04/05

It’s all about pineapples this long weekend in Pingtung’s Gaushu Township. Organized by the county government, a festival is underway celebrating the southern county’s bestselling “golden diamond” pineapples, which are just about ready for harvest. The event offers pineapple picking and a variety of pineapple-themed activities.

Pineapples, pineapples, everywhere. In all the colors of the rainbow. Looking down from above, they form a spectacular sight.

Here in Pingtung, a 9.5 kilometer stretch of mountainside highway is surrounded by pineapples wearing colorful hats. It’s a beautiful backdrop that’s attracted a flock of shutterbugs.

A viewing platform rises 8 meters over the fields, so that visitors can look out into the horizon and immerse themselves in two hectares of natural beauty. For safety, only 20 people are allowed up on the deck at a time.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/05
By: Jiang Ming-yan and Frances Huang 

Taipei, April 5 (CNA) Taiwan-based smartphone brand HTC Corp., which has entered the global virtual reality (VR) market, saw its sales for March doubling from a month earlier on the back of its efforts to launch new VR headset models.

HTC said its consolidated sales for March totaled NT$1.31 billion (US$42.53 million), up about 108 percent from a month earlier, when the company’s revenue dipped to NT$630 million, an 18-year low.

The March figure fell 52.64 percent from a year earlier, the company said.

Market analysts said the year-on-year decline in sales shows that HTC still faces escalating competition in the global smartphone market in both the high-end and low-mid range segments.    [FULL  STORY]

ROSE-TINTED LENSES: The firm posted revenue of NT$3.93 billion for last month and it could surpass NT$4 billion this month on orders from Huawei Technologies

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 06, 2019
By: Natasha Li  /  Staff reporter

Largan Precision Co (大立光), a leading supplier of camera lens modules, yesterday reported revenue of NT$3.93 billion (US$127.5 million) for last month, year-on-year growth of 24.92 percent.

On a monthly basis, revenue rose 55 percent from NT$2.53 billion in February, according to figures posted on the company’s Web site.

The Taichung-headquartered company posted combined revenue of NT$9.82 billion for the first quarter of this year, up 10.45 percent compared with NT$8.88 billion in the same period last year.

However, the quarterly figure was 21.14 percent lower than the NT$12.44 billion posted for the fourth quarter last year, company data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

ICRT Radio News
Date: 2019-04-04

Taiwan ranked as the largest semiconductor material market in the world for
the ninth consecutive year in 2018

According to new data by the global industry association SEMI, the market for
these materials, comprised of materials for wafer production and integrated
circuit packaging and testing use, totaled $11.45 billion US dollars last
year, up 11 percent from 2017.

Market analysts say it is no surprise that Taiwan retained the No. 1
semiconductor material market, as the country boasts the largest contract
chipmaking capabilities and owns the largest IC packaging and testing service
supply base.    [FULL  STORY]

‘STEP-BY-STEP’: Securities and Futures Bureau official Tsai Li-ling said that the commission initially would only permit firms to offer interest payments as bonds

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 05, 2019
By: Kao Shih-ching  /  Staff reporter

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said it would take a cautious approach toward implementation of securities token offerings (STOs), as it plans to introduce new laws by June to address the growing popularity of virtual currencies.

Interested parties might be allowed to raise up to NT$30 million (US$973,489) through STOs, but blockchain-based tokens would not be allowed as equities, the commission said.

A securities token is a kind of virtual currency. Unlike bitcoin, which has no central issuer and can only be released through a process called “mining,” securities tokens are launched by companies aiming to raise funds.

“The securities tokens are issued in foreign countries as digital assets based on blockchain technology,” Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) told the Taipei Times by telephone.    [FULL  STORY