Business and Finance

In Asia’s Stealthy Rich City, the Ultra Wealthy Hide Their Hermes

Bloomberg
Date: April 2, 2019
By: Frederik Balfour and Chinmei Sung

  •  Taipei ranked 8th among cities for those with $30 Million plus
  •  Many of the family fortunes were built from factories in China

To show off a $50 million Mark Rothko painting that Sotheby’s plans to sell in New York, the auction house took it to Asia to tempt wealthy bidders. Outside of the company’s regional base in Hong Kong, the artwork made only one stop — not Shanghai or Tokyo or Singapore, but Taipei.

“We take the art to where the buyers are,” said Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, who hosted a two-day preview attended by Maggie and Richard Tsai and Yageo Corp. chairman Pierre Chen. “The Taiwanese market is hugely important for us.”

China may be minting billionaires faster than anywhere else, but Taiwan has been building fortunes since the 1950s. According to Knight Frank’s 2019 Wealth Report, Taipei was eighth in a global list of cities ranked by the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, with 1,519 people who have at least $30 million in assets. And the property firm predicts that number will rise to 1,864 by 2023.

Wealth creation on the island of 23.6 million people took off in the 1970s with the proliferation of hundreds of small manufacturers cranking out everything from televisions to Barbie dolls that fueled Taiwan’s export-led growth. By the 1980s, the city had moved up the value chain, making electronic components and goods, led by computer companies and chip makers such as Acer Inc. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan-born AMD CEO Lisa Su to give keynote speech at Computex

Computex 2019 to take place from May 28 to June 1

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The annual Computex computer show has invited Tainan-born

AMD CEO and President Lisa Su (photo courtesy of TAITRA) (By Central News Agency)

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO and President Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) to give a keynote speech, reports said Tuesday.

The 49-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate will be present at the international news conference one day ahead of the show on May 27 and serve as first-ever top speaker of the new “CEO Keynote” section at Computex, the Central News Agency reported.

Her speech will focus on the new era in high-performance computing, but she will also take the opportunity to emphasize cooperation with other companies and present new products from AMD.

Computex 2019 will take place from May 28 until June 1. Last year’s edition attracted more than 42,000 visitors from 168 countries, according to the organizer, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).    [FULL  STORY]

Central Taiwan Science Park sales up over 20% in first two months

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/02
By: Hau Hsueh-ching and Frances Huang 

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Sales generated by the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) for the first two months of this year rose more than 20 percent from a year earlier to hit a new high for the period on the back of a strong showing made by the semiconductor industry, park officials said Tuesday.

Data compiled by the CTSP bureau shows that revenue posted in the two-month period rose 20.52 percent from a year earlier to a high of NT$131.9 billion (US$4.28 billion).

The CTSP is one of the three major science parks in Taiwan, housing factories owned by the country’s major tech firms, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest pure wafer foundry operator. The other two are the Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan and the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

Chen Ming-huang (陳銘煌), head of the CTSP bureau, said that despite the reduced number of working days in the two-month period caused by the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday and the 228 holiday, strong global demand for 5G, automotive electronics and artificial intelligence applications still pushed up sales for semiconductor firms in the park.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Mobile eyes ambitious 5G plan

LEVERAGING STRENGTHS: The telecom would use its connections to AppWorks, Kbro and Momo.com to reach an ‘eye-popping’ market value of US$100bn in 10 to 15 years

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday said it is to create a huge 5G ecosystem by leveraging the company’s strengths and collaborating with AppWorks Venture (之初創投) to incubate more technology start-ups, a move that is to play a crucial part in boosting the telecom’s market capital to US$100 billion in the next decade.

The company’s new president, Jamie Lin (林之晨), cofounder of start-up accelerator AppWorks, proposed the plan.

Lin was handpicked by Taiwan Mobile chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and took the position on Monday.

Taiwan Mobile is the telecom arm of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), which is owned by the Tsai family.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan scientists use ‘fidget spinners’ to separate blood plasma in breakthrough study

Physics of fidget spinners makes the toys an ideal tool to isolate blood plasma

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/01
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A fidget spinner (Photo/Pixabay)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwan research team has made a breakthrough with a new method of separating blood plasma for diagnostic tests – making the most of the “fidget spinner.”

A fidget spinner is a multi-lobed toy comprised of a ball bearing in the center, often used to help people relieve stress or nervous energy. Surprisingly, the device has been discovered to serve medical applications in a study conducted by a group of scientists from National Taiwan University, reported UDN.

Blood tests are performed by separating blood cells from plasma, which appears as a kind of yellowish fluid that carries proteins, viruses, bacteria, metabolites and other substances, which can be examined to diagnose diseases.

The method requires centrifugation that employs high-speed rotation to sediment blood cells, but centrifuges can be costly and consume large amounts of electricity, said Chen Chien-fu (陳建甫), a leading member of the research team from NTU Institute of Applied Mechanics.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares end flat; Hon Hai up sharply

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/01
By: Chung Jung-feng and Frances Huang 

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed little changed Monday as investors locked in early gains after the market briefly breached the 10,700-point mark in the morning, dealers said.

While the market suffered profit-taking selling almost across the board later in the session, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. stayed up throughout the day to prevent the broader market from falling into negative territory at the end, they said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the Taiex, closed up 1.59 points, or 0.01 percent, at 10,642.63, after moving between 10,627.01 and 10,735.07, on turnover of NT$153.06 billion (US$4.97 billion).

The market opened up 0.69 percent as investors responded to upturns on U.S. markets Friday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.82 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended up 0.78 percent amid optimism that a deal between Washington and Beijing to resolve their trade dispute could soon get done, dealers said.    [FULL  STORY]

CAL President Hsieh Shih-chien appointed airline’s new chairman

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/01
By: Wang Shu-fen, Ku Chuan and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙), president of China Airlines (CAL), was

CNA file photo

appointed Monday as the airline’s new chairman, replacing Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒), according to the China Aviation Development Foundation.

The government-controlled foundation, the airline’s largest shareholder, said the decision was made after board of directors meeting that day.

The promotion of Hsieh, the airline’s point man for negotiating with CAL pilots over a strike in February, was also given the nod by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), according to sources familiar with the matter.    [FULL  STORY]

PMI still in contraction despite pickup

TOO SOON: The PMI usually rebounds after the Lunar New Year holiday and a few months are needed to see if it will continue to rise, an Academia Sinica member said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 02, 2019
By: Kao Shih-ching  /  Staff reporter

The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rebounded mildly, but remained in contraction mode for the fifth consecutive month, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.

The manufacturing PMI, which has remained below 50 since November last year, rose to 48.8 last month from 48.3 in February, CIER data showed.

The sub-indices for production and inventories rose to their highest level in five months, the data showed.

However, new orders, a leading sub-index that signals future activity, continued to decline, falling from 46.9 a month earlier to 46.3, its lowest level since December last year, when it was 42.6, the data showed.

The PMI is an indicator of manufacturing performance derived from production, new orders, employment, suppliers’ deliveries and inventories, based on a monthly survey of senior managers at about 300 local firms, CIER said.    [FULL  STORY]

Helping the United States by Helping Taiwan

The Patriot Post
Date: Mar. 30, 2019
By: Edwin J. Feulner · 

I’ve visited Taiwan more than 120 times over the past 47 years, and every time I do, I’m impressed by its economic achievements and dynamism.

Taiwan’s economy is a model for Asia and beyond. Over the past 25 years, it has weathered several regional and global economic downturns. Yet it has emerged from these crises as competitive as ever. Today it’s the world’s 10th freest economy, having recorded its highest score ever in the 2019 Index of Economic Freedom.

Taiwan and the United States have a long and honorable history. Our peoples joined in a common cause and fought to contain the spread of Communism.

America’s commitment is reflected in the Taiwan Relations Act. Signed into law 40 years ago, the spirit and intent of the TRA — to deter aggression from Beijing, promote economic freedom, and protect human rights on Taiwan — are as robust today as they were in 1979.    [FULL  STORY]

New Economic Immigration Act in Taiwan will boost domestic economy: CIER

Draft bill to attract foreign nationals would create more jobs, raise real wages and GDP say proponents

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/30
By:  Central News Agency

(Photo by Pixabay user rawpixel)

TAIPEI (CNA) — A draft bill aimed at attracting foreign nationals to fill the workforce gap in Taiwan is likely to create more job opportunities, raise real wages and boost the domestic GDP, research by a local think tank indicated Saturday.

The New Economic Immigration Act, put forth by the National Development Council (NDC) and currently under review in the Legislature, could produce 5,000 new jobs, raise average real wages (wages adjusted for inflation) by 0.623 percent, and boost the country’s GDP by 0.041 percent, a report by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) showed.

The NDC is hoping that the draft bill, which targets people with intermediate skill levels such as technicians and personal health care workers, could address the shortage in those fields in Taiwan.

Government statistics show that in 2017, Taiwan had a labor shortage of 218,000 workers, with 55 percent of the positions being for mid-level technicians, mainly in the manufacturing sector.    [FULL  STORY]