Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/10/2020
By: Yang Shu-ching, Tsai Fan-min and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) Scholars and business representatives gave largely positive reviews of the economic goals President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced in her National Day speech on Saturday, but warned that challenges abound as the world seeks to recover from the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In her speech, Tsai said that Taiwan's effective handling of COVID-19 gives it an economic advantage heading into the post-pandemic era.

In order to realize that potential, she said, the government is planning to "lead the way forward" with three major economic strategies — to fully participate in the reorganization of global supply chains, to make Taiwan a hub for international capital, talent and digital technology, and to balance economic and social development.

In response to the speech, two economists told CNA that the strategies correctly identify current economic trends, but differed on whether the situation holds more opportunities than risks.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan is eyeing to double the investments made by its companies in Tamil Nadu and is looking at generating one million new jobs in the Indian state

Business Standard
Date: October 8, 2020

Taiwan is eyeing to double theinvestments made by its companies in Tamil Nadu and is looking at generating one million new jobs in the Indian state, a top official of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre said on Thursday.

The move to further strengthen the ties between the two nations is the Taiwan's new South-bound policy which encourages more of its companies to invest in South India, director-general of Taipei Economic and Cultural Central Ben Wang said here.

"It makes sense to further develop and strengthen the mutually beneficial relationship between Taiwan and India in the post-pandemic era. We are looking to double Taiwan's investment in Tamil Nadu and create one million jobs," he said.

Wang said the theme of Taiwan's National Day celebration was 'Recover and Prosper Together.'    [FUILL  STORY]

Taipei official Lin Chung-chieh says zero-touch economy, cross-border e-commerce focus of city's future economic development

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/087
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Considering a global economy that has been shaken by COVID-19 since early this year, Lin Chung-chieh (林崇傑), commissioner of the Taipei City Government Department of Economic Development, sees the zero-touch economy as playing a key role in the post-pandemic era as the city strives for industrial transformation.

Shops, restaurants, and other local businesses were particularly stricken between March to June when coronavirus scares forced physical stores to close, put off events, and kept consumers at home, observed Lin. In the meantime, however, online transaction and payments without physical contact have seen double-digit growth, he said during an interview with Taiwan News.

According to data collected by the city government, online business grew by 17.5 percent in the city’s retail environment in the first half of 2020. Online store sales also went up by 16.8 percent during the same period.

The popularity of mobile payments in the capital has also increased by nearly 16 percent to 59.7 percent in the first two quarters, data shows. Lin asserted that online shopping and mobile payments will assume an ever more important role in consumers' shopping experiences even after the pandemic is over.    [FUILL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/08/2020
By: Tsai Peng-min and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Catcher Technology Chairman Hung Shui-shu (洪水樹) has topped the Harvard Business Review's (HBR) biennial rankings of Taiwan's 100 best-performing CEOs, according to results it announced on Thursday.

In its announcement, the HBR said 2020 was the first time the awards have been held since the retirements of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. founder Morris Chang (張忠謀), who captured the top two spots in both 2016 and 2018.

HBR's results showed that following Hung, Yageo Corp. Chairman Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) and Advantech Co. Chairman KC Liu (劉克振) rounded out the top three.

Among the top ten, the only non-tech sector CEO was Eclat Textile Co.'s Hung Cheng-hai (洪鎮海) at No. 5.    [FULL  STORY]

CHANGING MARKET: As many handset vendors equip their phones with lower-range lenses, pressure on the manufacturer is growing, adding to foreign exchange losses

Taipei Times
Date:  Oct 09, 2020
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading camera lens manufacturer, saw its gross margin slide to 65.6 percent last quarter, from 68.6 percent a quarter earlier, after a major client canceled its orders, chief executive officer Adam Lin (林恩平) said yesterday.

“The client directly canceled all of its orders last month, which lowered our gross margin, as the client had requested high-specification orders with higher profit margin,” Lin told investors at an online earnings conference.

Lin did not name the client, while market speculation was that it was Chinese telecom equipment provider Huawei Technologies Co (華為), whose manufacturing has been disrupted by a US’ ban, demanding suppliers to stop shipping to Huawei if their products contain US technology.

Largan has been talking with other clients to inquire if they are interested in placing more orders, but it would be “highly unlikely” that any new orders would be large enough to fill in for the allocations that were previously saved for the client, Lin said.    [FULL  STORY]

Incubator project assists firms to upgrade, make forays into global markets

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/07
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Microsoft Taiwan held an event Tuesday (Oct. 6) related to the implementation of the Microsoft Accelerator initiative that has empowered more than 30 Taiwan-based startups since its launch in 2019.

A total of 18 companies were featured in the event, hailing from sectors such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, data analysis, AR/VR, blockchain, finance, healthcare, and smart retailing, wrote iThome. The incubator project is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

According to Peter Hu (胡德民), general manager of Microsoft Taiwan’s Solutions & Technical Unit, the program has received a combined investment of NT$380 million (US$13 million), delivered 61 corporate collaborations, and created business opportunities worth NT$530 million. Seven of the enrolled startups have become global partners of Microsoft.

Those selected have been able to access resources including office facilities at the government-sponsored Taiwan Startup Terrace (林口新創園) in New Taipei, software products, and consultation services in marketing, public relations, legal affairs, and more 
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/07/2020
By: Su Ssu-yun and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves hit a new high at the end of September as the central bank entered the forex market to prop up the U.S. dollar in a bid to limit the appreciation of the Taiwan dollar, the bank said Wednesday.

Data compiled by the central bank showed the country's forex reserves as of the end of September rose US$1.429 billion from a month earlier to reach a record high of US$499.598 billion.

Speaking to reporters, Henry Yen (顏輝煌), head of the bank's Foreign Exchange Department, cited the bank's intervention to cap the increase in the value of the Taiwan dollar by buying the greenback as one of the reasons for the growth in reserves.

Yen said the growth also resulted from an increase in additional returns on the bank's foreign currency investments.    [FULL  STORY]