Chunghwa Picture Tubes plans to lay off 2,500 from its factories in Taoyuan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/11 
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As part of its reorganization plan under bankruptcy, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (中華映管), today announced that will lay off approximately 2,500 employees.

Under its bankruptcy reorganization plan, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. stated that it needs to streamline its business content, consolidate some idle capacity, and save on distribution, personnel, and operating costs. Today, the company submitted its dismissal plans to the Taoyuan City Government Department of Labor and said that it will make every effort to assist employees in finding new jobs.

It is estimated that the company will layoff some 2,500 assembly workers from its production line. By the end of last year, Chunghwa Picture Tubes had about 4,500 employees, including 900 foreign workers. This round of layoffs will represent a 70 percent reduction in staff.

The company blamed the downturn in the economy for prompting its customers to shift to rival makers. Chunghwa has been criticized in the past for its overexpansion in China, which left it overly exposed when the trade war between the U.S. and China led to an excess supply of panels and collapse in prices.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/11
By: Pan Tzi-yu and Flor Wang 

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Despite fears that Taiwan will face power shortages in three years due to the government’s energy policy, a survey has found that over half of the people still want it to reduce the output of thermal power.

The poll results echoed the outcome of the No.7 referendum held Nov. 24 last year, in which 73.8 percent of voters answered “yes” to the question: “Do you agree to a reduction of 1 percent per year of the electricity production of thermal power plants?”

The referendum result, widely viewed as a public outcry against pollution from the use of fossil fuel for power generation, has put the administration of the Democratic Progressive Party in a dilemma due to its long-time advocacy of phasing out the use of nuclear power and making Taiwan nuclear free by 2025.

According to the results of the survey released by the Taiwan Research Institute (TRI) Monday, 54.4 percent of the respondents said they back the government’s desire to carry out the policy in line with the referendum result “even if power shortages are foreseen in three years.”    [FULL  STORY]

Together to Demonstrate Government Support for Innovation and Entrepreneurship; MOEA Hosts “2018 Innovat

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/05

Directed by the Office of Science & Technology, Executive Yuan and hosted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the 2018 Innovation Sandbox Exchange Forum was hosted at NEO Studio, Taipei on October 3rd. Audrey Tang, Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan, Zse-hong Tsai, Executive Secretary of the Office of Science & Technology, and Wellington L. Koo, Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission were all invited to attend. The Forum hopes to make innovation sandbox an important mechanism amid a comprehensive innovation entrepreneurship environment, as well as a driving force for innovation development in Taiwan.

After the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK came out with a Regulatory Sandbox, the term “sandbox” became rather trendy among many nations, and internationally, there was a sense that the sandbox experimental mechanism could perhaps become a new tool for “innovation industry regulatory adjustment and easing of restrictions”. Therefore, to respond to the expectations of industrial investment in innovative application experiments, the Board of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan began promoting “Digital Nation & Innovative Economic Development Program (DIGI+)” in 2016, to facilitate government departments to promote Innovative Sandbox. It was hoped that an experimental mechanism for comprehensive and effective innovative application services would be established to encourage people from all emerging industries and fields to innovate boldly.

The Forum especially invited Wellington L. Koo, Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Te-Sheng Lin, Deputy Director General of the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT), MOEA, and Ming-Ji Wu, Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), MOEA to give respective keynote addresses regarding our government’s developments and promotion proceedings with regard to financial innovations and unmanned vehicles, amongst other fields of innovation sandbox. Towards the end of 2017, Taiwan promulgated the “Financial Technology Development and Innovative Experimentation Act”, becoming the first country to ever legislate financial supervision sandboxes. In 2018, the government continued to push forward the legislation of a second sandbox, the “Unmanned Vehicle Technology Development and Innovative Experimentation Act (Draft)”. In the future, terrestrial, marine and aerial unmanned vehicles could be speedily incorporated into innovation experiments.
[FULL  STORY]

Global Times 
Date: 2019/3/10

MAC Cosmetics, a New-York headquartered cosmetics retailer under the Estee Lauder umbrella, has apologized for posting a map of China that omitted the island of Taiwan in a Women’s Day promotional email campaign to US customers, saying it will resend a corrected version as soon as possible.

The promotion consisted of maps of several countries with different types of make-up under the tagline “Girl Power.”

“MAC always respects and supports the one-China policy,” said the company on Saturday in a statement posted on its Sina Weibo account. MAC also said in the apology that the company will further strengthen its process management and staff training to prevent such incidents from happening.

However, the claim that it “sincerely apologizes to Chinese consumers and netizens” and the swift responses were not enough to quash Chinese consumers’ anger.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/10
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Emerson Lim

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) State-run oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan announced Sunday that the prices of

gasoline and diesel at its gas stations around the nation will remain unchanged this coming week.

The retail price of 98 octane unleaded gasoline will remain NT$30.00 (US$0.97) per liter; 95 octane unleaded at NT$28.00 per liter and 92 octane unleaded at NT$26.50 per liter.

Super Diesel will cost NT$25.50 per liter this week.

All prices will be effective starting midnight, CPC said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/09
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Chi Jo-yao

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) The world’s second WorldSkills International Capacity Building Center (ICBC),

an institute aimed at supporting global skills development, will be established in Taiwan, Vice Labor Minister Lin San-quei (林三貴) said Saturday.

Next week, the Workforce Development Agency under the Ministry of Labor will sign a memorandum of understanding with WorldSkills International (WSI) on the matter, according to Lin, who serves as WSI vice president for special affairs.

The signing will coincide with the WSI board of directors’ standing committee meeting, which will be held in Taiwan for the first time in 69 years, Lin said.

The new ICBC will introduce Taiwan’s vocational strengths — such as carpentry and machinery — to countries in Africa and those targeted by Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, Lin said.
[FULL  STORY]

Universities from each country have signed a memorandum of understanding

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/09
By:  Agencies

TAIPEI (Taiwan Today) — Tainan City-based National Cheng Kung University and Singapore Technologies Engineering Electronics Ltd. concluded a memorandum of understanding on smart technology development March 7 in southern Taiwan.

Under the private-academic sector pact, the two sides will leverage their respective research and industrial strengths to jointly advance self-driving technology, build a smart campus, and promote medical care and transportation.

During the initial stage, efforts will revolve around creating automotive vehicle testing and validating systems based on NCKU’s proprietary smart car project, as well as dedicated assessment procedures and processes with National Applied Research Laboratories under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

NCKU President Su Huey-jen said smart technology is an R&D priority and the university is dedicating more resources to key areas such as engineering, medicine, transportation and urban design. The institution also maintains a close relationship with Taiwan’s leading research organizations like state-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/05

Directed by the Office of Science & Technology, Executive Yuan and hosted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the 2018 Innovation Sandbox Exchange Forum was hosted at NEO Studio, Taipei on October 3rd. Audrey Tang, Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan, Zse-hong Tsai, Executive Secretary of the Office of Science & Technology, and Wellington L. Koo, Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission were all invited to attend. The Forum hopes to make innovation sandbox an important mechanism amid a comprehensive innovation entrepreneurship environment, as well as a driving force for innovation development in Taiwan.

After the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK came out with a Regulatory Sandbox, the term “sandbox” became rather trendy among many nations, and internationally, there was a sense that the sandbox experimental mechanism could perhaps become a new tool for “innovation industry regulatory adjustment and easing of restrictions”. Therefore, to respond to the expectations of industrial investment in innovative application experiments, the Board of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan began promoting “Digital Nation & Innovative Economic Development Program (DIGI+)” in 2016, to facilitate government departments to promote Innovative Sandbox. It was hoped that an experimental mechanism for comprehensive and effective innovative application services would be established to encourage people from all emerging industries and fields to innovate boldly.

The Forum especially invited Wellington L. Koo, Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Te-Sheng Lin, Deputy Director General of the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT), MOEA, and Ming-Ji Wu, Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), MOEA to give respective keynote addresses regarding our government’s developments and promotion proceedings with regard to financial innovations and unmanned vehicles, amongst other fields of innovation sandbox. Towards the end of 2017, Taiwan promulgated the “Financial Technology Development and Innovative Experimentation Act”, becoming the first country to ever legislate financial supervision sandboxes. In 2018, the government continued to push forward the legislation of a second sandbox, the “Unmanned Vehicle Technology Development and Innovative Experimentation Act (Draft)”. In the future, terrestrial, marine and aerial unmanned vehicles could be speedily incorporated into innovation experiments.    [FULL  STORY]