Insider
Date; January 29, 2019
By: Martha Sorren

McDonald’s in Taiwan is very different than in the US.

• They have shrimp and pork burgers and breakfast toast sandwiches.
• They also have 24-hour delivery, so you can get your McDonald’s on whenever.

There are McDonald’s restaurants in over 100 countries, but each one looks a little different depending on the region it’s in. For example, in the McDonald’s in Taipei, Taiwan, you can find things like shrimp and pork burgers, corn soup as a drink, and something called shake chicken.

The menu does have the American classics, like chicken nuggets, Big Macs, and sausage McMuffins. But it also has one major thing America doesn’t have but probably wishes it did — 24-hour delivery. At any time of the day or night, you can get your McDonald’s fix in Taipei without even leaving your house.

But what kind of food shows up when you place that order? Here’s what McDonald’s tastes like in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

The project will seek to explore green life commercial opportunities for the two countries

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/29
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Tokyo’s utility companies Power Grid (TEPCO PG) and Tokyo Gas have inked an agreement to pave the way for jointly developing next-generation power meter systems at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城) in Tainan.

The project will draw on the expertise of the parties involved, including Taiwan’s smart energy management systems and the next-generation power meter technologies Japan boasts, ITRI said in a press release.

The power companies from Tokyo will establish a total of seven model homes at the experimental field in Tainan, which will be fitted with smart meters incorporating data of the amount of electricity, water, and gas consumed. Big data analysis will help provide insight into what a green lifestyle means for energy conservation.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/29
By: Chang Chien-chung and Elizabeth Hsu 

Taipei, Jan. 29 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, on Tuesday announced that the low yield rate of silicon wafers produced at its 14B fab in Tainan, southern Taiwan was caused by substandard photo-resistant materials.

The company saw its stock price plunge on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (the Taiex) Tuesday after it reported defective silicon wafers from the Tainan fab the previous day, when it said the chemical materials supplied to the facility fell short of specifications, impacting more than 10,000 wafers.

In its latest statement on the incident, TSMC explained that the company identified the low yield rate of wafers produced using 12-nano and 16-nano processes at the 14B fab on Jan. 19.

After an investigation, it found the problem was caused by a batch of substandard photo-resistant materials, TSMC said, noting that the products were from “a well-performing” supplier with which the company has worked for years.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese iPhone assembler Pegatron hands out minimum of NT$12,000 in prize money to all employees

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/28
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — During its annual Weiya (尾牙, Lunar New Year party) yesterday, Taiwanese iPhone assembler Pegatron Corp. (和碩) handed out over NT$100 million in bonuses to its employees, with everyone receiving a minimum cash prize of NT$12,000, reported Apple Daily.

The top prize at Pegatron’s Weiya was a Nissan Kicks subcompact crossover vehicle worth NT$800,000, while 10 lucky winners took home the three biggest cash prizes worth NT$300,000, NT$200,000, and NT$100,000. Ten more employees were awarded NT$250,000 in cash, for a total of NT$10.5 million in major cash prizes.

Employees who failed to win these prizes were not down for long as they too all won a minimum cash prize of NT$12,000. It is estimated that the total amount of prizes awarded by the company to its 7,500 employees at the event was in excess of NT$100 million.

The Weiya featured live performances by Taiwanese pop singer Hsiao Huang-chi (蕭煌奇), Singaporean artist Tanya Chua (蔡健雅), and Taiwanese rock star Wu Bai (伍佰).
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/28
By: Pan Tzi-yu and Ko Lin 

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) Taiwan’s consumer confidence index (CCI) ended a three-month falling streak in January, with confidence in the stock market increasing the most, according to the results of a survey released Monday by National Central University (NCU).

The CCI for January rose 3.89 points to hit 83.63 — the first growth since September — the results of the survey made public by NCU’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development (RCTED) show.

Apart from confidence in consumer prices, the CCI comprises five sub-indexes that reflect the public’s confidence in employment, family finances, the local economic climate, the stock market and the possibility of purchases of durable goods over the next six months.

Based on the survey results, the stock market showed the highest increase, growing 19.30 points from the previous month to reach 93.80 in January.    [FULL  STORY]

STIMULUS RESPONSE: The NDC minister said that the US-China trade dispute was unfavorable for exports, but added that government subsidies would offset declines

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 29, 2019
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The government’s business-climate monitor last month flashed “blue,” the first recession

alert since April 2016, as a slowdown in exports and industrial output spread to sales at trade and food service operators, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.

“The US and China have not found solutions to their trade differences, which is unfavorable for exports,” NDC Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said.

The government is seeking to shore up private investment and consumer spending while the trade dispute evolves, Chen said.

The council uses a five-color system to describe the state of the economy, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting overheating and “blue” signaling a recession. Dual-color signs indicate a transition.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Dated: 2019/01/27
By: Wang Shu-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) Russian airline Royal Flight is expected to launch regular flights to Taiwan later this year, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Sunday.

The agency said it has received a letter from Russia’s civil aviation authorities designating Royal Flight to offer regular air services to Taiwan, but noted it has yet to receive a flight schedule application from the carrier.

The travel agency in Taiwan representing Royal Flight, Air Service Ltd., said the Russian carrier plans to launch nonstop scheduled service between Moscow and Taipei starting May 25.

The airline will fly between the two destinations once a week using Boeing 767-300 planes with over 300 seats. The flight takes about 10.5 hours, Air Service said.
[FULL  STORY]

Retail sales in Taiwan in 2018 grew more than 3% over 2017

Taiwan News  
Date: 2019/01/26
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — Retail sales in Taiwan grew more than 3 percent from a year earlier in 2018, boosted by high year-end spending that pushed December sales to their highest ever for the month, according to Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) figures.

Taiwan’s retail sales rose 3.20 percent year-on-year in 2018 to a record high of NT$4.28 trillion (US$139 billion), MOEA data released this past week showed.

The pace of growth was the highest since 2014, when retail sales rose 3.9 percent. . The solid demand led to revenue gains across most distribution channels.

Department store sales were up 1.5 percent in 2018 from a year earlier to NT$339.7 billion, supermarket chain sales rose 5.9 percent to NT$221.9 billion, and convenience store revenues grew 6.3 percent to NT$337.5 billion, the data showed.
[FULL  STORY]