Business and Finance

Property demand boosted by trade dispute: CBRE

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 05, 2019
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Demand for industrial land and properties might increase further in the short to medium term as China-based Taiwanese manufacturers take advantage of reshoring initiatives to cut exposure to trade conflict-related risks, CBRE Taiwan said yesterday.

Authorities have unveiled a three-year program to help China-based manufacturers move back to Taiwan to avoid punitive tariffs from Washington on Chinese goods.

The program, which took effect this year, provides incentives including land provisioning, help with staffing, tax credits, utility discounts and funding services. Specific measures include rent waivers at industrial parks for two years.

“More Taiwanese firms in China have voiced a willingness to move back to Taiwan,” CBRE Taiwan said in a report, adding that some already took action last year.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares close down 0.65%

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/03
By: Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Taiwan shares closed down 61.72 points, or 0.65 percent, at 9,492.42 Thursday on turnover of NT$89.68 billion (US$2.9 billion).     [SOURCE]

Shen urges wind energy firms to talk to public

RENEWABLES: The minister of economic affairs called on developers to improve communication to combat public perception that wind energy is expensive and unreliable

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 04, 2019
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) yesterday urged offshore wind energy companies to improve their communication with the public to dispel doubts about the renewable technology amid growing disappointment among some developers.

Six offshore wind projects developed by Orsted A/S, Hai Long Offshore Wind (海龍), a joint venture by Northland Power Inc and Yushan Energy Co (玉山能源), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and China Steel Corp (中鋼) missed Wednesday’s deadline to secure power purchase agreements at last year’s feed-in tariff (FIT) rate of NT$5.8498 per kilowatt-hour as a proposed cut to NT$5.106 for the next 20 year looms.

All stakeholders of offshore wind projects must help in combating the smear campaign against offshore wind energy waged by detractors of the renewable energy, Shen told reporters following a meeting with developers.

Critics have continued to paint offshore wind energy as expensive and unreliable, and claim that the government’s perceivably generous purchasing price would become a tremendous burden for Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Cathay Pacific sells premium tickets between Vietnam and U.S. at huge discount

Airline tweets it will accept the buyers on board with their cheap tickets

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Cathay Pacific caught by ticketing price glitch. (By Associated Press)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A computer glitch looked responsible for steep discounts on Cathay Pacific flights between Vietnam and the United States, but the airline later said it would admit the ticket buyers on board, reports said Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, the Hong Kong airline sold business class return tickets normally listed as costing US$16,000 (NT$492,000) between Da Nang in Vietnam and New York in July and September from a mere US$675 (NT$20,700), Bloomberg reported.

Travel bloggers immediately noticed the huge discounts, spreading the word and attracting extra buyers.

However, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday that a New York-based professional who bought two first-class tickets between Da Nang and the U.S. city had his booking cancelled without receiving an explanation from the airline.
[FULL  STORY]

Higher than expected tax revenue should be directed to needy: CIER

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/02
By: Chiu Po-sheng, Liu Li-jung, Ku Chuan and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) A leading think tank in Taiwan suggested Wednesday that the

CNA file photo

government’s higher than expected tax revenue should be used to help small businesses and people in need.

The tax revenue should also be directed to the development of central and southern Taiwan to narrow the gap with the northern areas, said Wang Jiann-chyuan (王健全), acting president of Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER).

Small and medium sized enterprises, low-income households and young people would benefit from such assistance, he said in response to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)’s New Year’s Day address Tuesday, in which she said the government’s higher than projected tax revenue will go toward to the needy so that the people could benefit from the country’s economic growth.

In the speech, Tsai said that with the growth of the domestic economy over the past two years, national tax revenues have exceeded expectations and she has asked the Cabinet to devise a comprehensive program that will give priority to low-income citizens so they can enjoy the benefits of the economic growth.    [FULL  STORY]

Far EasTone offers voluntary retirement to workers

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

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), the nation’s No. 3 telecom, yesterday said that it has been offering voluntary retirement to optimize its workforce to cope with the market’s shift from traditional wireless connectivity to new telecom services.

The company’s comments came after the Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday reported that Far EasTone planned to lay off 10 percent of its workforce, citing a tip-off from an unnamed employee.

That implied that about 625 employees could be affected, if the plan is fulfilled, as Far EasTone registered 6,250 workers in its annual report.

A 40-year-old Far EasTone engineer was last month notified that he was qualified to join a voluntary retirement scheme, the newspaper said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan economy faces 3 risks in 2019: analysts

International factors could exacerbate Taiwan’s growth cool down

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/31
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping (By Associated Press)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華綜經院) and Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) believe Taiwan’s biggest economic challenges in 2019 are the U.S.-China trade war, financial market volatility, and geopolitical risks, reported CNA.

According a host of analysis, Taiwan’s economic growth is tapering off, and these three risk factors could catalyze a potential economic downturn.

Taiwan’s economy performed reasonably well in 2018 with GDP growth similar to regional neighbors, strong exports for most of the year, increased investment, and unemployment less than 4 percent.

In 2019, Taiwan’s economy is expected to grow by around 2.18 to 2.45 percent, depending on source of analysis. Some forecasts, like the one performed by the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, decreased their growth expectations due to weaker growth in Q3-4 2018 and rising global uncertainty.    [FULL  STORY]

LPG price to drop NT$0.4 per kilogram: CPC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/01
By: Chiu Po-sheng and William Yen

CNA file photo

Taipei, Jan. 1 (CNA) With the recent fall of global crude oil prices, state-run petroleum supplier CPC Corp., Taiwan, said the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will fall NT$0.4 (US$0.013) per kilogram with effect from midnight Wednesday.

Prices are handled according to monthly review and adjustment mechanisms, to rise and fall with changes in international prices, CPC said, noting that the decrease is related to the recent fall in global crude oil prices.

CPC also said while the price of LPG for household use will decrease by NT$0.4 per kg, LPG for hybrid cars will fall by NT$0.2 per kg.

Meanwhile, industrial-grade propane, butane and propane-butane mixture will also fall by NT$0.4 per kg, the state-run fuel supplier said.    [FULL  STORY]

Bank pretax profits could hit record

GREEN HOLDING BACK: If the 14 banks that lent to Green Energy and CPT decide to recognize their loans as losses last month, then 2014’s record will not be reached

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

Banks reported combined pretax profits of NT$318.05 billion (US$10.35 billion) in the January-to-November period, up 7.5 percent from the same period in 2017, with total pretax profits for last year likely to set a new record, the Financial Supervisory Commission said last week.

Banks in 2014 posted pretax profits totaling NT$320.1 billion, commission data showed.

As the first 11-month figure is only NT$2.1 billion less than the record and banks usually earn more than NT$20 billion per month, it is possible that local banks’ profitability reached a new high for the whole of last year, Banking Bureau Deputy Director Sherri Chuang (莊琇媛) told a news conference.

However, if the 14 banks led by Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) — which have lent NT$16.9 billion to Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (CPT, 中華映管) and Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技) — decide to recognize their loans as losses in the month, then local banks’ combined pretax profits for last month would fall from a year earlier, meaning that the entire year’s pretax profits would not reach the record, Chuang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan economy faces 3 risks in 2019: analysts

International factors could exacerbate Taiwan’s growth cool down

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/31
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping (By Associated Press)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華綜經院) and Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) believe Taiwan’s biggest economic challenges in 2019 are the U.S.-China trade war, financial market volatility, and geopolitical risks, reported CNA.

According a host of analysis, Taiwan’s economic growth is tapering off, and these three risk factors could catalyze a potential economic downturn.

Taiwan’s economy performed reasonably well in 2018 with GDP growth similar to regional neighbors, strong exports for most of the year, increased investment, and unemployment less than 4 percent.

In 2019, Taiwan’s economy is expected to grow by around 2.18 to 2.45 percent, depending on source of analysis. Some forecasts, like the one performed by the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, decreased their growth expectations due to weaker growth in Q3-4 2018 and rising global uncertainty.    [FULL  STORY]