Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/27
By:  Central News Agency

Investments pledged for Taiwan grew about 25 percent from a year earlier in 2018, indicating the government’s efforts to encourage foreign and local firms to invest paid off, Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said Wednesday.

Citing data compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Kung said a total of NT$2.24 trillion (US$72.73 billion) worth of investments were pledged between Jan. 1 and Dec. 25 by investors, representing a 25 percent increase from NT$1.79 trillion in 2017.

The NT$2.24 trillion comes from 227 projects, each valued at more than NT$500 million, according to the MOEA.

Investments pledged by foreign investors totaled NT$504.90 billion, up 23.29 percent from a year earlier, while locally pledged investments rose 25.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.73 trillion, the data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/27
By: Jeffrey Wu and Evelyn Kao 
Taipei, Dec. 27 (CNA) A foreign consortium composed of Malaysian and Hong Kong developers has won a bid for a property project in Taipei, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. (TRTC) announced Thursday.

Hong Kong-listed property development firm Nan Hai Corp Ltd. and Malaysian-listed property developer Malton Berhad submitted the winning tender for the development of a huge complex near Taipei Railway Station dubbed Taipei Twin Towers. A contract is scheduled to be signed by the end of March 2019, with construction to be completed by 2025, the Taipei City Government-owned company said.

The consortium was one of two teams to submit tenders for the project before the deadline in October. The other was a domestic team made up of contract computer maker Clevo Co. and its affiliate Hongwell Group.

The two bids both met specifications and bidder qualifications in the first bid evaluation round.    [FULL  STORY]

SECOND ENTRANT: Taiwanese competitor Wistron Corp already makes Apple’s cheaper iPhone SE and 6S models in the country, while Hon Hai assembles Xiaomi phones there

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 28, 2018
By: Reuters, MUMBAI and DELHI, India

Apple Inc is to begin assembling its top-end iPhones in India through the local unit of

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) as early as next year, the first time the contract manufacturer is to make the product in the country, a source familiar with the matter said.

Hon Hai, known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is to assemble the most expensive models, such as devices in the flagship iPhone X family, the source said.

The work would take place at Hon Hai’s plant in Sriperumbudur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, this source added.

Hon Hai, which already makes phones for Xiaomi Corp (小米) in India, is to invest 25 billion rupees (US$355.5 million) to expand the plant, including investment in iPhone production, Tamil Nadu Minister for Industrial Department M.C. Sampath said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/12/26
By:  Taiwan News

(Taiwan News) – To promote the accuracy and quality of credit information, the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC) established two awards in 2007 to honor financial institutions outperforming in the management of credit information security and information quality. This year, two new awards have been introduced to promote accessibility of up-to-date credit information.

On Dec. 26, 40 winning financial institutions were honored at a ceremony attended by the country’s top finance officials, including Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄), FSC Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Jean Chiu (邱淑貞), Secretary General of the Bankers Association R.O.C. Yang Nan (楊枏), and Bureau of Agricultural Finance (BOAF) Chief Secretary Han Pao-ju (韓寶珠).

Each winner was awarded a trophy, with NT$50,000 (US$1,622) to be given to each of their outstanding staff dedicated to credit information improvement. On the other hand, Bank of Taiwan is entitled to the newly-added Special Contribution Award this year for updating JCIC with credit information associated with labor pension account holders on monthly basis since 2015, thus helping banking peers to conduct risk management easier.

The winners were initially selected by JCIC and were decided jointly by FSC, FSC Banking Bureau, FSC Insurance Burea, BOAF, and representatives from the Bankers Association R.O.C.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/26
By Liao Yu-yang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) Investments pledged for Taiwan grew about 25 percent from a

year earlier in 2018, indicating the government’s efforts to encourage foreign and local firms to invest paid off, Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said Wednesday.

Citing data compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Kung said a total of NT$2.24 trillion (US$72.73 billion) worth of investments were pledged between Jan. 1 and Dec. 25 by investors, representing a 25 percent increase from NT$1.79 trillion in 2017.

The NT$2.24 trillion comes from 227 projects, each valued at more than NT$500 million, according to the MOEA.

Investments pledged by foreign investors totaled NT$504.90 billion, up 23.29 percent from a year earlier, while locally pledged investments rose 25.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.73 trillion, the data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/25
By: Liao Yu-yang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Taiwan’s investment environment was ranked as the fourth-safest in the world and the second-safest in Asia in the latest U.S. Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI) report, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said in a statement released Tuesday.

Taiwan received a total score of 67 points for profit opportunities recommendation (POR) — the overall indicator used by BERI to evaluate each country as an investment destination.

Taiwan’s ranking was down one notch from the previous report released in August, the ministry said.

Taiwan’s fourth place was behind only Switzerland, Norway and Singapore among the 50 countries surveyed in the report, which is issued three times per year, in April, August and December.    [FULL  STORY]

VIA Technologies expected to post profit in 2018 and 2019

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/12/24
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – CEO of integrated circuits giant VIA Technologies, Chen

Wen-chi (陈文琦), said that the company is well placed to make the most from emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual reality, during the company’s Christmas celebrations on Dec. 24, reported CNA.

Chen said that in the long run, these emerging technologies will become increasingly important, as well responsible for significant impacts on society, and this creates a need for increased education and technological skills.

VIA Technologies is set to make a profit this year as well as next year said Chen, adding that the company is well positioned in relation to the future technological landscape.

Chen also noted that the short-term is somewhat more uncertain, amid a host of growing economic headwinds.    [SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/24
By: Liao Yu-yang and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 24 (CNA) Taiwan’s retail sector performed better than expected in November due to stable growth in domestic demand, stimulated by the Double 11 “shopping festival,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Monday.

Nov. 11 is observed as Singles Day, or Double 11 day, an annual online shopping bonanza that originated in China but has since spread worldwide, including Taiwan.

Data compiled by the MOEA shows that retail sales grew 0.4 percent from a year earlier to NT$373.4 billion (US$12.09 billion).

Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟), deputy head of the MOEA’s statistics department, said the ministry had previously forecast that the retail sector would perform poorly due to a tumble in the local equity market that undermined consumer sentiment in November.    [FULL  STORY]