Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/27
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang 

Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) Taiwan’s economy continued to show sluggish growth in October as the local equity market, one of the major factors in determining the economic climate, tumbled in the month amid trade tension between the United States and China, the National Development Council (NDC) said Tuesday.

The sentiment of the local manufacturing sector toward the business outlook also weakened, keeping the economy in sluggish growth, the NDC said.

The NDC’s composite index of monitoring indicators for October remained unchanged from a month earlier to stand at 22 points, flashing a yellow-blue light, which ranges between 17 and 22.

The NDC uses a five-color system to gauge the country’s economic performance, with blue indicating economic recession, yellow-blue representing economic sluggishness, green denoting stable growth, yellow-red referring to a warming economy and red pointing to economic overheating.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/26
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) EVA Air, one of Taiwan’s leading airlines, said Monday it will

launch three new routes to Japan and increase flights to existing Japanese destinations next year thanks to the addition of Boeing 787 Dreamliners to its fleet.

The carrier said it will start providing daily round-trip flights between Taoyuan and Nagoya in central Japan on June 6 using Boeing’s fuel-saving aircraft.

EVA Air said it will also launch Taoyuan-Aomori and Taoyuan-Matsuyama routes to expand its flight network to northeastern and southern Japan, respectively, starting in the third quarter of 2019.

As the airline takes delivery of more Dreamliners, it will use that model to partly replace the Airbus A330-300s that are currently used to fly to Tokyo Narita and Osaka, said EVA President Clay Sun (孫嘉明).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/26
By: Frances Huang 

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) Taiwan shares rebounded strongly Monday morning, rising more than 100 points as political uncertainty faded in the wake of the Nov. 24 local government elections, dealers said.

The bellwether electronics sector, some old economy stocks, and in particular the tourism sector were driving the gains on the broader market, dealers said.

As of 10:35 a.m., the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (Taiex) had climbed 118.48 points, or 1.23 percent, to 9,785.78, off an early high of 9,847.35. Turnover was NT$45.77 billion (US$1.48 billion).

The electronics sector was up 1.65 percent, with contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), a supplier to Apple Inc., rising 2.06 percent to NT$223.00 on trading volume of 12.34 million shares.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/24
By: Liao Yu-yang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) The retail sector in Taiwan felt the impact from volatility in the local stock market, seeing revenue growth failing to meet an earlier forecast, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Data compiled by the MOEA showed retail sales for October rose only 0.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$371.5 billion (US$12.02 billion), and the growth was shy of the ministry’s earlier forecast of a 1.5 percent increase.

The October retail sales growth also moderated from a 3.0 percent increase in September, the data indicated.

The MOEA said a tumble in the local equity market undermined consumer sentiment and kept them from spending more, which capped or even sent revenue in major merchandisers lower in the month.    [FULL  STORY]

Key speakers at the 2nd day of the GSCF included Taiwan Digital Minister Audrey Tang, and Chairman of the Alliance for Sustainable Development Eugene Chien

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/11/23
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On the second day of the 2018 Global Corporate Sustainability Forum in Taipei, a workshop was held on sustaining s’ enterprise competitiveness, via corporate social responsibility.

Notable speakers that shared their insights included Eugene Chien, Chairman of the Alliance for Sustainable Development, along with Taiwan’s Digital Minister, Audrey Tang.

Tang’s discussion entitled “Developing Social Innovation Through Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) focused on how to integrate rapidly improving computing and communications technologies into business and governance to benefit society.

In her discussion, Tang emphasized concepts of “collaborative learning” and “synergy” to facilitate social innovation. She emphasized that responsible governance should form a crucial link between society and business, and ensure that the two are working together, rather than against one another, towards mutually beneficial results.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/23
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) Taiwanese airlines with paid-in capital of NT$2 billion

(US$64.6 million) or above must appoint at least one independent director responsible for public welfare “when they elect a new board of directors,” the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said Friday.

The law, which took effect on Nov. 21, affects major airlines in Taiwan, including China Airlines (CAL), EVA Airways, Mandarin Airlines, UNI Airways, Tigerair Taiwan and Far Eastern Air Transport, according to the CAA.

The CAA said it hopes the new regulation will put the carriers in a better position to fulfill their corporate social responsibility in such areas as flight safety and customer service quality.

The introduction of social welfare independent directors was first broached two years ago after TransAsia Airways made the surprise announcement that it would cease operations because of its deteriorating financial situation.    [FULL  STORY]