Business and Finance

Taiwan ranks 19th globally in terms of GDP per capita based on PPP

Focus Taiwan
Date; 2018/05/27
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita based on

CNA file photo

purchasing power parity (PPP) ranks 19th in the world, higher than Japan and South Korea’s, according to recent data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the IMF’s data, Taiwan’s purchasing power parity-based GDP is US$52,304, higher than the US$44,430 in Japan and US$41,390 in South Korean, which rank 31st and 32nd in the world, respectively.

Twice a year, the IMF releases a huge dump of data about the economic power of the world’s nations, with GDP per capita a key statistic. The IMF also ranks the world’s countries according to their GDP per capita based on PPP.
[FULL  STORY]

Lenders ready for EU data rule: Koo

PRIVACY PROTECTION: The National Development Council is to establish an inter-departmental platform to help other local businesses comply with the new regulation

Taipei Times
Date: May 28, 2018
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Domestic institutions have for the most part taken steps to comply with Europe’s

Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo on Saturday speaks in Keelung about Taiwan’s compliance with the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation, which took effect on Friday.  Photo: CNA

stringent data and privacy rules — the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — that took effect on Friday, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said the same day.

Most domestic financial firms are expected to be able to comply with GDPR as they have made the required preparations, Koo told reporters on the sidelines of a corporate governance event in Taipei.

However, some Taiwanese lenders would have to do more than their peers, Koo said, noting that the six state-run banks that have branches in Europe would have to appoint data protection officers who report to chief privacy officers and commit additional resources toward information and information transmission security.    [FULL  STORY]

U.S. imposes anti-dumping tariffs on Taiwan textile firms

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/26
By Liao Yu-yang and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has decided to impose anti-dumping tariffs on fine denier polyester staple fiber suppliers in Taiwan and three other countries, according to Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT).

In a final ruling issued on Thursday, DOC said those products from Taiwan, China, India and South Korea were being sold in the U.S. market at unfairly low prices, the BOFT said.

Far Eastern New Century Corp., one of the two Taiwanese mandatory respondents in the case, was slapped with a punitive duty of 48.86 percent due to its failure to respond to the DOC’s questions, the bureau said.

However, no tariffs were imposed on the other mandatory respondent Tainan Spinning Co., as it had responded to the DOC’s questions, the bureau said.
[FULL  STORY]

TAIEX flat despite unease over summit’s cancelation

MOLLIFIED: Asian markets slid after Trump canceled a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but losses were tempered by hopes the talks will resume

Taipei Times
Date: May 27, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA and AFP

Local shares on Friday closed little changed amid lingering geopolitical concerns after US President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, dealers said.

While electronics heavyweights generally remained in the doldrums and petrochemical stocks were hit by a tumble in international crude oil prices, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), principal assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, and passive component makers attracted buying to lend support to the broader market, the dealers said.

The TAIEX on Friday ended up 5.37 points, or 0.05 percent, at 10,942.30, after moving between 10,918.12 and 10,977.81, on turnover of NT$127.9 billion (US$4.27 billion).    [FULL  STORY]

Manufacturing sector sentiment weakens in April

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/25
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang 

Taipei, May 25 (CNA) Business sentiment in the local manufacturing sector turned weaker in April with an index gauging the mood of manufacturers falling in the wake of slow season effects in the month, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said Friday.

TIER, one of the leading think tanks in the country said, the April composite index for the manufacturing sector fell 1.70 points from a month earlier to 98.32.

Speaking at a news conference, TIER President Lin Chien-fu (林建甫) said slow season effects impacted the sales of electronics manufacturers, while falling demand for smartphones worldwide and a drop in the number of working days in the month, as a result of the Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday, also resulted in lower production in the sector.

As a result, Lin said the business outlook of the local manufacturing sector turned more cautious in April, which dragged down the composite index for the month.
[FULL  STORY]

First-quarter GDP grew 3.02%

ON THE RIGHT TRACK: The DGBAS revised up its full-year growth forecast from 2.42 percent to 2.6 percent on the back of robust exports and private spending

Taipei Times
Date: May 26, 2018
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Annual GDP growth last quarter expanded 3.02 percent, marginally slower than an official forecast of 3.04 percent made last month, as private consumption and travel income turned out slightly lower.

However, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) raised its forecast for economic growth this year from 2.42 percent to 2.6 percent, citing better-than-expected exports and private spending, which should be sustainable for the rest of the year.

“We are more positive about the domestic economy after major international research bodies recently upgraded their global GDP growth forecasts,” DGBAS Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) said at a news conference.

Faster growth in advanced and emerging economies is favorable for Taiwan’s exports, which are forecast to increase 6.36 percent this year, compared with the 4.54 percent growth the statistics agency projected in February, its report showed.    [FULL  STORY]

3 Taiwan telecom companies fined by NCC for NT$499 4G deal mania

Chunghwa Telecom fined NT$2 million by NCC for NT$499 package chaos

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/24
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After the dust has started to settle from the pandemonium of

Customers swarm around Chunghwa Telecom store. (By Central News Agency)

the NT$499 (US$16) 4G package deal that was being offered by Taiwanese telecom companies earlier this month, the National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday (May 23) announced that it would levy fines on three telecom firms for the chaos the promotions caused.

At a press conference yesterday, the NCC announced that because of improper business practices, poor quality of service, and infringement of users’ rights, it will impose a fine of NT$2 million on Chunghwa Telecom Co., which was the first company to offer the package, while Taiwan Mobile Co. and Far Eastone Telecommunications Co., who later offered similar deals, will be fined NT$600,000, reported CNA.

On May 9 Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) announced a Mother’s Day special offering unlimited 4G internet for low price of NT$499 per month. As the offer was originally only in effect from May 9 to May 15, people across Taiwan flocked to their nearest Chunghwa Telecom store to grab the special deal.    [FULL  STORY]

Digital labor forecast to replace nearly half of work processes

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/24
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, May 24 (CNA) Over 40 percent of business and work processes worldwide are likely to be taken over by digital labor within the next five years, KPMG Taiwan, a financial services company, said Thursday.

With the increase of digital labor, companies will see a 50-70 percent reduction in operating costs, KPMG Taiwan CEO Charlotte W. W. Lin (林琬琬) said at tech forum in Taipei, which was co-hosted by the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association.

Lin said that with the development of new technology such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and automation, 34 percent of companies worldwide have been investing or are planning to invest in cognitive automation and artificial intelligence to boost their digital labor capability.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan falls in IMD global ranking

Not COMPETITIVE? The nation’s position in an annual report was undermined by a deterioration of its business efficiency score and a sharp fall in that of the labor market

Taipei Times
Date: May 25, 2018
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan this year fell three places to 17th in a global competitiveness ranking by Lausanne, Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

It was the lowest ranking since 2009, after Taiwan lost points in the areas of economic performance, foreign investment and the labor market, the business school said in its annual report.

The result placed Taiwan behind major trade rivals Hong Kong, Singapore and China, although it managed to stay ahead of South Korea and Japan.

The school graded 63 economies in terms of economic performance, government and business efficiency and infrastructure.    [FULL  STORY]

New Southbound policy complements US strategy: Wu

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-23

The foreign minister, Joseph Wu, says the government’s New Southbound policy can

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu appears in this CNA file photo.

complement the US Indo-Pacific strategy. The New Southbound policy is the government’s bid to seek closer trade and cultural ties with countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

In a report to the Legislature on Wednesday, Wu said Taiwan is a free and democratic country in the Indo-Pacific region and is happy to work with the US and its allies in the region.

The minister said Taiwan can use official development assistance under the New Southbound policy to link up with the US government’s strategy and deepen ties with the US in doing so. He also said the government would like to strengthen interactions with Japan, Australia and India.    [FULL  STORY]