Business and Finance

Taiwan Mobile foresees flat mobile revenue

Taipei Times
Date: May 02, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) expects mobile revenue to remain flat over the next two years as it seeks to bolster its presence in the enterprise sector to counter the effect of escalating subscriber-price wars.

On the commercial side, cut-throat competition continues to lower telecom service tariffs, which will reduce average revenue per user (ARPU) and cut into the company’s top line, Taiwan Mobile president James Cheng (鄭俊卿) told an investor teleconference on Monday.

However, the firm has also found that most of the lower-rate plan subscribers sign their service contracts through online stores or social media partners, not in brick-and-mortar stores, he said.

That has meant a reduction in operating costs as Taiwan Mobile does not pay handset subsidies and dealer’s commissions for those subscribers, Cheng said.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan, France team up to promote innovation collaboration

France will sponsor six Taiwan-based companies to visit the European country this year as part of the ‘Young Enterprise Initiative’

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/05/01
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan should tap into France’s tech expertise as the two sides

French innovation expert Laurent Le Guyader (Image by CNA)

continue to boost exchanges through initiatives in the innovation industries, according to a CNA report published on Monday.

In an interview with CNA, Laurent Le Guyader (梁洛杭), an innovation expert dispatched by the government of France to Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), noted that more than 20 Taiwanese startups have received assistance from “French Tech Taiwan” to do business in France since 2016.

French Tech Taiwan, part of the “French Tech Hubs,” is a one-stop online platform serving as “a bridge for startups between Taiwan and France” through provision of information and services in fundraising, human resources, market evaluation, etc. It helps the two countries develop partnerships involving both public and private sectors.

In the eyes of international innovative tech experts, Taiwanese companies can take pride in their prowess in product prototype development as well as advances in software engineering, said Le Guyader, adding that France plans to sponsor six Taiwan-based companies to visit the European country this year as part of the “Young Enterprise Initiative,” doubling the number of last year.    [FULL  STORY]

U.S. declines to exempt Taiwan from steel, aluminum tariffs (update)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/01
By: Rita Cheng, Frances Huang, Liao Yu-yang and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) The White House announced on Monday it will extend a temporary

Image taken from Pixabay

exemption from additional tariffs on steel and aluminum for Canada, Mexico and the European Union, but Taiwan received no such exemption.

John Deng (鄧振中), Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, told CNA Tuesday that the government needs a few days to determine why the U.S. government decided not to place Taiwan on the exemption list and will continue to work with the U.S. to secure an exemption.

Deng led a delegation to the U.S. in March to discuss possible alternatives to the tariffs and noted in his interview that the government is still exchanging opinions with the U.S. on the issue.

The White House granted Canada, Mexico and the EU a 30-day extension to a temporary exemption from the tariffs for further negotiations. The temporary exemption previously granted to the three economies expired on April 30, after a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum were imposed in early March.
[FULL  STORY]

CSC reports net profit rose 6%

FIRST-QUARTER RESULTS: Revenue grew 13 percent annually to NT$93.39 billion, but the firm said rising material costs meant operating income fell to NT$6.04 billion

Taipei Times
Date: May 02, 2018
By: Kuo Chia-erh  /  Staff reporter

China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) on Monday reported that pretax net profit last quarter grew 6 percent year-on-year from NT$5.39 billion to NT$5.74 billion (US$182.06 million to US$193.89 million), due mainly to robust client demand and growing non-operating income.

Revenue rose 13 percent annually from NT$82.98 billion to NT$93.39 billion, the nation’s largest steelmaker said in a statement.

However, operating income slid 6 percent from NT$6.43 billion a year earlier to NT$6.04 billion, as recent price adjustments could not fully reflect increasing material costs.

The Kaohsiung-headquartered company raised prices NT$327, or 1.5 percent, for domestic shipments in the first quarter to reflect an uptrend in international steel prices.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan expo features innovative agricultural technology

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-04-30

The Taiwan International Agricultural Innovation Technology Exhibition has seen nearly 20 million NT dollars in orders and 200,000 visits since it opened on April 4.

The expo has attracted overseas visitors who are interested in exporting Taiwan’s innovative agricultural technology. The expo showcases 62 new forms of agricultural technology.

The Council of Agriculture’s Minister Lin Tsung-hsien says that there is a lot of international demand for Taiwan’s high value agricultural technology. The industry is worth NT$10 billion (nearly US$340 billion) and exports NT$6 billion (more than US$200 billion) worth of products every year, mostly bound for Southeast Asia.   [FULL  STORY]

India to export lily bulbs to Taiwan

Taiwan is among eight countries that India has signed deals with for farm exports

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/30
B:y Jose Kalathil, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

NEW DELHI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is among the eight countries that India has signed

(Image from flickr user CatDancing)

deals with for agricultural exports. The other countries are the United States, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Sourth Korea, Malaysia and Iran.

India has also signed a phytosanitary certification with Taiwan declaring that shipments are free of pests and plant diseases and meet the requirements of the importing country. This will allow India to export lily bulbs to Taiwan.

India’s agricultural exports grew five times from about $8.7 billion in 2004-05 to $42.6 billion during 2013-14.This fell to $33 billion in 2016-17. India’s net exports too fell to $7.8 billion in 2016-17.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares close up on back of Apple concept stocks’ gains

Focuis Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/3017:11:49
By: Jiang Ming-yan and Ko Lin 

Taipei, April 30 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed up 0.99 percent Monday, rising above the 10,600-point mark, led by increases in Apple concept shares, most notably Largan Precision Co.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange main index closed up 104.45 points, or 0.99 percent, at 10,657.88, after moving between 10,539.63 and 10,660.61. Turnover totaled NT$118.03 billion (US$3.99 billion).

Shares in smartphone camera lens supplier Largan gained 6.50 percent to end at NT$3,480, and contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, rose 1.5 percent to close at NT$227.

Meanwhile, shares in Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., a major assembler of the Apple iPhone, rose 1.72 percent to end at NT$82.90.    [FULL  STORY]

Seven firms to build 10 wind farms

CHALLENGES: The companies are required to draft localization plans to explain how they will boost ties with Taiwanese suppliers, the Bureau of Energy chief said

Taipei Times
Date: May 01, 2018
By: Kuo Chia-erh  /  Staff reporter

Seven offshore wind farm developers have secured government contracts to build 10 offshore wind farms along the western coast of Taiwan as the government aims to build up 5.5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power capacity by 2025, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

The 10 projects would have a total capacity of 3.836GW by 2025, the ministry said in a statement after the completion of a two-stage selection process over the past two weeks.

The ministry would hold an auction by the end of next month to select offshore wind farm developers to build the remaining 1.66GW capacity, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told a news conference.

“Those who did not win contracts are allowed to participate in the auction,” Kung added.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipower picks up steam applying AI to power systems in Taiwan

AI technologies help realize more efficient operations of power plants

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/27
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Power Company is seeking to tap into the advances of

Taipower holds a forum on AI applications to power systems (CNA)

artificial intelligence for applications to improve energy conservation and storage, the state-owned power enterprise said in a forum on April 27.

Effort has been made to apply AI to the island’s power plants. For example, the establishment of coal production tracking systems has allowed for more efficient operations of coal boilers, noted the President of Taipower Chung Bin-li (鍾炳利).

The heating systems for supercritical steam generators at Linkou and Datan Power Plants, he added, are also being made more efficient by employing AI technologies, reported CNA.

With renewable energy set to reach 20 percent of the nation’s total electricity produced by Taipower by 2025, the company will work to incorporate AI with big data analysis of weather information and energy storage, so as to address issues of intermittency, a problem that often arises with renewable energy sources.    [FULL  STORY]

Consumer confidence weakens as employment sentiment drops

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/27
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 27 (CNA) Taiwan’s consumer confidence weakened in April, with sentiment toward the employment sector displaying the sharpest decline, according to the results of a survey released Friday by National Central University (NCU).

The consumer confidence index (CCI) fell 0.97 points from a month earlier to 86.89, the survey results show.

The CCI comprises six sub-indexes that reflect the confidence people have in consumer prices, employment, family finances, the economic climate, the stock market and possible purchases of durable goods over the next six months.

The sub-indexes all suffered declines, with the employment index showing the steepest drop of 1.35 points from a month earlier to 105.80 in April, according to the survey.
[FULL  STORY]