Google will hire 300 employees in Taiwan for an eventual total of  5,000 AI jobs

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/21
By: Renée Salmonsen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As part of Google’s “Smart Taiwan” initiative, the company

announced Wednesday that it is hiring over 300 new employees to join its team.

This initiative will make Taiwan the AI headquarters of Asia, pairing Google’s own “AI-first” attitude with Taiwan’s competitiveness, according to CNA. Google plans to train over 5,000 AI experts for work in the marketing sector within one year.

The announcement marks the largest external hiring event at Google as well as across the largest scope of jobs.

Google will partner with various national government organizations, professional training colleges, and businesses to implement this new plan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/21
By: Han Ting-ting and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 21 (CNA) Formosa Petrochemical Corp. shares plummeted Wednesday late

in the session, amid reports of data entry errors made by a big institutional investor, while the stock market ended almost flat at the day’s low of 11,011.07, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Market statistics showed that investors sold about 15.20 million Formosa Petrochemical shares in the last few minutes of the trading session, which sent the stock plummeting 8.23 percent to NT$106.00 (US$3,63), with 17.60 million shares changing hands, by the close.

A huge chunk of the selling came from BNP Paribas Securities Services, which dumped 14 million Formosa Petrochemical shares as it reportedly made some data entry errors due to a computer bug, the TWSE said    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 21, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday said it is teaming up with 50 partners to create

the nation’s biggest Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, with an ultimate goal of seeking new revenue streams by offering services like data analysis.

The first step in tapping into the market is to expand the scale of IoT devices, although it could make slim profits by offering Internet connections in the initial stage, Taiwan Mobile said.

The company is collaborating with Asian telecom alliance Bridge Alliance, Nokia, light-emitting diodes manufacturers Everlight Electronics Co (億光) and Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶), and “smart” meter module supplier Glory Technology Service Inc (皇輝科技) to explore IoT business opportunities.

The automative, “smart” home, wearable devices and utilities segments are the fastest-growing areas in the vast IoT market, the nation’s No. 2 telecom operator said.
[FULL  STORY]

Lunar New Year holiday and IT low season blamed for sudden decline

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/20
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The country’s export orders dropped for the first time in 19

months February, but one of the main reasons was the Lunar New Year holiday, reports said Tuesday.

Following 18 months of year-on-year rises, the figure for February 2018 fell by 3.8 percent year-on-year to US$32.45 billion, the government said.

However, if the first two months of the year were calculated, the total of US$75.52 billion still amounted to a rise of 8.3 percent compared to the first two months of 2017.

In addition to February’s Lunar New Year, another element in the sudden drop was the advent of the low season for information technology products, the Central News Agency reported. The IT and electronic sectors saw their export orders for February fall by 8.6 percent compared to the same month last year.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/20
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) EVA Airways (EVA Air), one of Taiwan’s major carriers, said on

Tuesday it expects to see annual revenue grow by 4 percent this year thanks to an improving world economy.

With global GDP forecast to increase by 3 percent in 2018, both passenger and cargo sectors are likely to perform better, said EVA Air Chairman Steve Lin (林寶水).

The company has seen stronger-than-expected performance in January and February, with both months reporting year-on-year growth in revenue of more than 10 percent, he said.

As part of an ongoing effort to boost the carrier’s image, Lin said, EVA Air will take delivery of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner Jets in the latter half of 2018, becoming the first carrier in Taiwan to operate the model.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-19

There’s growing concern in Taiwan about the “magnet effect” of the Chinese market

attracting capital away from the Taiwan market. That’s in light of Beijing’s move to give special treatment to Taiwanese companies that it sees as strategically important.

Earlier this month, China approved the Shanghai listing of a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker. The company is hoping that listing the subsidiary – Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd. (FII) – can help fund eight projects worth 27.3 billion RMB ($4.31 billion).

The chairman of Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission, Wellington Koo, responded to concerns on Monday in a legislative committee. He said that in an era of globalization, a small, open economy like Taiwan has to deal with the impact of capital flow from many countries. Koo said that China’s lightning speed approval of FII’s IPO in just 36 days won’t have a major impact.    [FULL  STORY]