REGULATORY CONCERN: About half of AmCham survey respondents said concerns over labor inflexibility are likely to affect their business expansion plans in Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 08, 2018
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Most US companies operating in Taiwan are optimistic about the nation’s economy and

their profit outlooks this year, but voiced grave concerns about energy sufficiency and strict labor rules, a survey released yesterday by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei found.

The annual poll of 198 member companies showed that 81 percent are optimistic about revenue growth this year, up from 56.1 percent last year, while 79 percent are upbeat about their three-year outlook.

“The views in this survey are important, because they come from business leaders with broad international experience and valuable expertise in sectors crucial to Taiwan’s continued success,” AmCham chairman Albert Chang (章錦華) told a news conference.

The trade group of 1,000 members from more than 500 companies plans to create an industry council with the government to help increase foreign investment in Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY]

Malaysia is an important trading partner of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/06
By: Alicia Nguyen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s external trade council (TAITRA) signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Malaysian trade organization to seek closer ties in the trade with the country in accordance with the New Southbound policy.

TAITRA’s Vice Secretary Wang Hsi-meng (王熙蒙) signed the agreement with the Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) in early March to boost bilateral trade and cooperation between the two parties. Also present at the signing was the Chairman of MCRA, Raymond Woo, reported RTI.

The Malaysia Retail Chain Association was founded in 1992, and is a leading chain retailer with more than 270 major chains, operators and franchises and over 20,000 individual store locations in Malaysia. MRCA has cooperated closely with the Taiwan Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur and has supported several of Taiwan’s exhibitions in Malaysia.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/06
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) Taiwan and Poland signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU)

Tuesday on cooperation in the development of financial technology.

The cooperation agreement was signed by Wellington Koo (顧立雄), chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), and Marek Chrzanowski, chairman of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).

The MOU covers cooperation in a wide range of areas, including the establishment of an information sharing system and an innovative enterprises referral mechanism between the two supervisory agencies, as well as the introduction of innovative projects, according to the FSC.

The agreement is expected to promote supervisory cooperation between the FSC and the KNF in the development of financial technology, create more opportunities for the financial technology industries in the two countries, and help these industries to explore international markets, the FSC said.    [FULL  STORY]

South Asia’s this largest ICT show will showcase developments in Telecom, IT, Broadcasting and Digital media

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/05
By: Jose Kalathil, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

NEW DELHI (Taiwan News) –Taiwan’s top-notch companies like Acer, Asus, BenQ, D-Link, Gigabyte, and MSi will showcase their latest products at the Taiwan Excellence pavilion at Booth No B-63, Hall No 10, Pragati Maidan in New Delhi during this year’s Convergence India exhibition to be held from March 7 to 9, 2018.

Launched in 1992, this 26th expo is credited as South Asia’s largest ICT show where technological developments in Telecom, IT, Broadcasting and Digital media are demonstrated.

It is the only platform in this region which demonstrates convergence of technologies in Telecom, Broadcast, Cable and Satellite, TV, Cloud and Big Data, IoT, Digital Homes, Mobile Devices, Film and Radio, Content Creation, Management and Delivery, etc.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/05
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) Taiwanese consumers were found to want to save 24 percent of their incomes every month over the next six months, making them the group most interested in saving money in the Asia-Pacific region, a Mastercard survey has found.

The ratio of planned savings topped the 18 percent across the region and was the highest among the 18 Asia-Pacific markets surveyed, according to the results of the 2017 Consumer Purchasing Priorities survey by Mastercard Inc. on money management released Monday.

The survey also found that 87 percent of Taiwanese respondents planned to put more money in their savings or keep their savings unchanged over the next six months, compared to the previous survey period.

The major purposes of saving money from their basic incomes were found to be retirement (55 percent), investment (54 percent) and overseas travel (50 percent).
[FULL  STORY]