Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-14

The popular ride-hailing service Uber claims people from Taiwan love to use their service

no matter where they are in the world.

For 2017, Uber said Taiwanese travelers most often use Uber in the US, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Taiwanese travelers enjoy Uber for its convenience and easy-to-use function, the company said.

Uber’s statistics showed that its global subscribers broke the 5 billion mark in 2017. Its service is offered in 491 cities out of 80 countries around the world.

Uber may be popular with Taiwanese nationals traveling abroad. But the company has hit a number of legal roadblocks in breaking in to Taiwan’s domestic market. Compromises with local taxi operators have allowed the company to continue operating, however.    [FULL  STORY]

The Semiconductor Equipment Forecast reveals a new record high sale in 2017 with Korea at top

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/14
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan is losing its status as the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturing equipment market to its long-time rival South Korea in 2017 and is expected to be overtaken by China in the following year, according to an authoritative industry report.

SEMI, the global industry association of companies representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, recently released its year-end forecast for the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market worldwide. It projects that worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment will increase by 35.6 percent to reach a new record high of US$55.9 billion in 2017, followed by an 7.5 percent growth the next year.

In 2017, South Korea will dethrone Taiwan, which maintained the top spot five years in a row, to become the largest equipment market for the first time. Taiwan will take second place, while China will come in third. South Korea will lead in growth with 132.6 percent, followed by Europe at 57.2 percent, and Japan at 29.9 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/14
By: Tien Yu-pin and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed higher Thursday driven by gains posted

by large-cap stocks and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision a day earlier to raise short-term interest rates for the third time this year.

Following the Fed’s increase of its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, the market opened up 23.90 points Thursday at 10,494.60 and briefly breached the 6-month moving average of 10,545 points before giving up some of those early gains.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange’s main index closed up 67.31 points, or 0.64 percent, at 10,538.01, after moving between 10,494.60 and 10,577.53 points. Turnover totaled NT$112.19 billion (US$3.74 billion).    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese employers the most optimistic about hiring in the first quarter of 2018 in the world

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/13
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s hiring outlook for the first quarter of 2018 is the most

optimistic in the world, according to Manpower’s Employment Outlook Survey.

In response to the staffing and consulting firm Manpower’s question “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change next season as compared to the current quarter?” Taiwanese employers were the most optimistic of 41 countries surveyed, with a net 25 percent indicating a positive outlook for hiring.

The next most optimistic outlook was seen in Japan, at 24 percent, followed by India at 22 percent, next was the U.S. with 19 percent and Costa Rica rounded out the top five at 18 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/13
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Consumers in Taiwan spent more than NT$7 billion (US$233

million) through three major international mobile payment services in the last seven months of this year, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

Speaking at a hearing held by the finance committee of the Legislative Yuan, FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said spending through the three digital wallet services — Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay — totaled NT$7.15 billion as the end of October.

Apply Pay, developed by U.S. consumer electronics giant Apple Inc., started providing payment services for credit card holders in Taiwan March 29, making it the first of the major foreign mobile payment platforms in the world available in Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY]

The Vietnamese airline is well known for advertising campaigns with bikini-clad super models

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/12
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The international Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air recently unveiled

its promotional calendar for 2018.

The theme was “air cabin catwalk” which features plenty of scantily clad beauties posing inside and outside of a Vietjet airliner.

A spokesperson for the airline said that Vietjet worked very hard this year to recruit top models from several different countries for the photo-shoot aimed at promoting tourism in Vietnam, and increasing extra ticket sales for the airline.

Some of the models included in the calendar are American musician and Instagram model Celine Farach, runner-up in the Miss Asia 2017 beauty contest Minh Tu Nguyen, and Kwanlada Rungrojampa, the runner-up in the 2017 Miss Universe Pageant from Thailand.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/12
By: Tsa Yi-chu and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank has been fined NT$8

million (US$266,400) for deficiencies related to the recent hacking of its system that allowed robbers to get away with nearly US$60 million, Taiwan’s top financial regulator said Tuesday.

Far Eastern Bank failed to set up adequate information security and data protection of its overall internal banking system, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said in imposing the NT$8 million fine.

In October, the bank reported to the FSC that its computer system had been infected with malware that had affected some of its computers and servers as well as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication’s (SWIFT) network.

SWIFT is a member-only organization that provides safe and secure financial transactions for its members via a standardized proprietary communications platform that can facilitate the transmission of information about financial transactions.
[FULL  STORY]