Business and Finance

FSC to meet with Chinese regulators

UNOFFICIAL EXCHANGE: Wellington Koo said he hoped the commission’s first public visit to China since 2015 could form a prelude to a resumption of official exchanges with Beijing

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 27, 2017
By: Reuters, TAIPEI

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Friday said it aims to send a high-level

Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo speaks during an interview in Taipei on Friday.  Photo: Brenda Goh, Reuters

official to a private-sector meeting in China next month where financial supervisory issues will be discussed, in a bid to maintain relations even as political ties have chilled.

FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that the commission will send an official of “deputy bureau chief or higher” to the meeting, which he said would be organized by the private sector.

The last time Chinese and Taiwanese financial regulators publicly met was in 2015 at an annual cross-strait meeting.

Those meetings, which began in 2011, have not been held since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May last year.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan supercar, the Miss R, taunts Tesla 

Is Taiwan manufactured electric supercar too big for its breeches? 

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/25
By: Renée Salmonsen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese manufacturer XING Mobility announced plans for its

XING Mobility announces their plans for Miss R. (courtesy XING Mobility Facebook page)

electric supercar, Miss R, on Wednesday, which basically claims to be the best in the business.

Are these claims practical, probable, or pressing for a road vehicle?

Well, that’s not the point. XING Mobility is ‘an electric vehicle powertrain systems company,’ not an automaker. XING is concerned with power, function, and pushing the limits of what exists, not outfitting the next suburban go-to vehicle.

Miss R will debut in late 2018 and the specs are already sending the auto world into a frenzy, especially as XING’s announcement follows on the heels of Tesla’s announcement for a very similar vehicle, the Roadster, on the 17th. Miss R explicitly aimed to one-up most of the Roadster’s specs.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan retail sales hit new high for month of October

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/25
By: Liao Yu-yang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) Retail sales in October set a new record for the month partly because of successful anniversary sale campaigns launched by department stores, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The MOEA said the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday and the extended Oct. 10 National Day holiday also encouraged consumers to spend, further boosting sales in the retail sector.

Retail sales in October posted a year-on-year increase for the third consecutive month, rising 3.2 percent from a year earlier to NT$368.1 billion (US$12.27 billion), MOEA data showed.

The rate in growth in October was lower, however, than the 3.4 percent rise seen in September and the 4.3 percent rise seen in August, according to the data.
[FULL  STORY]

Lai seeks speedy passage of labor law amendment

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-24

Premier William Lai said Friday that he hopes the Legislature will pass an amendment to the labor law as soon as possible.

A previous revision of the labor law went into effect at the beginning of this year. The law mandates that all employees get one fixed day off per week plus one flexible day which can be negotiated for overtime. The revision has drawn fire from employers and workers alike for its complexity and lack of flexibility.

The Cabinet recently sent down a revised amendment bill to the Labor Standards Act to address the issues. However, the bill was boycotted by lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang and the People First Party.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan increases GDP growth expectations, manufacturing continues to increase

July to September was reported as the highest growth quarter since 2015

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/24
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Reports of Taiwan’s economic performance for 2017 appear to

Economic forecast (Image: Pixabay)

show positive growth, and sustained economic output.

Third quarter analyses across much of Asia were unexpectedly positive, according to Reuters news agency. In the case of Taiwan, the government has raised its expected GDP growth forecast from 2.11 percent to 2.58 percent.

Reportedly, private consumption is helping to maintain growth momentum, with Taiwan benefiting from the recent global tech boom. The economic forecast for expected GDP growth of 2018 has also been adjusted from 2.27 to 2.29 percent.

After a year of steadily improving 2017 GDP forecasts from 1.92 percent in February, to 2.05 percent in May, the most recent adjustment was made on Friday     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan, Australia partner to tap into global lychee market

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/24
By: Lee Hsin-Yin 

Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) Taiwan and Australia are joining hands to grow high-quality lychees year-round, a move expected to add value to the tropical fruit for which Taiwan possesses advanced cultivation techniques, an agricultural official told CNA on Friday.

The idea is to take advantage of the juxtaposed climates in the two countries to extend the short lychee production season, which has led to an imbalance between supply and demand, said Chang Jer-way (張哲瑋), senior horticulturist at the Chiayi Agricultural Experiment Branch under the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI).

Under a memorandum of understanding signed last year with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the institute sent four varieties of baby lychee plants to Australia in September, and they are currently under quarantine in Canberra.

After remaining in quarantine for a year, the lychees will be transplanted in Queensland, which has a weather pattern highly similar to that of southern Taiwan, where lychees are grown, Chang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Everlight gains street lamp deals in India

GROWING MARKET: An Everlight official said the company aims to procure more LED street lamp bids, as the indoor LED lighting market in India is already very competitive

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 25, 2017
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter, in Bengaluru, India

Everlight Electronics Co (億光), the nation’s largest LED components and lighting products provider, has secured deals to provide LED street lamps to southern states in India, the company said yesterday.

“The LED street lamp projects will mark Everlight’s entry into the Indian market,” an Everlight official, who declined to be named, told the Taipei Times at the company’s booth at the Smart Asia Expo & Summit in Bengaluru.

Everlight reported revenue of NT$29.27 billion (US$975.34 million) last year, with the LED lighting business accounting for nearly 20 percent.

The official said the company’s indoor and outdoor LED lighting products have reached markets in the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan-Japan trade conference closes in Tokyo

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-22

The 42nd annual Japan-Taiwan Economic and Trade Conference has concluded in Tokyo.

Before the conference’s conclusion Wednesday, the two sides signed agreements on customs affairs and cultural exchanges.

According to the foreign ministry, topics on the agenda during this year’s conference included economic policy, agriculture, forestry, aquaculture products, and intellectual property rights. The foreign ministry says Taiwan and Japan are willing to work towards comprehensive cooperation on economic matters, trade, intellectual property rights, and tariffs.   [SOURCE]

Top 20 Taiwanese global brands in 2017: MOE

ASUS tops Taiwan brand list for 5th year in a row

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/22
By: Renée Salmonsen , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Yesterday afternoon the Taiwan Ministry of Economics (經濟部)

ASUS is the most valuable Taiwanese brand again. (courtesy Flickr)

released published the “2017 Taiwan International Brands Value List” (2017年台灣國際品牌價值), reports CNA.

Based on research conducted by Interbrand consultancy agency, the list shows the top 20 Taiwanese global brands, their ranking compared to 2017 and 2016, their overall worth in billions of United States Dollars, and their percentage of growth.

ASUS, Trend Micro Internet Security, and Want Want Holdings Limited were in the top three of the list.    [FULL  STORY]

Coast Guard to terminate contract if Ching Fu misses deadline

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/22
By: Huang Li-yun, Lu Hsin-hui and Kuan-lin Liu 

Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) will terminate its contract with Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co. (CFS) and demand roughly NT$1.5 billion (US$50 million) in compensation if the company is unable to meet the Nov. 26 deadline for the next of the 28 search and rescue boats it has been contracted to build.

CGA Minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) responded to questions at the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday regarding the contract it awarded CFS and said that the contract would be terminated if the company is unable to deliver the 14th boat of the 28 it has been contracted to build by Nov. 26.

In light of CFS’s troubled financial situation, lawmakers are concerned about whether CFS will be able to deliver on its contracted work.    [FULL  STORY]