Business and Finance

Government aims to more evenly develop smart cities, country: premier

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/28
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Thursday the government is gathering information across Taiwan about smart city development to better integrate resources and move toward creation of a smart country, which in turn will boost the economy.

“There is still a gap between the development of the six major municipalities and other counties and cities, which needs to be closed, Lai said at a forum in Taipei on smart city development nationwide.

For example, he said, Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung are making fast progress on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve the quality of life for their citizens, Lai said.

However, it is difficult for rural areas to catch up, given their limitations in the areas of finance and talent, he said.  [FULL  STORY]

Kenda to acquire Denmark’s STARCO

VERTICAL INTEGRATION:The acquisition would help the tire manufacturer to expand its presence in Europe, with the company hoping to duplicate its success in the US

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 29, 2017
By: Kuo Chia-erh  /  Staff reporter

Tire maker Kenda Rubber Industrial Co (建大輪胎) said it is to fully acquire Denmark-headquartered STARCO Europe A/S for no more than 18 million euros (US$21.2 million) to pursue vertical integration.

The acquisition, which is scheduled to be completed on Monday, also aims to expand the company’s presence in Europe, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Revenue generated from European customers only makes up 8 percent of the company’s total sales, while sales in the US contribute nearly 24 percent, data showed.

“The transaction is Kenda’s first acquisition in the European market and we aim to duplicate our success [of developing a US business] there,” a company official said by telephone yesterday.

The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the two parties have been working together on the research and development of wheels for industrial machines for years.    [FULL  STORY]

Yuanta-Polaris ups GDP growth outlook

MIXED FORECAST:While exports maintain their gains and could continue to do so, private investment might dip into negative territory, the research institute said

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 28, 2017
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華綜經院) yesterday raised its forecast for GDP growth this year from the 2.1 percent it predicted three months ago to 2.25 percent, as exports have performed better amid the launches of next-generation devices by international technology giants.

“Despite fading low-base benefits, exports have maintained a sturdy pickup this year and the trend could be sustained amid an improving global economy,” Yuanta-Polaris president Liang Kuo-yuan (梁國源) told a news conference in Taipei.

The institute now expects outbound shipments to increase 5.48 percent for the whole of this year, up from the 4.89 percent growth it previously predicted.

The improving global economy would lend support to the sales of consumer electronics in the buildup to Christmas in the West and the Lunar New Year in the East, Liang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Citi invites the public to Citi Financial Education Carnival, to have fun in learning financial literacy

The China Post
Date: September 27, 2017

To promote financial literacy, Citibank Taiwan has held Citi Financial Education

To promote financial literacy, Citibank Taiwan has held Citi Financial Education Carnival during Sept. 26 to Oct.1.

Carnival during Sept. 26 to Oct.1. Through the physical exhibition, the bank can show its past efforts and achievements. Meanwhile, a number of interesting interactive games are interspersed throughout the exhibition to help the general public examine their own consumer behavior and financial attitude.

“Citi has strived to enable social progress and economic growth by providing responsible financial services,” said Paulus Mok, Citi Country Officer (CCO) for Taiwan. “Catering to the public’s need for financial literacy, Citi Taiwan has been working with Citi Foundation to promote financial education since 2004. Over the past 14 years, we have invested more than NT$140 million in the promotion of financial literacy. The number of beneficiaries who received our financial education has exceeded 600,000.”

“In response to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of eradicating poverty, Citi has long been providing a series of financial inclusion services for different ethnic groups. Through a wide range of curriculums, micro-insurance, and microfinance, we help many disadvantaged groups around the world to achieve financial freedom and live a better life,” said Richard Tesvich, Managing Director and Regional Head of Corporate Affairs of Citi for Asia Pacific Region.
[FULL  STORY]

Official admits quality failures in fruit exports

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-26

A spokesperson for a company set up to boost Taiwan’s fruit exports has admitted more needs to be done in terms of quality control.

The Taiwan International Agricultural Development Company was set up at the end of last year to promote exports of Taiwan’s pineapples and bananas in particular.

Company spokesperson Chang Hao-chun admitted Tuesday that many local exporters do not have a proper handle on the ripeness of pineapples exported to Japan and Hong Kong. He also said that some exporters don’t ship their fruit in suitable wooden crates, in order to save costs. This leads to the pineapples on the bottom becoming easily squashed in transit, he said.

Chang said the company plans next year to set up a factory to produce word-class packaging for shipping pineapples.    [FULL  STORY]

Japan’s fear of China sank Taiwanese company Foxconn’s bid for Toshiba: reports

Toshiba decided to sell its memory chip unit to a U.S.-led alliance

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/26
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Did Toshiba buckle due to Japanese government pressure? (By Associated Press)

A woman walks past the Logo of Toshiba in Kawasaki near Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. Toshiba Corp. says it will split its lucrative flash memory business to make up for losses from its troubled U.S. nuclear business and is looking for a third-party capital injection. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The failure of Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) Foxconn Technology Group to buy Toshiba’s memory chip unit recently can be explained by the Japanese government’s fear of China, reports said Tuesday.

The board at Toshiba announced last September 20 it was planning to sell the chip division for US$18 billion to a group led by Bain Capital of the United States and including South Korean semiconductor maker SK Hynix, brushing aside bids from Western Digital of the U.S. and from Foxconn.

Even though Gou came up with a good offer and received positive comments in the media after last year’s takeover of another ailing Japanese brand, Sharp Corporation, the government in Tokyo was worried that if he won the Toshiba bid, it would result in the transfer of vital technology from Japan to China, Mirror Media wrote in Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY]

90% of office workers want to run their own business: poll

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/26
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) More than 90 percent of office workers have had the idea of

CNA file photo

starting their own business, but only 33 percent have taken action, according to a survey released Tuesday by an online job bank.

According to the survey on office workers’ business startup planning, 93.6 percent of the respondents said they have come up with an idea of starting a business, a record high since the survey was first conducted six years ago.

Asked when such an idea crossed their minds, 21.6 percent said it was during school, 19.8 percent said it was in the period after three or four years at work and 19 percent said it was after 10 years at work.    [FULL  STORY]

Winbond shares drop 7 percent

CAPACITY GROWTH:The chipmaker for the first time since 2004 is to invest in a new factory, which is expected to bring 2,500 high-ranking jobs to Kaohsiung in 15 years

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 27, 2017
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Shares of memory chipmaker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) yesterday plunged 7 percent, as profit-taking selling pressure outweighed the company’s disclosure of a detailed construction plan for a NT$335 billion (US$11.09 billion) new plant in a bid to solve capacity constraints.

The world’s No. 3 NOR flash memorychip supplier said it plans to start construction on an advanced 12-inch chip factory in Kaohsiung in July next year at the earliest.

That would pave the way for the plant’s mass production of 20-nanometer or 25-nanometer niche DRAM chips and flash memory chips in 2020, it said.

The company also plans to eventually produce next-generation 14-nanometer chips at the plant, Winbond said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan delegation attends Women and Economic Forum in Vietnam

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-25

The Cabinet said Monday that a delegation led by the deputy head of the National Development Council, Kao Shien-quey will attend the APEC 2017 Women and Economic Forum in Vietnam this week. The forum is titled “Enhancing Women’s Inclusion and Economic Empowerment in the Changing World”.

Taiwan’s Gender Equality Committee said its delegation will co-host a workshop with Vietnam’s counterpart on the use of new technology for innovative development. The workshop aims to foster cooperation among economies to encourage women to enter the STEAM program. STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses science, technology, engineering, art and math. The workshop also hopes to implement strategies for women to engage in economic and business opportunities.

Many APEC members have affirmed Taiwan’s long term efforts in empowering women in the economy and entrepreneurship. The committee said it will continue to strengthen Taiwan’s cooperation in the Asia Pacific region.    [SOURCE]

HTC leads US$4 million investment in VR startup after Google acquires its Smartphone unit

VRChat broke the news the day after Google’s acquisition.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/09/25
By Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Following the announcement September 21 by Taiwanese smartphone and virtual reality device maker HTC that it had agreed to sell part of its smartphone team to internet giant Google in exchange for US$1.1 billion, VRChat, an online platform for creating social virtual worlds, declared the day after that it had completed Serious A funding led by HTC, raising a total of US$4 million.

“Our goal is to enable anybody to create their own social VR experiences. Partnering with HTC gets us that much closer to achieving that, and driving social experiences for VR forward,” said Graham Gaylor, CEO of VRChat, in a statement on Medium on September 22.    [FULL  STORY]