Business and Finance

EU signals readiness to open investment talks

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-19

The European Union has signaled that it is preparing to open investment talks with Taiwan. The news comes in a recent EU trade strategy report.

Among ten items raised in the report, the EU sees Asia and Latin America as major engines for global economic growth moving forward. In Asia, the report said, the EU views Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and India as countries with which to broaden trade ties. But it said it is already preparing to open investment talks with Taiwan and with Hong Kong.

With the United States moving towards protectionism, the EU has continued to emphasize free trade in recent years. In July, the EU reached a framework agreement on an economic partnership deal with Japan. It said at the time that Taiwan was also on its radar as an important trading partner in Asia. Now it appears the EU believes the time is right to take the next step.    [FULL  STORY]

uberTAXI set to launch in Taipei next month

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/19

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) Uber Technologies Inc., a U.S-based ride-sharing company, announced on Tuesday it will share its App technology with two Taiwanese taxi service providers in a bid to re-enter the local market with a new business model.

There will be uberTAXI in Taipei by mid-October, the company said, referring to its plan to partner with Crown Taxi and Ya Tai Taxi.

Uber said its App will connect drivers with prospective passengers directly, ensuring taxis spend less time empty.

“Turning on the App for taxis will give drivers greater earning opportunities, while riders will get another option for a safe, affordable and reliable way to get around,” Brooks Entwistle, Uber’s Chief Business Officer in the Asia Pacific, said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Grid increase to boost economy

ELECTRICITY RESERVES:Major issues raised by potential investors are power and water supply limitations, and land and workforce shortages, the economic affairs minister said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 20, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The government aims to increase the nation’s electricity reserve margin from 7.5 percent to 15 percent by 2019, and up to 22 percent by 2025, as part of efforts to attract investment, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

“Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has nine projects to increase electricity supply. We will ensure the state-run company finishes the projects on time to meet the government’s goal,” Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) told a media conference yesterday after a meeting with Premier William Lai (賴清德).

Shen briefed the ministry on the five main issues facing enterprises when investing in Taiwan, including constrained power and water supply, land and labor shortages, and a shortage of skilled workers.

“We need to work together to solve these issues to improve the nation’s investment environment and boost the economy,” Lai said before the briefing.    [FULL  STORY]

65% of Taiwanese employers want workweek policy change: poll

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/18
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s controversial five-day workweek policy looks to be undergoing some changes after the newly inaugurated Premier William Lai said the Cabinet is to submit a draft amendment following a plenary legislative session. On Monday, a recruitment agency published a survey that discloses up to 65 percent of local employers are displeased with the workweek policy.

The five-day workweek policy, also known as the “one fixed day off and one flexible rest day,” entered into force nine months ago and has drawn much criticism from local employers due to increased labor costs and labor shortage, and, surprisingly, from some employees as well. Several business advocacy groups have been pushing for workweek reforms during this period of time.

According to the recruitment agency 1111, 53 percent of local businesses have been affected by the new workweek policy, with operation costs up 5.2 percent in average. Some employers reported it has become difficult to run businesses due to an inflexible work schedule that mandates at least one day off every seven days of work. Employers of service and logistics sectors reported being hardest hit by the policy.
[FULL  STORY]

Changhua sets out principles for demolishing illegal factories

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/18
By: Wu Jhe-hao and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) The Changhua County government voiced opposition Monday to a Cabinet decision to demolish illegal factories built on farmland without proposing complementary measures, such as ensuring the livelihoods of affected factory workers.

Changhua Public Works Department Director Tai Rui-wen (戴瑞文) declared the stance at a press conference in which he reiterated five principles set forth by the county chief the previous week on the issue of the removal of illegal factories from farmland.

Changhua Magistrate Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) said during a county council meeting Sept. 12 that agriculture and industry are equally important to the people of Changhua, but he also pledged that starting from that day, businesses will be strictly banned from building factories on farmland.    [FULL STORY]

Chip supplier shares rally

SPIRALING UPWARD:The TAIEX hit a 27-year high yesterday, while turnover on the Taipei Exchange hit a record of 40 million shares amid DRAM supply constraints

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 19, 2017
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

The nation’s major suppliers of memory chips and modules saw their stock prices climb by up to 9.97 percent yesterday amid speculation that Samsung Electronics Co plans to raise mobile DRAM prices by about 10 percent on the back of increasing supply constraints.

Adata Technology Co (威剛科技), the world’s second-largest memory module supplier, outperformed its peers as its shares skyrocketed near the 10 percent daily limit to NT$86, or up 9.97 percent.

The performance marked its highest level in more than three-and-a-half years.
Turnover set an all-time high, with 40 million shares changing hands, Taipei Exchange statistics showed.

The company on Friday said that the supply crunch in DRAM chips next quarter might exceed its expectations as increasing demand for smartphones and cloud-enabled servers is squeezing DRAM chip supply.    [FULL  STORY]

FEATURE: Pegatron chief wants to help creative people shine

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Pegatron Corp (和碩) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) on Wednesday returned from

From left, Fisfisa Media Co chairwoman Ginny Wei, Lo Man-fei’s elder sister Sophie Lo, director En Chen and Pegatron Corp chairman Tung Tzu-hsien pose before the premiere of Man Fei at the Spot Huashan Cinema in Taipei on Wednesday. Photo: Hsu Shih-ying, Taipei Times

China to attend the premiere of a documentary in Taipei, only to fly back the next day to oversee the company’s plants in China as the business enters peak season with global brands gearing up for new product launches.

The documentary is about Taiwanese dancer and choreographer Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲), who died eleven years ago and was an old friend of Tung’s. It premiered at the Taipei Film Festival on July 11 and opened for general viewing on Friday.

“The story of Man-fei’s life is a legend. Man-fei’s family, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) founder Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) and director En Chen (陳懷恩) have spent three years making this documentary as a way to record her story, to commemorate and to remember her,” Tung told the Taipei Times after the premiere.

Tung was the biggest backer of the documentary, Man Fei (曼菲), which he supported via Pegatron’s affiliate company, Ethos Original Co (藝碩文創).

Although he spends most of his time abroad, Tung is arguably the best-known corporate executive in Taiwan to support cultural and artistic activities and films. He has a stake in bookstore retailer Eslite Corp (誠品), which he invested in 18 years ago.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese brand to global favorite: Kavalan

Taiwan’s first whisky maker now a global choice of whisky brand

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/17
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Kavalan is Taiwan’s first whisky maker and the nation’s only family-owned whisky distillery. The name comes from the old name of Yilan where the distillery is located.

Kavalan has made several headlines in international media and also received five Platinum Awards at the international Review of Spirits.

Most recently it also received the International Wine & Spirit Competition Worldwide Whiskey Trophy 2017 and the International Spirits Challenge Trophy for two consecutive years.

CNN reports Lee Yu-Ting, the CEO of Kavalan’s umbrella company, King Car Group, as saying, “We didn’t want our whisky to taste like medicine, it’s very easy to go down.”    [FULL  STORY]

Fuel prices to hit five-month high this week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/17
By: Tsai I-chu and William Yen

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) State-run oil refiner CPC Corp. Taiwan (中油) will increase domestic gasoline and diesel prices on Monday by NT$0.2 (US$0.0066) per liter, pushing prices at the pump to a five-month high.

After the price adjustment, which will take effect at midnight Sunday, prices at CPC gas stations around Taiwan will rise to NT$22.2 per liter for super diesel, NT$24.5 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$26 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$28 per liter for 98 unleaded.

CPC said it was raising prices for the fourth consecutive week this week after an increase in global crude oil prices on news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could further extend a deal to cut oil production.
[FULL  STORY]

TSMC ranked first in fixed investments

SOARING:Fixed investments by the company in the first half of the year totaled NT$207.7 billion, up 85.9 percent from a year earlier, government data showed

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, invested more in fixed assets in the first half of this year than any other manufacturer listed on the local stock market, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday.

Data compiled by the ministry showed that fixed investments by TSMC during the six-month period totaled NT$207.7 billion (US$6.91 billion), up 85.9 percent from a year earlier, as the company invested heavily to develop high-end technology processes.

TSMC’s latest technology, the advanced 10-nanometer process, entered commercial production in the fourth quarter of last year, and shipments of its products using the 10-nanometer process are expected to account for 10 percent of its sales in the third quarter, up from 1 percent in the second quarter.

The company is also developing 7-nanometer, 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes in a bid to maintain its lead in the global semiconductor market.
[FULL  STORY]