Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-16

Premier William Lai says that the central government will help cash-strapped local

governments cover the costs of a public sector pay raise.

The government announced Tuesday that teachers, civil servants, and military personnel will receive a 3% pay raise beginning next year. Local governments will be responsible for helping to pay for the raise. However, some local authorities say they do not have the funds needed to cover the additional expense.

On Saturday, Premier William Lai said that local governments with the means to pay the higher wages themselves will be expected to do so. However, he said that the central government will cover the costs of the pay raise in full on behalf of local governments without enough funds. He said the injection of money the pay raise will put into consumers’ pockets will stimulate economic development in areas with limited budgets.    [FULL  STORY]

Policymakers need more practical experience: Luis Ko

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/16 20:10
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As Taiwan’s economy depends on interaction with the whole

world, the government should explain its workweek reform measures in English so that foreign investors can also understand it, I-Mei Foods Co., Ltd. (義美食品) CEO Luis Ko (高志明) said at a policy discussion September 15.

In addition, Ko also pointed out that the present Labor Standards Act (LSA, 勞基法) no longer corresponded to contemporary requirements, so government officials should go out and take stock of the actual situation on the ground in order to draw up suitable policies.

As the Central News Agency reported, Ko said that foreign investors needed to understand workweek reform, in particular the measure of five days of work followed by two days off introduced last year, so it should be explained clearly in English.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/16
By: Han Ting-ting and Romulo Huang

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (台塑石化), a privately owned fuel supplier, said Saturday it will raise domestic gasoline and diesel prices next week to reflect an increase in international crude oil prices.

The company said it will hike its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 (US$0.006) per liter, effective 1 a.m. Monday.

After the adjustment, prices at Formosa Petrochemical gas stations islandwide will rise to NT$21.9 per liter for super diesel, NT$24.5 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$25.9 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$28 per liter for 98 unleaded, the company said in a statement.

Formosa Petrochemical said the rise in crude oil prices this past week resulted from a decline in production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in August and a proposal to extend an existing deal on production cuts.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/14
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Led by Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, two Taiwanese trade

teams recently arrived in the U.S. and met with American grain importers. The teams were hosted by U.S. government officials at Capitol Hill on Wednesday and signed a memorandum of agreement that will see more wheat, corn, soybean and other grains export to Taiwan in the next two years, according to a report by Liberty Times.

The deal, worth US$3 billion, was signed in the presence of Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Ted Yoho, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific under the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, along with four other Senators and eleven Representatives. AIT managing director John J. Norris Jr. and Taiwan’s de facto U.S. ambassador Stanley Kao (高碩泰) also joined its signing ceremony and gala dinner.

Some participating Congress members thanked the island country for its generous donation of US$800,000 for hurricane Harvey relief efforts, saying it proves a strong friendship between the two.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/15
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) The U.S. dollar fell against the Taiwan dollar Friday, shedding NT$0.031 to close at NT$30.075 as renewed geopolitical tension failed to prompt traders to park more of their funds in greenback-denominated assets as a safe haven, dealers said.

A decision by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to raise the Chinese yuan’s reference rate against the U.S. dollar gave support to the Taiwan dollar, while foreign institutional selling in local equities helped the U.S. dollar fend off some downward pressure by the end of the session, the dealers said.

The greenback opened at the day’s high of NT$30.130 and moved to a low of NT$30.034 before rebounding. Turnover totaled US$771 million during the trading session.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/11
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) The government collected NT$1.50 trillion in tax revenues

during the first eight months of this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Monday.

According to the MOF, the figure was up 2.3 percent from the same period a year earlier and was the highest amount of revenue for the January to August period in the country’s history.

Among the main sources of tax revenues were value-added taxes (VAT, NT$241.4 billion), corporate income taxes (NT$308.5 billion), personal income taxes (NT$387.0 billion), excise taxes (NT$117.6 billion), tobacco surcharges (NT$26.6 billion), and land value increment taxes (NT$61.5 billion).

VAT revenue rose 1.4 percent year-on-year, primarily due to increases in domestic consumption and higher tax revenues from sales of imported oil and coal, according to the ministry.    [FULL  STORY]

GLOBAL OUTLOOK:Tung Tzu-hsien had to speak in generalities because while he is chairman of the host association, he is also the head of Pegatron Corp

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 12, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子

賢) yesterday voiced optimism about the outlook of the global smartphone industry for the rest of the year on the back of major international companies’ launches of new flagship handsets.

“Contract electronics manufacturers are very busy getting their funds, key technologies and production ready, as many big smartphone clients are gearing up to introduce their newest products this fall,” the Pegatron Corp (和碩) chairman told reporters on the sidelines of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) opening ceremony in Taipei.

Samsung Electronics Co launched its new generation of the Note series on Aug. 23 and Apple Inc is scheduled to unveil its 10th-anniversary iPhones today in the US, the most important iPhones in years.

Pegatron, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Wistron Corp (緯創) assemble iPhones for the US company.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 11, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI – CTBC Financial Holding (CTBC）revealed two innovative financial

conceptual services on Sept. 11 at the 21st World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT 2017）- the two services are Taiwan’s first voice-controlled financial assistant and the industry’s first “Taiwanese dollars and foreign currencies cash exchange machine, which is freshly approved by the regulators.

The CTBC exhibition area attracted a lot of guests from Taiwan and aboard, including Minister without Portfolio Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠), Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), CTBC Bank Deputy Chairman Morris Li (利明献), and CTBC Bank President James Chen (陳佳文), who has interacted with the voice assistant in demonstration.

Chen said that the themes of CTBC’s exhibitions center around the theme “Shaping the Future of Banking”, which means to outline the future of finance for the people. The exhibition area is divided into five zones: “biometric”, “AI”, “blockchain”, “future branch” and “life finance” and the demonstration of 11 innovative finance applications allow guests and visitors to get a glimpse of the visions of digital finance integrating into everyday life.    [FULL STORY]