Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/30
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) The hiring outlook for the third quarter improved as the local economy continues

on a slow path to recovery, a survey released by an online job bank showed Friday.

The survey conducted by the 1111 Job Bank found that 56.4 percent of polled employers said they plan to expand their workforces in the July-September period, up 1.1 percentage points from a quarter earlier and up 2.2 percentage points from the same period of last year.

Employers in the information technology and financial sectors appeared the most willing to recruit newcomers in the upcoming quarter, according to the job bank’s analysis of the survey’s results.

Some 60.3 percent of the employers who intend to hire in the third quarter said they needed more people to make up for an existing manpower shortage, 25.40 percent said the hiring was part of a regular recruiting campaign, and 10.1 percent said they needed more people because their business was expanding.    [FULL  STORY]

ELECTRIC MATCHMAKER:Chairman James Huang said that India’s plans to broaden the supply chains for electric vehicles is an opportunity for Taiwanese companies

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said it plans to play matchmaker

between local electric vehicle (EV) component suppliers and India’s leading EV companies in response to the Indian government’s goal of selling only electric vehicles from 2030.

“The next two years is a golden opportunity for Taiwanese firms to tap into India’s EV market, as that nation is at the early stages of developing the industry,” TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) told a media briefing in Taipei.

“It will be too late for us to join if we miss the first two years,” Huang said after returning from a six-day visit to India last week.

The Indian government in April initiated its “national electric mobility mission plan,” which targets annual sales of between 6 million and 7 million electric or hybrid vehicles by 2020 from 400,000 currently.    [FULL  STORY]

The report revealed that EU’s exports to Taiwan grew 6.7 percent last year to €19.6 billion, while total goods trade grew 3.9 percent to reach €45.7 billion, both the highest on record

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/28
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan-EU bilateral trade achieved its highest record in 2016 with a total trade

of €45.7 billion between the two countries, according to a report released by the European Economic and Trade Office Tuesday.

The EU-Taiwan Factfile 2017 revealed that EU’s exports to Taiwan grew 6.7 percent last year to €19.6 billion, while total goods trade grew 3.9 percent to reach €45.7 billion, both the highest on record.

The EU’s imports from Taiwan also reached an all-time high since 2006 with a total value recorded at €26.1 billion, making Taiwan EU’s 19th largest trading partner worldwide and the 7th largest in Asia.

Taiwan is also EU’s 13th largest importer and 23th largest exporter.

On the other hand, the EU is Taiwan’s 5th largest trading partner, following China, the ASEAN bloc, USA and Japan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/28
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Christie Chen

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) State-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has, for the first time in 34 years,

fallen out of the top 10 Taiwanese companies in a survey that ranks the top 5,000 local enterprises by revenue in 2016.

It is the first time Taipower failed to make it into the top 10 since the annual survey began ranking state-owned and privately-owned firms together in 1982. Taipower ranked ninth in the survey last year.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp., a privately-owned gasoline supplier that was eighth last year, dropped out from the top 10 for the first time in 12 years, according to the survey released by Taiwan’s China Credit Information Service, Ltd. (CCIS).

New to the top 10 list are Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. and Fubon Life Insurance Co., in eighth and tenth place, respectively.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 28, 2017
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

In response to mounting criticism over a controversial extension of mining rights, Asia Cement Corp (亞

泥) yesterday defended its mining operations in Taroko National Park, saying that it would conduct an environmental impact assessment if necessary.

“We began mining in the area before the national park was established [in 1986],” Douglas Hsu (徐旭東), chairman of Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), the cement maker’s parent company, said at Asia Cement’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taipei.

Asia Cement has operated in Hualien County’s Sincheng Township (新城) for 60 years, including a quarry with 25 hectares overlapping land in the park, company data show.

Asked if the Sincheng site would undergo an environmental impact assessment, Hsu said the firm would comply with new regulations, referring to possible amendments to the Mining Act (礦業法).    [FULL  STORY]

The dialogue sessions, which take place on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, features seminars on smart manufacturing, circular economy, 5G and clusters cooperation…

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/27
By: Wendy Lee ,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and environmental chief Lee Ying-

yuan (李應元) on Tuesday led a large delegation to Brussels, Belgium to attend the EU-Taiwan Meet on Industry of the Future, a business oriented event at the occasion of the third industrial dialogue between Taiwan and the European Nation.

It was by far the largest delegation sent by Taiwan for an EU-Taiwan economic and trade mission, with over 100 people attending the three-day event.

The event was a collaborative effort between six organizations, including the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP), European Commission, Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), Silicon Europe, Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT), and Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan.

Taiwan seeks close cooperation with its European partners, Deng said, adding that they will focus on promoting artificial intelligence, auto-driving, green energy and other industries based on the circular economy concepts.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/27
By: Lee Shien-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 27 (CNA) Thai Vietjet Air, a low-cost Thai airline and subsidiary of Vietnam’s VietJet Air, will launch a nonstop charter service between Bangkok and the eastern Taiwan county of Hualien on July 4, but will reduce the number of charter flights from the 12 originally planned to six, Hualien County government said on Tuesday.

Due to the difficulty of arranging flights during the summer holiday season, the airline decided to fly six charter flights in July and cancel those originally scheduled for August, according to the county’s tourism promotion committee vice chairman, Hsu Chao-lin (許兆麟), who is coordinating the charter service.

A full refund will be offered to about 200 customers who have booked tickets for the charter flights scheduled for August, Hsu said.    [FULL  STORY]