Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-04

Ruling Democratic Progress Party (DPP) lawmakers held a press conference

Thursday to report on the nation’s economic progress since the Tsai Ing-wen administration took power nearly a year ago.

DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Chia-ching said Taiwan is seeing a lower unemployment rate compared to when President Tsai took office, overall GDP growth has gone from negative to positive, and most of Taiwan’s local industries are showing stronger performance.

Hsu also quoted the 2017 economic freedom index released by the US-based think tank Heritage Foundation. She said the ranking of Taiwan’s investment environment has risen to 11th in the world, which is a significant improvement from the 25th place in 2008, and far above South Korea in 27th.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/04
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Elaine Hou

Taipei, May 4 (CNA) Credit card spending in Taiwan in March reached the third

highest monthly level in the country’s banking history, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Thursday.

Credit card holders in Taiwan spent NT$220.3 billion (US$7.3 billion) in March, up NT$35.3 billion from the previous month, said the FSC, the top financial regulator in the country.

The March figure was the third highest in Taiwan’s banking history, after NT$263.5 billion recorded in June 2016 and NT$242.5 billion in June 2015.

Chuang Shiu-yuan (莊琇媛), deputy director of the FSC’s Banking Bureau, attributed the increase in credit spending in March to an aggressive campaign to encourage electronic payments and the greater use of mobile payments.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/03 21:38
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Shipment volume of the Taiwanese smartphone industry

totaled around 74.7 million units, declining 13.2 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2017, according to MIC (Market Intelligence& Consulting Institute), a Taipei-based IT research institute.

“Since Android phones’ launching often takes place in the first half of the year, the shipment volume is estimated to increase at around 79.7 million units in the second quarter of 2017, up 6.7 percent sequentially,” says Aaron Lin, industry analyst with MIC. “The drop in the first quarter was mainly because iPhone 7 market sales did not live up to expectations, which led to Apple’s decision to revise its orders down.”

“Nevertheless, as FIH Mobile starts to produce Nokia phones for HMD Global in 2017, Foxconn to produce Xiaomi Redmi smartphones in its India new manufacture unit, and Wistron to manufacture iPhone SE in the production line of its Indian fully owned subsidiary ICT Service Management Solutions, Taiwan’s overall smartphone shipments will likely to see a boost this year.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/03
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Nay 3 (CNA) A move to cut the transaction tax for day trading in the local equity market has boosted trading volume in a better-than-expected way, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Lee Ruey-tsang (李瑞倉) said Wednesday.

Lee said that after the tax cut became effective on April 28, the average combined daily turnover on the local main board and the over-the-counter market (OTC) rose to NT$133.78 billion (US$4.46 billion) on April 28 and May 2 from an average of NT$116.84 billion seen during the April 1-27 period.

The local bourse was closed for a three-day Labor Day holiday after April 28 and trading resumed on May 2.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: May 4, 2017
By: The China Post new staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Nestle Taiwan’s General Manager Adrian Ho (何文龍) visited the

students of Taipei City’s Ming Dao Elementary School as part of the company’s Global Healthy Kids Programme.

Ho, along with a group of volunteers, hosted a series of challenges at the school to teach students about a healthy, balanced diet via games.

The general manager himself dressed up as the king of the balanced diet kingdom to set the playful tone for the day’s activities.

Through each challenge, students must utilize their knowledge of healthy eating and exercise to solve problems and ultimately rescue the locals of the kingdom.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan aims to spend NT$143.3 billion budget by 2024 to improve water resource management

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/02
By: Judy Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)— Taiwan’s Economic Affairs Minister Lee Chih-kung (李世光)

broke down the NT$143.3 billion (US$4.77 billion) the government will spend to improve water resources management under the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program (前瞻計畫) budget Tuesday.

The announced budget was lower than the previous NT$260 billion that the Tsai administration announced it would be allocating to improving water resource management in late April, which placed the project in second after rail infrastructure which would receive a lion’s share of NT$880 billion.

The NT$28 billion set aside for beautification of waterways to create new tourism hot spots under the project budget was heavily criticized by opposing party Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/02
By: Chiang Chun-liang and Lilian Wu

Taipei, May 2 (CNA) The Yunlin County government signed a memorandum of

understanding (MOU) Tuesday with Wonder Energy Co., a Thai-Malaysia joint venture that will invest around NT$200 billion (US$6.65 billion) in the development of wind power and photovoltaic power in the central Taiwan county.

Yunlin Magistrate Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) signed the MOU with Ting Chung-cheng (丁重誠), a representative of Wonder Energy Company’s Preparatory Office.

The magistrate expressed appreciation to Ting, a Taiwanese businessman from Yunlin, for investing in his county.    [FULL  STORY]