Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/01/2020
By: Frances Huang

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange's main index opened up 1.40 points at 10,622.64 Wednesday on turnover of NT$3.16 billion (US$107 million).    [SOURCE]

ROW: A probe would determine if the rights of shareholders who were not allowed to vote yesterday had been violated, while the stock exchange also wants answers

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2020
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

The election of board directors yesterday at Tatung Co (大同) sparked controversy after the company blocked some institutional and individual shareholders from participating in the general shareholders’ meeting, prompting the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to announce that the vote would be investigated.

Lin Kuo Wen-yen (林郭文艷) was re-elected as chairwoman of the household-appliance maker’s nine-member board, but prior to the vote she announced that several shareholders would not have voting rights.

They were being denied a vote because they had contravened the Business Mergers and Acquisitions Act (企業併購法), and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), Lin Kuo said.

The company had previously alleged that some investors have received financial backing from Chinese investors.    [FULL  STORY]

Supervisory body of communications affairs to take center stage in organizational reform

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/28
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's plan to establish a digital ministry will be focused on restructuring the National Communications Commission (NCC).

As part of President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) electoral platform, incorporating the country's administrative resources in information, cybersecurity, telecommunications, the internet, and communications will become a pivotal part of her second term in an era characterized by constant digital challenges, wrote CNA.

The NCC, an independent statutory agency under the auspices of the Executive Yuan, is likely to play a major role in the institutional transformation, according to its spokesperson Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏). The agency is currently responsible for regulating the telecommunications and broadcast industries.

The Cabinet's cybersecurity department and the Ministry of Science and Technology will be integrated with the NCC for the digital ministry to be formed, according to Hsiao. The organizational reform will involve a complicated network that also spans economic and transportation affairs.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/28
By:  Central News Agency\

An American who recently received Taiwan's employment gold card — a combination of work and residency permits — described the application process as smooth and easy, the National Immigration Agency said Sunday.

Michael Bowcutt, Taiwan office manager of Utah-based software and factory automation service provider, Romaric, decided to move his family to Taiwan after developing work contacts between the two countries, the agency said in a press statement.

Taiwan's leading position in Asia's semiconductor industry, an area in which Romaric's business is involved, and the convenient and nice living environment were the reasons behind his decision to move, according to the agency.

After applying through the "Foreign professionals online application platform" website in the United States, Bowcutt brought his wife and two children to Taiwan to make preparation to settle into their new life, including finding a place to live, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/28/2020
By: Ku Chuan and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is looking to devise a recycling program that will focus on recycling industrial waste from three companies that produce a majority of non recycled industrial waste in Taiwan, a government agency said Sunday.

At the suggestion of Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森), the MOEA's Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) said it has been instructed to draft a program by the end of the year to recycle industrial waste, such as gypsum from Formosa Plastics Group, slag from China Steel Corp. and paper from Chung Hwa Pulp Corp.

The waste products can be recycled and used to create by- products but are categorized as waste due to laws and regulations in Taiwan, according to the bureau.

Specialists employed on the program will study relevant laws and regulations and come up with a standard operational procedure to pave the way for more in-depth research starting next year, as they seek to develop solutions to the problem.    [FULL  STORY]

Offshore Energy
Date: June 26, 2020
By: Adnan Durakovic

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs plans to hold three offshore wind auctions for a combined capacity of 5 GW by 2023.

The ministry expects to hold what would be Taiwan’s third auction round in the second quarter of 2021, offering 1 GW capacity in the process.

The country’s fourth and fifth auction rounds will be for 2 GW and will take place in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The projects selected in the three auction rounds are expected to be commissioned between 2026 and 2030.

Overall, Taiwan plans to have over 15.5 GW of operating offshore wind capacity by 2035.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/26
By:  Central News Agency

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, saw its spending in research and development hitting a new high of almost US$3 billion in 2019, allowing the company to maintain its lead in production technology over its peers.

According to TSMC's 2019 corporate social responsibility report, the chipmaker spent US$2.96 billion on R&D, up 4 percent from a year earlier, with the number of its R&D workforce up 5 percent at 6,534.

The spending accounted for about 8.5 percent of TSMC's total sales in 2019, as the company had anticipated. The chipmaker has said it expects that its R&D spending will make up 8.5 percent of its annual revenue until 2030.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/26/2020
By: Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 26 (CNA) Acer Inc., one of Taiwan's leading PC vendors, which is making efforts to transform itself from a pure PC brand to a "lifestyle" brand, has set up a new drinks business division and will put its own energy drink on sale in July.

Acer Chairman Jason Chen (陳俊聖) told reporters earlier this week that Acer is launching its first energy drink, named "Predator Shot," which is an extension of the product line from its gaming PC "Predator" series.

Chen said the PC market is mature with a lot of competition and that Acer cannot afford to just sit there to wait for any positive change under such circumstances.

Instead, Chen said, Acer has to do more, vaulting itself over the business boundary, which is why it is seeking to become a lifestyle brand by selling beverages related to its core PC business.    [FULL  STORY]