Taiwan News
Date: January 19, 2017

The Center for Southeast Asia Research was launched Jan. 18 at the National

University of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan with the goal of advancing implementation of the government’s New Southbound Policy.

One of the key components of President Tsai Ing-wen’s national development strategy, the peoplecentric policy seeks to promote talent exchanges, trade and economic cooperation, resource sharing and regional connections with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

“Through the integration of public and private sector resources, the center will focus on cultivating talents specializing in Southeast Asian affairs,” NUK President Wang Shyue-liang said at the inauguration ceremony.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/19
By: Yang Shu-min and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) In the run up to the Lunar New Year the price of meat has remained relatively stable while that for fruit has seen the biggest increase compared with last year, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said on Thursday.

On average, fruit was being sold at NT$72.1 per kilogram at Taipei Fruit and Vegetable Market on Thursday, two weeks before the holiday, 29.2 percent higher than the NT$55.8 recorded during the same period last year, the COA said.

Indian jujubes, in particular, were 94.9 percent more expensive than last year and tangerines 30 percent higher, the council said.

However, vegetable prices were 45.8 percent cheaper than last year, the COA added.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 20, 2017
By: Christine Chou

Virtual reality (VR) is the star of this year’s Taipei International Game Show, which is

set to exhibit the largest selection of VR games in the trade show’s history.

Show organizer Taipei Computer Association Chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) said Thursday that this year’s show would focus on the theme “In the Game, To the World.”

“Leaps in VR technology have now allowed gamers to fully explore and experience in-game worlds like never before,” Tung said. “You can become Michael Jordon on a basketball court, Messi on a soccer field or even Batman on a mission to save the world.”

SuperData estimated VR investment would reach US$2.8 billion in 2016, and predicted the VR market would grow tenfold by 2020.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan-made bicycles outsell competitors in China, the UK and Netherlands, while Taiwanese bicycle parts are tops in the U.S.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/17
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei (Taiwan News) — Bicycles and bicycle parts made in Taiwan continue to be

exported around the world, with Europe being the biggest overseas market, according to statistics published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Monday.

Europe accounted for half, or 50.5 percent, of Taiwan’s bicycles and bicycle parts exported in 2016, the data showed.

North America as the second largest export market, accounting for 23.4 percent, while the Asian market came in at third with 17.5%.

The three countries that imported the most Taiwan-made bicycles were the United States, the Netherlands, and the UK. As for bicycle parts, Germany, the U.S. and the Netherlands were the biggest importers.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/17
By: Chung Jung-feng and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Beijing has conveyed its concern to Hon Hai Group Chairman

Terry Gou (郭台銘) over the company’s plan to increase investment in the United States, an international media outlet reported on Tuesday.

Gou informed the Chinese side that he did not plan to withdraw capital from China, adding that the U.S. investment plan has not been finalized and is dependent on the policies of the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, according to Bloomberg News.

Hon Hai, an assembler of iPhones and iPads, known as Foxconn outside Taiwan, did not comment on the report.

In early December, Hon Hai said it was in preliminary discussions to expand its U.S. operations, after Japan’s SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son showed a document following a meeting with Trump that indicated Hon Hai has plans to invest US$7 billion and create 50,000 jobs in the United States over the next four years.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 18, 2017
By: Christine Chou

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海) Chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘)

reportedly met with senior officials in China to assuage them over the firm’s future in the country, after rumors of a manufacturing expansion to the U.S.

Gou told the high-level officials that the world’s largest contract electronics maker would not make a decision on setting up production in the U.S. until a clearer picture of future government policy emerged from Washington, according to a Bloomberg report Tuesday.

Hon Hai had reportedly told U.S. President-elect Donald Trump it would create new jobs in the U.S. as part of a joint investment with the Japanese SoftBank Group.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date; 2017/01/16
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has come up with measures tailored to the government’s “New Southbound Policy” to boost global visibility of Taiwan’s stock market, a TWSE official said at a recent seminar.

The New Southbound Policy is an initiative pushed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government to develop closer ties with ASEAN members and India, and the TWSE said it will put in place four measures aligned with the new policy.

They include soliciting investment from ASEAN countries, India and other “new southbound” markets into Taiwan’s capital market, and encouraging foreign investors targeted by the southbound policy to invest in Taiwan’s real economy, Huang Po-li (黃玻莉), a TWSE section chief, said at the seminar.    [FULL  STORY]