Buy tickets using app before Aug. 31 for a NT$20 to NT$40 cash back on each purchase

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/20
By: Eric Chang, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than 100,000 people have downloaded the Taipei Bus Station (台北轉運站) app since it was released last year.

Consumers have shown more interest in electronic ticket purchases due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Taipei Bus Station officials said at a press conference on Friday (June 19). The mobile ticketing app was released in August last year, CNA reported.

The app allows passengers to buy tickets, select seats, and board using a simple QR code. Using their phones, people can also check departure times and see how many seats are available on each bus.

Passengers can purchase tickets from five bus companies, including United Bus, Kuo-Kuang Motor Transportation, Kamalan Bus, Ho-Hsin Bus Traffic, and Aloha Bus Company. Starting in July, customers will also be able to buy tickets using the app, from Jasun Bus, Taroko Bus, and Taiwan United Bus, UDN reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/20/2020
By: Wu Po-wei and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) Taiwan's export orders rose slightly from a year earlier in May as solid demand for tech devices offset the impact on the old economy sector from the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Saturday.

Data compiled by the MOEA showed that export orders received by Taiwanese exporters totaled US$38.89 billion, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier, marking the third consecutive month of a year-on-year increase.

In the first five months of this year, however, Taiwan's export orders fell 1.5 percent from a year earlier to US$181.66 billion.

In May, the MOEA said, local electronic component makers benefited from strong demand for emerging applications such as 5G communication and high performance computing devices, which drove up orders enjoyed by semiconductor suppliers and server, printed circuit board and passive component exporters.    [FULL  STORY]

Reuters
June 19, 2020 

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan and the European Union should sign an investment agreement to use economics as a way to strengthen their democratic ties, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday, pitching to revive a deal that has languished since before she took office.

The bloc included tech-powerhouse Taiwan on its list of trade partners for a potential bilateral investment agreement in 2015, the year before Tsai first won the presidency. But since then it has held no talks with Taiwan on the issue.

Speaking in a pre-recorded message to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, Tsai alluded to autocratic China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, in describing how her island stands to benefit from the reshaping of global supply chains in the COVID-19 world.
[FULL  STORY]

The name of the toothpaste in Mandarin is “Black Person Toothpaste”

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/19
By: Eric Chang, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Colgate-Palmolive on Thursday said it is reviewing its Asian toothpaste brand Darlie due to racial equality protests in the U.S.

Darlie is a popular toothpaste brand in Asia owned by Colgate and its joint-venture partner Hawley & Hazel, Reuters reported. The brand used to be called “Darkie” and at one time featured a man in blackface wearing a top hat on the packaging and toothpaste tube.

That image was then changed to a man wearing a top hat, but the name in Mandarin is still “Black Person Toothpaste” (黑人牙膏).

“For more than 35 years, we have been working together to evolve the brand, including substantial changes to the name, logo and packaging. We are currently working with our partner to review and further evolve all aspects of the brand, including the brand name,” a Colgate spokesperson told Reuters in an email.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/19/2020
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) China Airlines (CAL) announced Friday that it will require all passengers to board its flights via the current online check-in service from June 22, to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Passengers can use CAL's website or mobile app to check-in online from 48 hours to 80 minutes before their flight departs, the Taiwanese airline said, adding that it will also suspend all kiosk check-in service at airports in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

‘GROW STRONGER’: Both sides declared victory after the election, with Taishin saying it focused on electing independent directors to enhance oversight at CHB

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 20, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Government-appointed candidates yesterday retained majority control of state-run Chang Hwa Bank’s (CHB, 彰化銀行) board of directors, while Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) won four seats, including all three independent directors’ seats.

CHB board elections have been contentious for the Ministry of Finance and Taishin since 2005, when Taishin acquired a 22.5 percent stake in the bank, with a written agreement from the ministry to help secure control of the lender.

The ministry has insisted it fulfilled its obligation from 2005 to 2013 and is not responsible for shareholders deciding to give government representatives majority control from 2014 onward.

Both sides declared victory after the election and traded barbs over CHB’s financial performance.    [FULL  STORY]

The Standard
Date: 18 Jun 2020

Taiwan's central bank has decided to leave its key interest rates unchanged after concluding a quarterly policymaking meeting today. The discount rate will  stand at 1.125 percent, still the lowest level in the country's history.

In its previous quarterly policymaking meeting held in March, the central bank lowered interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, marking the first rate reduction after leaving interest rates unchanged for 14 consecutive quarters, at a time when the global economy faced strong headwinds caused by the coronavirus, CNA reports.

The move by the central bank to maintain its monetary policy had been expected by the financial markets.    [SOURCE]

Hotels in the capital see occupancy rate plummet to 20% due to coronavirus travel ban

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hotels in Taipei are on the brink of the precipice as they primarily rely on visitors from overseas now unable to enter the country due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a prominent hotel owner said Thursday (June 18).

Speaking at a shareholders’ meeting Thursday, Formosa International Hotels Corp. Chairman Steven Pan (潘思亮) said that even though the group’s hotels outside Taipei were likely to do well during the summer holidays, the occupancy rate in Taipei has shown a precipitous decline to 20 percent in June.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/18/2020
By: Chen Yan-chun and Frances Huang

Manila, June 18 (CNA) Following the Asian Development Bank (ADB) cutting its forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the region for 2020, the bank said Thursday it has lowered its forecast for GDP growth in Taiwan from an earlier estimate of 1.8 percent to 0.8 percent.

The downgrade represented a more downbeat assessment of Taiwan's economic situation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic than that of Taiwan's government, which forecast in late May economic growth of 1.67 percent in 2020.

According to the ADB's forecast, Taiwan is expected to perform better than neighboring countries and territories in 2020.

For example, it estimated that Hong Kong's economy will contract by 6.5 percent, a deterioration from an earlier forecast of minus 3.3 percent, Singapore's economy could fall by 6 percent, a downgrade from 0.2 percent growth, and South Korea's is also expected to shrink by 1 percent, a cut from 1.3 percent growth.    [FULL  STORY]