GROWING MARKET?Philippines AirAsia will be the 20th low-cost carrier operating in Taiwan, indicating the closure of V Air has not deterred carriers from entering the market

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 11, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Philippines AirAsia Inc, a low-cost carrier based in Manila, is scheduled to start regular flights to

Taiwan next month.

Philippines AirAsia, an affiliate of AirAsia Bhd, a low-cost airline based in Malaysia, is planning to launch its services between Manila and Taipei on Nov. 1 with seven flights per week.

The Philippine carrier, which is a joint venture between three Philippine investors and AirAsia International Ltd, is also planning to provide three flights between Taipei and Cebu per week, starting on Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd, a low-fare airline based in Hong Kong, is planning to launch regular flight services between the territory and Hualien on Dec. 6, with three flights a week.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/09
By: Bear Lee

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) The 2016 Taipei International Electronics Show concluded Sunday with deals

reaching as high as US$146 million during the four-day exhibition, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said.

About 530 manufacturers from around the world established 1,050 booths to showcase the state-of-the-art products and techniques at the show, jointly organized by TAITRA and the Taiwan Electric and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association from Oct. 6 at Nangang Exhibition Hall.

The show attracted about 30,000 visitors, including domestic buyers and those from 80 foreign countries, TAITRA said.

Meanwhile, 36 certified foreign bidders from 19 countries had talks with Taiwanese suppliers in 317 meetings during a global government procurement rally held simultaneously with the show, with promised procurement value expected to reach US$350 million, it added.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/08
By: Tsai Yi-chu, Han Ting-ting and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), Taiwan’s top financial regulator, has set a goal of allowing four of the five Taiwanese third-party payment operators which have obtained their licenses to kick off business in six months after the first one became operational on Friday.

The FSC said that after AllPay Third-Party Payment Co. (歐付寶第三方支付股份有限公司) started its services Friday, the other four are scheduled to begin operations by the end of the first quarter of next year.

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed the Electronic Payment Processing Institutions Act (電子支付機構管理條例) in early 2015 to provide a legal basis for third-party payments in today’s rising Internet economy.

The new law took effect on May 3, and since then, the FSC has issued five licenses at a time when the local high tech and financial sectors have been anxious to tap the new market with online payments getting more and more popular in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/08
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Taiwan remained the largest integrated circuit products exporter to China in the first seven months of this year, followed by South Korea, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Saturday.

However, South Korea retained the top spot in terms of flat panel exports to China during the same period, while Taiwan trailed behind as the 2nd biggest supplier, the MOEA cited data as showing.

The data indicated that Taiwan and South Korea, which have a lot of similar industries, have been competing head to head in the high-tech market in China, the MOEA said.

According to the data, Taiwan grasped a 37 percent share in China’s IC import market, including sales to Hong Kong, for the first seven months of this year, up from 35.4 percent in 2015, while South Korea’s share stood at 24.8 percent in the same period, down from 25.7 percent in 2015.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-08
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A replacement for the troubled Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone exploded in the pocket of a young woman in the first incident of its kind in Taiwan, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported Saturday.

The South Korean electronics giant has been plagued with its latest-model phone exploding or catching fire, often during the charging of the batteries. It has offered replacements for the potentially dangerous model.

The young woman surnamed Lai, 26, said she received a model of the new version just ten days ago. When she walked her dog in a park Friday night, she was holding her pet in one hand, an umbrella in the other, and the smartphone was inside the right back pocket of her jeans, the newspaper wrote.

After walking for three minutes, she heard the sound of the phone exploding and felt its heat. She pulled the phone out and dropped it on the ground as it was producing white smoke, she told the Apple Daily.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/08
By: Huang Chiao-Wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Taiwan’s service sector flashed another “yellow-blue” light in August, signaling sluggish growth, but it moved a step closer to pulling out of a long slump, according to a survey by the Commerce Development Research Institute (CDRI,商業發展研究院).

The CDRI said the index of service industry (ISI) stood at 99 points in August, which was at the high end of the “yellow-blue” range from 93 to 99, and was up two points from a month earlier.

The CDRI uses a five-color coded system in conjunction with the ISI to describe the climate of Taiwan’s service sector, focusing on three major segments — securities trading, business operations, and the labor market and wages.

Red signals overheating, yellow-red indicates slight overheating, green represents steady growth, yellow-blue signals sluggishness and blue indicates recession.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 08, 2016
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台化) has no plan to furlough its Changhua plant workers, even

though the three boilers of the plant’s coal-fired generators were shut down yesterday.

The company said it would still pay salaries and bonuses to about 1,000 workers at the loss-making plant, which mainly produces artificial fibers such as nylon and rayon.
However, yesterday’s negotiation session between the company, the Changhua County Government and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) only reached consensus on the protection of labor rights and the company’s compliance with emission standards.

The key issue of the company’s license renewal application for its three boilers remains unsolved.

The license for the three boilers expired on Wednesday last week.

The county government has refused to renew the license due to the company’s failure to meet regulatory requirements by lowering the sulfur content in the bituminous coal used in the generators.     [FULL  STORY]