Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/10
Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange’s main index opened down 80.07 points at 9,084.81 Saturday on turnover of NT$1.547 billion (US$48.89 million). [SOURCE]
Business and Finance
XPEC to take legal action against CTBC Bank
Taipei Times
Date: Sep 10, 2016
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter
Game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) yesterday said that it would take legal recourse against CTBC Bank Co (中國信託銀行) over alleged shortcomings in overseeing a deal that collapsed, sending its share price tumbling.
The announcement reverses XPEC’s earlier decision to not press charges against the bank in the face of a protracted legal battle as financial regulators and prosecutors investigate suspected wrongdoing in the failed tender offer from Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Co (百尺竿頭) of Japan.
“The company will press charges against CTBC Bank in the event that authorities deem the bank responsible for irregularities or oversight, in a bid to preserve the interests of our shareholders,” XPEC said in a statement.
Serving as the deal’s depository bank, CTBC Bank on Aug. 22 filed a request with local regulators to extend Bai Chi’s NT$4.86 billion (US$154 million) acquisition of a 25.71 percent stake in XPEC until Aug. 31, after the Japanese firm missed an Aug. 19 deadline to provide the required funds. [FULL STORY]
Taiwan shares close down 1.06%
Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-09
By: By Frances Huang, Central News Agency
Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) Taiwan shares closed down 98.01 points, or 1.06 percent, at 9,164.88 Friday on turnover of NT$66.75 billion (US$2.13 billion). [SOURCE]
Fitch cuts Taiwan’s GDP forecast
EXPORT WOES:The agency said the banking sector will be hurt by Taiwan’s economic weakness and China’s economic slowdown, causing profits to drop this year and next
Taipei Times
Date: Sep 10, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA
Fitch Ratings Ltd has lowered its forecast of the nation’s GDP growth for this year, citing disappointing export performance.
In its Taiwan Banks Report Card released on Thursday, Fitch said that the economy is short of a boost from its outbound sales and after taking the adversity caused by weak global demand into account, it was reducing its forecast from its previous estimate of 1.5 percent to 1 percent.
The forecast showed that the agency is more cautious about the economy than the government.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics last month raised its economic growth forecast for this year to 1.22 percent, up 0.16 percentage points from its previous estimate, due to improving exports and private consumption. [FULL STORY]
TWSE teams up with Credit Suisse to promote `good’ Taiwanese firms
Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-08
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang, Central News Agency
Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has joined forces with Zurich-headquartered financial giant Credit Suisse to promote fundamentally sound Taiwan-listed companies to global investors.
The TWSE, which operates the local main board, and Credit Suisse have jointly launched an investment forum that kicked off Wednesday and will run through Friday in Taipei, as part of the exchange’s efforts to encourage investors to park their funds in the local equity market.
It is the eighth time the TWSE and Credit Suisse have worked together to hold such a forum, focusing on healthy corporations in Taiwan in a bid to boost investors’ understanding of Taiwan’s capital market.
During the three-day forum, representatives from Taiwan’s semiconductor, consumer electronics, biotech, telecommunications and financial firms will meet with investors, including more than 260 institutional investors, the TWSE said. [FULL STORY]
First summer camp on Taipei 101 deemed a success
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/08
By: Milly Lin and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) A unique summer program that allowed campers to spend a night near the top 
of the iconic Taipei 101 building has concluded successfully, after some 800 people participated over a five-week period, the organizers said Thursday.
Every Saturday since July 23, people had been camping for a night on the upper floors of Taiwan’s tallest building, gazing at the stars and city skyline at night and watching the sunrise in the morning, Taipei 101 administrators said.
The organizers arranged for the campers to skygaze on the 91st floor of the building where there is a telescope and to sleep in the observatory on the 89th floor, from which they could also watch the sunrise.
“It was not until I watched the moon (through the telescope), did I discover that it is so big,” said an elementary student who camped in the building with his family on July 23. [FULL STORY]
Cabinet launches ‘Silicon Valley’ plan
ASIAN VERSION:The government’s seven-year program is aimed at turning Taiwan into a hub for next-generation industries and helping incubate at least 100 start-ups
Taipei Times
Date: Sep 09, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
The Executive Yuan yesterday launched a policy implementation plan for the government’s “Asian Silicon Valley” initiative aimed at capturing 5 percent of the global Internet of Things (IoT) market by 2025.
The plan aims to drive the research and development of IoT technologies and products, improve the nation’s start-up ecosystem, connect Taiwanese businesses with international start-up communities and build a domestic supply chain, National Development Council Deputy Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said.
The seven-year plan has received a NT$11.3 billion (US$361.18 million) budget this year in hopes of making Taiwan a hub of next-generation industries, Kung said.
Its goal is to increase Taiwan’s share of the global IoT market from 3.8 percent last year to 5 percent by 2025; transform 100 start-ups into publicly traded companies; and establish three world-class companies that offer total-solution services for the information technology industry. [FULL STORY]
With plastic bottle waste on the rise, water filters can provide path to sustainability
The China Post
Date: September 9, 2016
By: John Liu
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Plastic bottles in Taiwan produced up to 30,000 tonnes of waste this summer, the
A model pours Brita-filtered water into a glass in Taipei on Wednesday. Brita’s product is able to filter out heavy metals found in the water, substances that cannot be removed by boiling the water. (Courtesy of Brita)
equivalent to 200 million iPhone 6s, a study produced by water filtration company Brita found.
More than 40 percent of the population aged 15 to 35 bought bottled drinks on a daily basis over the summer, totaling NT$9,180 per person, enough to for a round-trip flight between Taipei and Tokyo.
General practitioner Lin Chun-ku (林青穀), who led the study, said the nation also had a number of misconceptions about the use of plastic bottles, the most common being that plastic bottles could be reused.
Lin said reuse was not recommended. Because most plastic bottles are designed for one-time use, germs from saliva tend to multiply within a few days.
Another misconception was that placing bottles in a high-temperature environment, such as inside a heated car under the sun, was a safe practice. [FULL STORY]
Kaohsiung vows to help boost local tourism
Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-07
By: Central News Agency
The Kaohsiung city government promised Wednesday to help attract more foreign tourists to the city, as tourism-related operators and companies in the city announced a plan to take part in a rally in Taipei Sept. 12 to highlight the problems facing them amid a steep decline in tourist arrivals to the city.
The protest plan was announced after the southern port city saw a drop of about 70 percent in the number of Chinese tourists over the past few months, which has dealt a blow to local hotels and tour bus operators.
According to hoteliers, three hotels in the southern city have suspended operations under the pretext of undergoing maintenance and repairs.
About 500 representatives from the tourism-related industries in the city have registered to attend the rally which is aimed at demanding that the central government find a way out for Taiwan’s tourism industry, according to event organizers. [FULL STORY]
Taiwan’s exports up for second consecutive month
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/07
By: Bernie Chiu, Chen Cheng-wei and Lilian Wu
Taipei, Sept. 7 (CNA) Taiwan’s exports in August rose for the second consecutive month after ending the
CNA file photo
longest sustained export slump in the country’s history — 17 consecutive months — in July, according to Ministry of Finance statistics released Wednesday.
Taiwan’s exports in August grew 1 percent from the same month of a year earlier to US$24.66 billion, while imports fell 0.8 percent from a year earlier to US$20.67 billion.
Taiwan recorded a trade surplus of US$3.99 billion for the month, US$410 million higher than in August 2015.
The Finance Ministry said that the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics has estimated that exports in the third quarter will show moderate growth, and has adjusted its forecast for this year’s GDP upward to 1.22 percent. [FULL STORY]
