NEGATIVE OUTLOOK:The company’s joint venture with Singapore’s Tiger Airways is in a dire situation and might be shut down, CAL chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 02, 2016
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter

China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday said it has fully recovered from the losses stemming from

a flight attendants’ strike in June and outlined plans to revitalize its business.

“Our overall passenger load factor reached 81.2 percent in July and 82.6 percent last month,” CAL chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) told a news conference in Taipei.

Ho said the company is confident that its third-quarter earnings would top its domestic peers.

“I do not have regrets about doing what had to be done,” Ho said, referring to the concessions he approved to end the strike.

“The concessions are in line with government regulations,” Ho said. “Those who participated in the strike are still my colleagues and it is vital to preserve amicable relations.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Kaohsiung Vice Mayor Chen Chin-te will chair state-run oil company CPC Corporation, Taiwan, the government announced Friday.

The company has major operations in the southern industrial port city but wants to move a refinery out, for which Chen’s chairmanship could be helpful, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which oversees several state corporations, said Friday.

CPC also wants to remove a refinery from Taoyuan and build a third liquid natural gas terminal, reports said.

Chen, 55, is a chemical engineer from National Taiwan University, though he also had a varied political career as a National Assembly member and legislator for the Democratic Progressive Party.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/08/31
By Kuo Chung-han CNA Staff writer

Ten years after the Hsuehshan Tunnel on National Freeway No. 5 opened in June 2006, shortening the commute between Taipei and Yilan County, the two regions have been brought closer together, but Yilan’s economy has not received the bump many expected.

The thought was that by cutting travel time between Taiwan’s capital and commercial hub and the less developed rural county, Yilan would not only see a major rise in tourism but also more industrial development by serving as an extension of Taipei.

That has not happened, at least when seen through the prism of the Yilan Science Park, a 70-hectare rectangular lot near the Yilan County government that was expected to push the industrial advancement of the northeastern Taiwan county.

The science park, planned in 2005, was intended to attract investment from low-pollution, high added-value sectors, such as telecommunications knowledge-based sectors, digital content-related software businesses, and innovative and R&D-based sectors.     [FULL  STORY]

FUNDING:The company’s management said it would initiate a buyback scheme to support its share price, but questions remain over where it would get funding

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 01, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Shares of game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) yesterday plunged by the 10 percent

daily limit after a Japanese company canceled plans to invest in the company.

XPEC management sought to reassure investors by saying it would consider a management buyout to protect shareholders’ interests.

“I will do my best to raise funds as soon as possible to carry out a management buyout at NT$128 per share to meet investors’ expectations,” XPEC chairman Aaron Hsu (許金龍) said in an open letter to shareholders yesterday morning, before equity markets opened.

Japan’s Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Co (百尺竿頭) on Tuesday evening said it had decided to abandon its plan to acquire a 25.17 percent stake — or 38 million common shares — in XPEC at NT$128 per share, following a plunge in XPEC shares over the past few months.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 1, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — President Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday that the government would integrate resources to

create a smart industry platform and will also introduce key technology into the market to pave the way for local investment in the field of intelligent manufacturing.

The relevant authorities will push for customer matchmaking, international cooperation and export expansion to make the Taiwan market more competitive, Tsai said at the opening of the Asia Industry 4.0 & Intelligent Manufacturing Expo.

Intelligent manufacturing will include the internet of things (IoT) and big data, the president said, adding that the government will also create a platform that will allow Taiwanese investors to explore the market and exchange ideas.

A record 900 manufacturers from around the world are taking part in the four-day expo at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, seeking to open up more business opportunities in the areas of industrial automation, robotics, mold and die manufacturing, logistics and IoT, fluid power, and mechanical technology.     [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/08/30
By: Tai Ya-chen and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said Tuesday that the government will appoint a team

to supervise the ongoing investigations by the country’s justice and financial authorities into the money-laundering allegations against Mega International Commercial Bank.

The Cabinet will push “the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to find the facts in the shortest period of time,” Lin said at a press conference.

He stressed that there are no limitations in the investigation into the operations of Mega Bank, which was fined NT$180 million in the United States earlier this month for violating money laundering laws.

A team, led by Vice Premier Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀), will supervise the MOJ and FSC’s investigations into the alleged violations by the state-invested Mega Bank, the premier said.     [FULL  STORY]