Taiwan News
Date: 2016-08-26
By: Central News Agency

China Airlines (CAL), one of Taiwan’s leading international carriers, said Friday that it will take delivery of its first Airbus A350 aircraft in the third quarter of the year.

The assembly of the A350-900 XWB (Extra Wide Body) jet airliner, including cabin furnishings and engine installation, has been completed at an Airbus plant in Toulouse, France, CAL said.

Ground trials and a test flight will be conducted in early September and delivery is scheduled by the end of the month, CAL said.

The delivery of CAL’s first A350-900 XWB had been scheduled for July but was postponed due to delays on Airbus’ assembly lines.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/08/26
By: Jeffrey Wu and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Aug. 26 (CNA) App-based ride-hailing service provider Uber said Friday that top executives from its U.S. headquarters will visit Taiwan to hold in-depth discussions with the government to clear up its doubts about the company’s operations.

Uber is glad to see that the Taiwanese government is willing to adopt an open mind to discuss issues regarding sharing-economy business models, Uber Asia Pacific spokesman Harod Li (李文駿) said in a statement.

The company is willing to show the greatest sincerity and take positive steps to remove the misgivings held by the relevant authorities in Taiwan, in the hope that Taiwanese society can gain from the economic benefits generated from sharing platforms, he said.

Li was responding to an inter-ministerial meeting held by the Cabinet to discuss controversies surrounding Uber’s operations in Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

‘GREEN’ LIGHT?Expansionary fiscal measures, increased investment by public and private firms, and rising external demand should support the economy, the NDC said

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 27, 2016
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

The government’s business monitoring system last month turned “green” for the first time in 17 months, reflecting a gradual improvement in the economy, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.

The overall composite score of business monitoring indicators — which takes the leading and coincident indicators into account — rose by 3 points from the previous month to 23 last month, according to the council’s monthly report.

The “green” signal could be attributed to the growth in the TAIEX’s average closing price, machinery and electrical equipment imports, and trade and food services revenue, council Deputy Director Chiu Chiu-ying (邱秋瑩) told a news conference.

The council uses a five-color spectrum to categorize the nation’s economic health, with “blue” signaling a recession, “green” steady growth and “red” overheating, while “yellow-blue” indicates a transition between recession and growth, and “yellow-red” a transition between growth and overheating.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 27, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI–The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has asked listed firms to disclose sensitive information earlier than was previously required to give investors quicker access to it and help them make more informed investment decisions.

Because block trading starts at 8 a.m. every day before the market opens at 9 a.m., listed companies are being asked to disclose sensitive information at least two hours before the market’s opening, compared with only one hour at present, the TWSE said.

The new disclosure requirements will be implemented starting from September.

The TWSE said the earlier disclosure deadline will give investors the chance to weigh the information thoroughly before block trading begins.

Block trading refers to transactions involving a large number of equities being traded at an arranged price between two parties, sometimes outside of the open market, to reduce the trades’ impact on share prices.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-08-25
By: Wu Jhe-hao and Evelyn Kao, Central News Agency

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) Changhua County Magistrate Wei Ming-ku told investors at a conference in Taipei Wednesday that his county is perfect for investment in wind farms, given the shallow waters off its coastline.

Wei said 21 of 36 sites listed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) as excellent wind farm sites are located off Changhua on Taiwan’s west coast.

The shallow waters along the Changhua coastline are suitable for the development of wind power, Wei said at the conference for potential international investors in renewable power generation, which was organized by the MOEA.

In keeping with the central government’s green policy, Changhua will work to promote wind energy, building on its great achievements in the photovoltaic industry, Wei said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 26, 2016
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

The nation’s chemical industry might continue to feel the impact of softening global demand for the rest of the year, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.

“Sales this year might decline slightly from last year, dragged by lower-than-expected global demand for chemical products,” TIER analyst Lo Kai-chen (羅凱禎) said at a conference in Taipei.

Lo said that Beijing is trying to address overcapacity in China’s industrial sectors, which has led to lackluster demand for chemical products.

Domestic demand has also not completely recovered and overall industrial production is unlikely to improve significantly by the end of this year, she said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 26, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Shares in Taiwan closed above the 9,100-point mark Thursday as the electronics and financial sectors rebounded from the recent sessions, dealers said.

However, turnover remained thin with many investors taking to the sidelines, waiting for more clues about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy ahead of a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen at the upcoming annual central bankers’ meeting, dealers said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended up 98.09 points, or 1.09 percent, at the day’s high of 9,115.47, off an early low of 9,031.34. Turnover totaled NT$76.17 billion (US$2.40 billion) during the session.

The market opened up 0.19 percent on a technical rebound as investors shrugged off a decline on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.35 percent and the S&P 500 index lost 0.52 percent overnight, dealers said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 25, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

AU Optronics Corp (友達) chairman and chief executive officer Paul Peng (彭雙浪) yesterday called on the government to ease funding restrictions and propose measures to keep talent in Taiwan to assist with the development of the domestic panel industry.

“The development of the flat-panel industry requires large investment in new technologies, such as flexible displays, but it is very hard for panelmakers to raise funds in Taiwan’s capital markets,” Peng told reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the International Smart Display and Touch Panel Exhibition at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei.

Peng said that there are restrictions for issuing bonds and applying for bank loans worth more than 15 percent of a company’s net worth.

Taiwanese companies have to earn profits while paying their debts and often have to take new loans to repay existing debts, leaving them with limited funds to invest in new technologies, Peng said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-08-24
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CNA) The prices of prime residential property in Taipei have fallen faster over the past year than in any major global city with the exception of Hong Kong, according to real estate market consulting agency REPro Knight Frank.
The average luxury home price in 37 cities in the world covered by the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index rose 4.4 percent from June 2015 to June 2016, but fell 7.7 percent in Taipei during the same period, ranking it 36th in the world in the survey.

The rate of decline was only surpassed by Hong Kong, which ranked at the bottom of the index with an 8.4 percent fall in the price of an average luxury home in the city, according to REPro Knight Frank.

Vancouver topped the rankings with a 36.4 percent increase in luxury home prices from June 2015 to June 2016, followed by Shanghai with a 22.5 percent increase and Cape Town with a 16.1 percent increase. REPro Knight Frank said the index was compiled based on government statistics, including data from central banks of the countries where the cities are located.     [FULL  STORY]