Future of hotel in doubt, 39 hotel employees already sent home and 212 on list of next round of layoffs

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/29
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The coronavirus pandemic has dented Taiwan's tourism sector and the country's most luxurious hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Taipei, due to social distancing and extensive travel restrictions, with 39 employees already sent home and 212 individuals on its latest layoff list.

The Taipei Department of Labor said the number of layoffs at Mandarin Oriental Taipei has reached the mass layoff threshold, meaning it should have provided 60 days' advance notice to affected employees. "Apparently the hotel didn't, so we will impose a penalty on the employer," said Chen Hsin-yu (陳信瑜), director of the labor department.

Many celebrities have stayed at the five-star hotel, including American actors Will Smith, Tom Cruise, and singer Madonna. The hotel has, however, seen a steep decline in occupancy over the past few years due to a decrease in the number of Chinese business and leisure travelers.

Known as the country's most expensive hotel, Mandarin Oriental Taipei opened in 2014 and offered 256 guest rooms, with 47 suites, and the highest average room rate of NT$15,000 (US$500) in 2015. The hotel has cut rates since then due to a decrease in the number of high-end international business travelers.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/29/2020
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, May 29 (CNA) The government has issued NT$70 billion (US$2.3 billion) in cash to stabilize the economy amid disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Friday in summarizing relief programs to date.

He said the government's bailout program has distributed the cash to 3.8 million people since the Legislature approved an amendment to increase funding for a special budget during the pandemic from NT$60 billion to NT$210 billion on April 21.

The government's distribution of cash grants, especially NT$10,000 grants to people with irregular work, has been widely criticized for being disorganized, having unclear standards, and creating confusion, making it hard for the funds to reach the people targeted by the plans.

Relief measures have also included interest subsidies, tax breaks, or delays in repayments on NT$760 billion in loans to help individuals and companies get through difficult times, Su said.    [FULL  STORY]

1.54% one of highest growth rates in world during coronavirus pandemic

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/28
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Despite the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Taiwan registered 1.54 percent economic growth during the first quarter, the highest of any of Asia's Four Dragons and one of the highest in the world, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Thursday (May 28).

The government is well prepared for the onslaught of the virus and therefore managed to reduce its impact on the economy, CNA quoted the premier as saying at a briefing by the National Development Council (NDC).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/28/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday it plans to help local companies export micro surgical face mask factories as a package amid the rising need for face masks around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Y.C. Tsai (蔡允中), director-general of MOFA's Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs, said during a press conference that the ministry is trying to bring together Taiwanese suppliers of raw materials, machinery and technology, needed to assemble a "micro face mask factory."

MOFA will then offer the package to interested international buyers through its more than 100 representative offices abroad, Tsai said.

Based on an initial plan, a micro surgical face mask factory will consist of 20 production lines. Once complete, it will have daily production capacity of 2 million face masks, Tsai said, adding that the factory can even be converted to produce N95 or R95 face masks, as needed.    [FULL  STORY]

UNDERESTIMATED: The agency said that as its previous forecast was guided by the SARS crisis, it did not adequately account for disruptions caused by the pandemic

Taipei Times
Date: May 29, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s economy might grow just 1.67 percent this year squarely on the back of government expenditure and private investment, as exports and consumer spending have stalled, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The forecast is a sizeable retreat from an estimate of 2.37 percent growth made in February before the COVID-19 outbreaks became a pandemic.

“The previous forecast was guided by the SARS crisis in 2003 and therefore underestimated the ongoing pandemic, which is hitting economic activity hard at home and abroad,” DGBAS Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) told a media briefing in Taipei.

A Taipei construction site is pictured with Taipei 101 in the background. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics yesterday revised its annual GDP growth forecast to 1.67 percent, down 0.7 percentage points from the forecast it made in February.

Photo: CNA

The agency now expects exports and consumer spending to fall into the negative for the whole year, with declines of 0.7 percent and 0.12 percent, reversing projected growth of 2.85 percent and 1.58 percent respectively.    [FULL  STORY]

Global investment bank forecasts Taiwan will have better financial rebound than most of world

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/27
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — JP Morgan Chief Economist Bruce Kasman said Tuesday (May 26) that Taiwan's economy is relatively stable despite the coronavirus pandemic and will perform better than most countries in the world.

As members of the global community continue to suffer economic devastation wrought by the pandemic, Taiwan has managed to show resilience in its financial market, largely attributed to a 20 percent surge in electronic component exports. According to JP Morgan's latest report on the global outlook, the island nation is expected to see a 0.1 percent growth in its GDP this year and a 3.1 percent economic growth rate in 2021.

During a virtual conference, Kasman pointed out that the Taiwanese economy has suffered rather mildly compared to other countries and will return to normal very soon. He said this was likely the result of the country's early success at containing the coronavirus as well as its advancement in 5G development.

Kasman noted that Taiwan's technology industry has supported its total exports and helped minimize the impact of the ongoing outbreak. He emphasized that no country has been able to match Taiwan's financial performance during the first five months of 2020. 
[FULL  STORY]

Fledgling airline says it will continue to open new flight destinations

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/26
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Starlux Airlines said on Tuesday (May 26) that it has obtained approval from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) to open a new flight route to Okinawa, which will be the airline's first Japanese destination, on July 1.

StarLux Spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said the actual date of the first Okinawa flight will depend on how the COVID-19 pandemic pans out.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/26/2020
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) With foreign institutional investors standing on the sell side amid concerns over the global COVID-19 pandemic, massive selling has pushed down the market capitalization of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) by about NT$920 billion this year, according to market statistics.

In the wake of large scale selling by foreign institutional investors, TSMC shares have fallen 10.73 percent from the end of last year, finishing at NT$295.50 (US$9.88) on Tuesday.

Due to the heavy losses, TSMC's market cap had fallen by NT$920.5 billion this year to NT$7.66 trillion as of Tuesday, the data showed.

As one of the liquid market heavyweights on the local market, TSMC has underperformed the broader market where the weighted index has dropped 999.93 points or 8.33 percent this year, in the wake of foreign institutional selling.    [FULL  STORY]