Business and Finance

Taiwan investors gain access to stocks in India

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/31
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, March 31 (CNA) Investors in Taiwan have gained access to stocks in the equity 201603310019t0001market of India, with three exchange-traded funds (ETF) tracking the Indian market now listed on the local main board, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

The three ETFs — the Fubon NIFTY ETF, Fubon NIFTY 2X Leveraged Index ETF, and the Fubon NIFTY -1 Inverse Index ETF — were listed on the main board March 29, giving Taiwan traders a chance to invest in Indian equities, the TWSE said.

The three ETF’s track the Nifty 50 Index, the Nifty Leveraged 2X Index and the Nifty Inverse Index, respectively.

Those indexes have been compiled by India Index Services and Products Ltd. (IISL), which provides investors with a wide range of indexes and index related services and products for the Indian capital markets.

The series of Nifty indexes include large and mid-cap blue chips in the Indian market, which reflect market conditions in the South Asian country and are important indictors for foreign investors eying the Indian market, according to the TWSE.     [FULL  STORY]

Quanta tips notebook shipments drop

SIX PERCENT FALL?An investor relations official said the company is conservative about the outlook for the industry this year, because order visibility is not clear

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

Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) yesterday forecast that its notebook computer shipments would drop by more than 6 percent annually this year, deeper than the industry’s consensus estimate of a 5 to 6 percent decline in global notebook shipments.

“We are more conservative about the outlook for the industry this year, as order visibility is really unclear. This year is likely to be another challenging one for notebooks,” a Quanta investor relations official said by telephone.

The contract notebook maker shipped 4.6 million units in the first two months, down more than 20 percent from 5.9 million units it shipped in the same period last year.

“It was very difficult for us during the first two months,” she said.

The official said that the company would fare much better in the second quarter, but declined to offer the company’s shipment guidance for the second quarter, due to limited order visibility.     [FULL  STORY]

TSMC obtains green light to remit US$2 billion overseas

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-30
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, March 30 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has obtained the green light from the Investment Commission to remit US$2 billion overseas to boost its investments in a financial subsidiary located in the British Virgin Islands.

The commission said that it was the third application filed by TSMC to invest in TSMC Global Ltd., and the firm is expected to remit the amount through its account at an offshore banking unit. The commission issued its approval of

TSMC’s increased investment in TSMC Global at a review meeting held Tuesday. Market analysts said that the large fund remittance showed TSMC’s aim to offset the impact of foreign exchange losses on expectations that the U.S. dollar could move higher at a time of possible further interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the year.

The establishment of TSMC Global is part of the efforts of the world’s largest contract chip maker to hedge foreign exchange risks. In July and November 2015, the commission approved two separate applications by TSMC each valued at US$2 billion in the overseas financial firm.     [FULL  STORY]

ADB forecasts Taiwan economy will grow 1.6%, 1.8% this year, next

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/30
By: Emerson Lim and S.C. Chang

Manila, March 30 (CNA) Taiwan’s economy is forecast to grow 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent 201603300031t0001this year and next, respectively, thanks to increased government expenditure and robust private consumption, the Asian Development Bank said in a report released Wednesday.

Taiwan’s gross national product grew only 0.7 percent in 2015, a sharp decline from 3.9 percent in 2014, due to declining government spending and weak exports, said the ADB.

Its 2016 GDP forecast for Taiwan is ahead of Mongolia, which will register a growth of only 0.1 percent, and behind China’s 6.5 percent, South Korea’s 2.6 percent and Hong Kong’s 2.1 percent.

In its report titled “Asian Development Outlook 2016,” the ADB said Taiwan’s government spending is expected to account for 2.1 percent of GDP in 2016.     [FULL  STORY]

Wong Chi-huey offers resignation

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 31, 2016
By: Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter, with CNA

Originally invited to make a special presentation to the Legislative Yuan over controversial investments in OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎), Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) offered his resignation twice in the past two days.

“Currently in the US, Wong spoke to President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] on the telephone yesterday [Tuesday] afternoon, saying that, for health concerns, he would like to resign as Academia Sinica president,” Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) told the media yesterday. “Ma did not agree to it on the telephone, and said that he hopes Wong would return as soon as possible to clarify any questions that the public might have and to defend the name of Academia Sinica.”

According a report in the Chinese-language Apple Daily, Wong told Ma that he had been hospitalized in San Diego, California, and the doctor had advised him against flying to Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

Mega Financial Holding Co. chairman to resign

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-29
By: Central News Agency

State-run Mega Financial Holding Co. Chairman Tsai Yeou-tsair is to resign from his post Friday, according to Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford.

Tsai has offered to resign more than10 times over the past six months, Chang said after Tsai announced his resignation early that day.

Chang said Tsai first expressed his intention to resign when attending the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Baku, Azerbaijan in May 2015.

Tsai reiterated his intention at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Finance Ministers’ Meeting in the Philippines in September last year, Chang said, adding that he rejected Tsai’s offer at that time on the grounds that the time was not right for him to step down so soon before the Jan. 16 presidential election.     [FULL  STORY]

Hon Hai, Sharp merger in the offing

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/29
By: Jalen Chung, Tien Yu-pin, Frances Huang and Lilian Wu

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) The on-again off-again pursuit of Japanese electronics giant Sharp 201603290022t0001by a Taiwanese electronics giant appears to be finally coming to an end.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TAIEX) confirmed Tuesday that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海), which will hold a board meeting the following day, has applied for a trading halt during an information assessment period.

Hon Hai had said earlier that a board meeting had been scheduled for March 30, but whether the meeting would discuss the merger with Sharp would depend on the progress of negotiations between the two sides.

The TAIEX had said that once Hon Hai’s board meeting has decided to discuss the merger, it will have to apply for a trading halt.     [FULL

  STORY]

Firms ramp up investments in India

‘MAKE IN INDIA’:Hon Hai, Inventec and Wistron have opened plants in India, although Inventec has opted to slow its expansion there to due to problems with infrastructure

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 30, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Several Taiwanese electronics manufacturers plan to increase their investment in India this year, as they seek to take advantage of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make In India” initiative to cultivate another source of revenue growth.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Inventec Corp (英業達), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and Wistron Corp (緯創) have so far invested in new manufacturing plants in India.

Some of them are planning to expand production capacity there this year, company officials said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan 3rd largest foreign investor year-to-date in Vietnam

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-28
By: Central News Agency

Hanoi, March 28 (CNA) Taiwan invested nearly US$400 million in Vietnam in the first quarter, making it the third largest source of foreign investment in the country during the period, according to data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The investments by Taiwanese businesses accounted for 9.6 percent of all foreign investment in Vietnam in the January to March period, behind only South Korea, which invested US$513.5 million and had a 12.7 percent share, and Singapore, which invested US$449.3 million and had an 11.1 percent share.

The Vietnamese government approved 473 proposals for new investment by foreign businesses totaling US$2.74 billion and 203 proposals by foreign businesses to expand investment worth US$1.29 billion in the first three months of the year.

The processing and manufacturing sectors drew US$2.98 billion in foreign investment in the three-month period, or 72.2 percent of the total. The real estate sector received investment of US$239.8 million, or 5.9 percent of the total. Foreign capital is flowing into Vietnam because of the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community over the past year, which has created a free trade bloc in the region, according to Vietnamese economists.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s economy still weak, expected to turn better in Q2

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/28
By: Cheng Cheng-wei and Romulo Huang

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) Taiwan’s economy continued to weaken as the key economic indicators for February flashed a blue light for the ninth consecutive month, the National Development Council (NDC) said Monday.

The NDC predicted, however, that the nation’s economy is expected to improve in the second quarter as the overall composite score of monitoring indicators for February increased 2 point from a month earlier to 16.

The trend-adjusted leading index stood at 96.83, down 0.76 percent from the previous month and the trend-adjusted coincident index fell 0.44 percent from January to 97.82, the council said.

The council employs a five-color system to gauge the country’s economic performance, with blue indicating a contracting economy, yellow-blue representing sluggishness, green denoting stable growth, yellow-red referring to a warming economy, and red pointing to an overheated economy.     [FULL  STORY]