Taipei Times
Date: Feb 15, 2016
By: Kevin Chen / Staff reporter

State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it would lower its gasoline and diesel product prices by NT$0.90 per liter, effective today.

This is the first time in three weeks that the refiner decided to cut domestic fuel prices to reflect falling global crude oil prices.

CPC said in a statement that its average oil costs fell by 8.17 percent last week from the previous week, after OPEC and Russia failed to reach a consensus on oil output cuts, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly report that the market is awash in oil and US crude oil inventories continued to increase, which dashed hope for a broader oil market recovery and sent oil prices down during the week.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Timesa
Date: Feb 14, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) declined to comment on a report that its founder, Cher Wang (王雪紅), has been defrauded by members of her church.

The Chinese-language World Journal, published in the US, cited US court papers as saying that Wang was cheated out of US$7.4 million.

The US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California, said in a news release that between 2004 and last month, Jonathan Chang (常如武), 60, and his wife, Grace Lee Chang (李薇林), 57, had defrauded a donor.

Although the news release did not identify the donor, media reports said that the donor was Wang.     [FULL  STORY]

CHANGING MODEL:Soaring rent has forced out some old, familiar stores, as hotels for independent travelers and international brand names move into the area

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Ximending (西門町), a popular shopping area for young people in western Taipei, is gradually losing its local color as some of its best-known businesses are being driven out by soaring rents and giving way to international brands.

Ximending is seeing changes every week, said Jason Cheung (張哲生), a history and cultural studies expert who has lived in the area for 40 years.

The shopping area, known for its wealth of movie theaters, apparel stores, and toy model and kit shops, has become home to a number of hotels and hostels due to an increase in younger independent tourists staying in the area.     [FULL  STORY]

GLOBAL HEADWINDS:The outlook for Taiwan is unlikely to pick up as the global economic landscape remains dim, which bodes ill for the nation’s exports, Ifo said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Taiwan’s economy is deteriorating this quarter compared with last quarter, as private investment and consumption showed further weakness, according to the latest Ifo World Economic Survey, which was released on Thursday evening.

The outlook might not brighten in the next six months, as the global economic landscape continues to cloud over, which is unfavorable for the nation’s exports, the German-based institute’s quarterly survey found.

The first-quarter survey results ran counter to statements by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics that the economy has likely bottomed out and would start to recover soon.

The score for the macroeconomy came in at 1.2 for the current quarter, down from 1.9 in the final quarter of last year, the survey of 1,085 experts from 210 countries said.

The National Development Council helped gather information for the Ifo survey on Taiwan: Scores between 1 and 3.5 indicate contraction, while those at about 5 signify stagnation and values between 6 and 9 suggest a positive trend.     [FULL  STORY]

SIDELINED:The Greater Taipei area bore the brunt of housing falls, with Taipei posting a 53.4% drop and New Taipei City dipping 47.8% as buyers turned cautious

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 12, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

New home construction totaled NT$178.5 billion (US$5.33 billion) in the final quarter of last year, shrinking 38 percent from a year earlier, as new property taxes and political uncertainty dampened buying interest, a report by Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設) and National Chengchi University’s Taiwan Real Estate Research Center (台灣房地產中心) showed.

The market is likely to remain soft this quarter and beyond, given a deteriorating economic environment and political uncertainty, with the opposition winning in last month’s presidential election, but unable to assume office until May 20, the report said.

“Builders and developers stayed on the sidelines last quarter as political uncertainty and new property taxes drove away potential buyers,” the quarterly report said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-10
By: Central News Agency

Singapore, Feb. 10 (CNA) The Singapore outlet of Taiwan-based honey toast restaurant Dazzling Cafe is gaining popularity in the city state, attracting many dessert lovers to queue in front of the store to taste its unusual toasts.
Honey toast is a thick box-shaped toast decorated with fruits, ice cream, whipped cream and syrups.

It originated from Shibuya, Tokyo, where the desert is called Sibuya honey toasts. Taiwan’s Dazziling Cafe has expanded on the variety of such toasts available. Its Singapore store provides a wide range of flavors to satisfy the various taste buds of consumers there.

The Dazzling Cafe outlet in Singapore has become one of the important venues for young Singaporeans to gather and chat while tasting the sweet offerings by the store. It made its debut in the Southeast Asian country in June 2015, with Singaporean idol Julie Tan and Taiwanese idol Aaron Yan endorsing its products at the opening ceremony.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/10
By: Bernie Chiu and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Agricultural losses and damage to private facilities caused by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in the early hours of Feb. 6 have reached an estimated NT$169.83 million (US$5.13 million) so far, according to the Council of Agriculture (COA) on Wednesday.

The losses amounted to about NT$122.95 million in Tainan and NT$46.88 million in neighboring Chiayi County, the COA said.

Most of the losses were the result of damage to private facilities, including NT$164.14 million in losses to facilities used to raise animals, mostly for raising egg-laying hens.     [SOURCE]

SIX PLANTS PLANNED:The government expects the scheme to produce 1.32 million tonnes of water a day by 2031 and bring in NT$150bn in business opportunities

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 11, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A push by the government to develop recycled water is expected to create NT$150 billion (US$4.46 billion) worth of business opportunities in Taiwan by 2031, according to an estimate of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The ministry said that the central government is planning to launch a pilot program to build six recycled water plants as a model for the private sector to follow. The projects to build the plants have been approved by the Executive Yuan.

In addition, the local governments and private corporations are expected to make their own efforts to develop recycled water, the ministry added.     [FULL  STORY]