Business and Finance

Trade-in-goods talks with China to be suspended: economic minister

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-18
By: Central News Agency

Taiwan will suspend its negotiations on a trade-in-goods agreement with China, Economics Minister John Deng said Monday after the Cabinet’s resignation en masse.

A policy of that importance should be left to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration to decide after the party won the presidency and an absolute majority in the Legislature in elections on Jan. 16, he said.

It will take some time to gauge the situation and form a consensus before negotiations could continue, Deng suggested.     [FULL  STORY]

HTC chair reportedly to open new VR firm; stock soars

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/18
By: Esme Jiang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) Cher Wang (王雪紅), chairwoman of Taiwan-based 201601180010t0001smartphone vendor HTC Corp. (宏達電) will set up a new company to focus on the world’s emerging virtual reality (VR) market, the Commercial Times reported Monday.

In the wake of the plan to open a VR entity, shares of HTC rose sharply on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in the morning session Monday as investors have embraced high hopes that the VR business will help HTC offset the impact resulting from escalating competition in the global smartphone market, dealers said.

As of 12:20 a.m., shares of HTC had gained 5.30 percent to NT$76.60 (US$2.28) with 9.57million shares changing hands, outperforming the local main board, where the weighted index had gained 0.17 percent to 7,775.02 points.     [FULL  STORY]

NSF to stay in market another quarter

SUPPORTING ROLE:The deputy finance minister said the fund would stay in the market until its management committee meets on April 15, unless financial conditions improve

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 19, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The National Stabilization Fund (NSF, 國安基金) is to be used to extend support for local shares for another quarter, a decision that yesterday helped the TAIEX to close up 0.63 percent after Saturday’s elections and Wall Street’s slump on Friday.

The National Stabilization Fund Committee reached the decision after meeting in Taipei for one-and-a-half hours, based on lingering international uncertainties, such as the drastic financial market volatility, oil price swings, China’s economic slowdown and possible further interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, Deputy Minister of Finance Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) said.

“The fund will continue to shore up local shares until its next meeting on April 15, but may pull out beforehand, if the financial situation at home and abroad shows steady signs of improvement,” Wu told reporters at noon.     [FULL  STORY]

Fuel prices dive to 13-year low

GLOBAL COLLAPSE:Crude prices dived to US$27.19 per barrel last week on the back of an increase in the US’ crude inventory, China’s stock market rout and a strong US dollar

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 18, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff Reporter

State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 中油) yesterday said that it P13-160118-gas1would cut gasoline and diesel prices by NT$1.1 per liter after global crude oil prices plunged below US$30 per barrel amid concerns over persistent oversupply and low demand.

An increase in US crude inventory, China’s stock market rout and a strong US dollar against the world’s major currencies led to a collapse of global crude oil prices last week, CPC said in a statement.

“CPC decided to lower gasoline prices due to a recent plunge in global crude oil prices. After the adjustment, the prices of 92-octane unleaded gasoline and 95-octane unleaded gasoline have dropped to less than NT$20 per liter, making gasoline cheaper than bottled mineral water,” the refiner said.

Global crude prices dived 13.19 percent to US$27.19 per barrel last week, compared with US$31.32 in the previous week, according to CPC’s pricing information.     [FULL  STORY]

Former government officials call for speedy economic transition

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-17
By: Central News Agency

Two former government officials on Sunday urged President-elect Tsai Ing-wen to speed up the pace of Taiwan’s economic transition so as to increase its bargaining chips with China.

During her election campaign, Tsai repeatedly spoke about cross-strait peace and stability, while China has not used any harsh words against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), thus allowing “room for communication” between both sides, said Hu Sheng-cheng, a former head of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) and now an academician at the nation’s top research body Academia Sinica.

Hu, who headed the CEPD under the last DPP administration, said China has learned to adjust its policy toward Taiwan since the massive student-led protest in 2014 against a cross-strait trade deal.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan could see worst export order performance since 2009

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/17
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Taiwan’s 2015 export order figures could be the worst since 2009 amid weakening global demand at a time when the world’s economy has been slowing, sources from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Sunday.

The sources said Taiwan is expected to suffer a year-on-year drop in export orders in 2015, the first annual decline since 2009, when the country’s export orders fell 8.3 percent on an annual basis as the world was still in the throes of the global financial crisis.

In the first 11 months of last year, Taiwan’s export orders totaled US$413.01 billion, down 3.6 percent from a year earlier, after the country reported a 6.3 percent year-on-year decline in export orders to US$40.76 billion in November.     [FULL  STORY]

Stabilization fund set to remain active

MARKET BUFFER:The Financial Supervisory Commission said that the local market will only stabilize if the yuan stabilizes and US and EU equity markets stage a rebound

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 18, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The National Financial Stabilization Fund (國安基金) will continue to support Taiwan’s stock market today as it tries to fend off the impact of a plunge in US and European markets last week, Vice Minister of Finance Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) said on Saturday.

Wu, the executive secretary and manager of the fund, did not respond to concerns over the results of Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections, which have raised fears of the possible deterioration in the cross-strait relationship.

The NT$500 billion (US$14.79 billion) fund is a mechanism set up by the government to serve as a buffer against unexpected external factors that disrupt the bourse. The fund committee has authorized the fund to buy local shares until it holds a review meeting today to decide whether the intervention should continue.

In Saturday’s elections, Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) easily defeated Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) and People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜).     [FULL  STORY]

Caution ahead of elections erodes Taiwan share gains

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-15
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed moderately higher Friday, with most earlier gains eroded as investors became cautious about political uncertainty over the upcoming presidential and legislative elections scheduled for Saturday, dealers said.
Investors appeared reluctant to chase prices and maintain the earlier significant upturn as they witnessed the China equity market taking a beating amid concerns over a slowdown of the Chinese economy and weakness of the Chinese yuan, the dealers said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed up 19.13 points, or 0.25 percent, at 7,762.01, after moving between 7,708.66 and 7,842.34, on turnover of NT$89.99 billion (US$2.68 billion).     [FULL  STORY]

Business leaders voice expectations for president-elect

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/17
By: Lin Meng-ju, Wu Jhe-hao, Chung Jung-feng and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Business leaders on Saturday expressed their 201601170005t0001expectations for President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to stabilize Taiwan’s politics and revitalize the country’s economy as soon as possible.

Rock Hsu (許勝雄), president of Taiwan’s Chinese National Federation of Industries, said the new government led by Tsai “will have no honeymoon period,” given the economic and political challenges facing the country.

Although there are still more than four months before Tsai is sworn in on May 20, it does not mean Taiwan will stay idle during that period, he said.

He urged Tsai to demonstrate her ambitions and announce her choices for the new premier and Presidential Office secretary-general as soon as possible.     [FULL  STORY]

Economists see strong headwinds for Tsai

GLOBAL PARTICIPATION:Taiwan cannot afford to be marginalized and must seek to join trade blocs such as the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, an economist said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 17, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

After winning the presidency by a landslide yesterday, Democratic

People ride escalators in a department store in an undated photograph. Photo: CNA

People ride escalators in a department store in an undated photograph. Photo: CNA

Progressive Party (DPP) president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) next has to overcome a tougher challenge — fixing the nation’s anemic economy, worsening income disparities and dimming job opportunities, especially for young people, economists said.

GDP growth averaged 2.5 percent in President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) second term and looks softer going forward, with the world mired in “the new mediocre” and China entering the “new normal.”

“Tsai must put together a competent team and shift the capital-intensive economy to a one driven by knowledge,” Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華研究院) chairman Liang Kuo-yuan (梁國源) said.     [FULL  STORY]