Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/12
By: Milly Lin and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) The state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower)

Taipower’s wind power project in Taoyuan. (CNA file photo)

plans to invest more than NT$400 billion (US$12.02 billion) for the development of renewable energy in the next 15 years, with the aim of expanding the country’s total installed offshore wind power capacity to 180 megawatts and the total installed solar power capacity to 100 MW by 2030, the company said Tuesday.

The company also aims to bring the land-based wind energy capacity and thermal power capacity up to a total of 70 MW by that time.

Over the past 15 years, Taipower has completed six wind power projects, involving the installation of 169 wind turbines. The company has completed the first phase of a solar energy development project, which includes 16 energy generation plants with total capacity of 1.82 MW. The cumulative installed wind power and solar power capacity is about 30 MW, according to the company.     [FULL  STORY]

U-TURN:Economist Kao Shien-quey said Taiwan’s economy is likely to begin to recover in the second half of the year, but the recovery would be a gradual one

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

Taiwan’s economy is currently in a U-shaped turnaround and is likely to slowly recover this year, National Development Council (NDC) Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) said yesterday, rejecting a Bloomberg News forecast that the nation is headed toward a recession.

“This year should not be so bad,” Kao said, responding to the Bloomberg report on Monday that said Taiwan has a 55 percent chance of falling into recession, compared with 30 percent for Japan and South Korea’s 18 percent.

She said recent leading indicators and purchasing manager’s indexes have shown that the economy is likely to bottom out in the first and second quarters of this year and begin to recover in the second half of the year.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-11
By: By Chen Wei-ting and Y.F. Low, Central News Agency

The Tourism Bureau has decided to revise the regulations regarding the establishment of hotels, in an effort to prevent land hoarding.

According to the revision to the Regulations for Administration of Tourist Hotel Enterprises, which will be implemented in late January, any hotel projects that do not begin operation within nine years of being approved by the bureau will automatically become invalid.

The Tourism Bureau explained that after a hotel developer obtains approval from the bureau for a hotel project, it must obtain a construction license within two years, then gain a usage license within five years and begin operation within one year after that. The date of operation can be postponed for one year if necessary.     [FULL  STORY]

HEDGING BETS:Formosa Plastics Group said it is prepared to expand into more markets with a diverse product range, despite a slow international economic pace

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 12, 2016
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday said aggregate annual earnings last year by its four main companies grew more than twofold, despite a persistent slump in international oil prices, because the group improved its product mix through differentiation.

As international oil prices continued to drop, the companies managed to raise earnings thanks to favorable foreign exchange movements and rising sales among partners down the supply chain.

Last year, the group’s four major units — Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) — saw their combined net income rise 97.8 percent annually to NT$145.86 billion (US$4.33 billion), with sales dropping 21.9 percent to NT$1.45 trillion.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-10
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Jan. 10 (CNA) Taiwan is set to see retail sales of food and beverages reach a record high in 2015, recovering from the meager growth caused by a series of food safety scandals in 2014, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. The ministry made the projection based on the retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco between January and November 2015, which grew 2.9 percent year-on-year to NT$432.6 billion (US$12.93 billion).

Food, beverages and tobacco are calculated in the same category because they are seen as one sector under Taiwan’s Standard Industrial Classification System, although tobacco sales only accounted for 1.6 percent during the 11-month period, the ministry noted.

Meanwhile, food and beverages accounted for 76.2 percent and 17.2 percent of the sales, respectively, during that period.

The 2.9 percent growth showed businesses have recovered from the food safety scandals that impacted sales during the fourth quarter of 2014, dragging down annual growth that year to 0.8 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/09
By: Jalen Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, posted record high annual sales of NT$4.48 trillion (US$134 billion) for 2015 on the back of the launch of the latest iPhone models.

Following the release of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in September, Hon Hai’s monthly sales peaked in November at NT$517.52 billion but dropped 20.84 percent in December to NT$409.65 as demand for the new iPhones waned, the company’s data showed.

The December revenue was the lowest monthly figure since August, when it was NT$292.92 billion. The December figure represented a 20.54 percent drop year-on-year.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/09
By: Timothy Huang and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) Taiwanese entrepreneur Steven Ou (歐偉凡) has made it to Forbes magazine’s annual “30 Under 30” list, which recognizes young talent under the age of 30 across 20 different sectors.

Ou, 27, was one of the co-founders of “Touch of Modern,” a San Fransico-based men’s lifestyle e-commerce and flash sales site.

He and three other partners, all from the University of Pennsylvania, were listed under the retail and e-commerce category of the “30 Under 30” list for the way they have reinvented people’s shopping behavior, the magazine said, although it did not explain how.     [FULL  STORY]