Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-15 04:03 PM
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Ministry of Economic Affairs will have to present a report about

sensitive moves in the chip sector such as the planned investment by China’s Tsinghua Unigroup in local chip tester and packager Siliconware Precision Industry Co. (SPIL), the Legislative Yuan ruled Tuesday.

The decision followed rising concern about the impact of a Chinese firm gaining influence over Taiwan’s world-class semiconductor sector.

During negotiations over the central government’s 2016 budget Tuesday morning, the ruling and opposition camps agreed that the MOEA should conduct a thorough review of the SPIL case and present an evaluation report to the Legislative Yuan before it could even move toward giving the Chinese investment a green light.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/15
By: Tang Pei-chun and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Taiwan will voice its support for a multilateral trade system at the 10th

Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which opened Tuesday in Nairobi, Kenya, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said that same day.

During the conference that will run through Dec. 18, Taiwan will also join hands with other WTO members to promote multilateral talks on the Information Technology Agreement and negotiations on the proposed Trade in Services Agreement and the Environmental Goods Agreement, said Kay Lin (林恩真), deputy director-general of MOFA’s Department of International Cooperation and Economic Affairs, at a regular press briefing.

The Taiwanese delegation attending the Nairobi conference is headed by Economics Minister John Deng (鄧振中).     [FULL  STORY]

REGAINING GLORY:Pegatron chairman Tung Tsu-hsien said Taiwan has the chance to play an active and important role in the worldwide supply chain for smart devices

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 16, 2015
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Apple Inc is expected to leverage Taiwan’s display talents and technologies by establishing

a display production laboratory in Taiwan, which could pave the way for Taiwanese LCD panel makers to secure new orders from the US electronics giant, an IHS Technology analyst said yesterday.

“It makes a lot of sense for Apple to open a display production lab in Taiwan, since the company has built similar labs in South Korea and Japan, where its main display suppliers are based,” IHS Technology director David Hsieh (謝勤益) said by telephone.

“We believe Taiwan’s display talents and strong technological capabilities are the reason why Apple chose to open a lab here to develop next-generation display technologies,” Hsieh said. “One of the possibilities is that Apple could work with local panel companies to develop organic LED [OLED] panels for new-generation iPhones.”     [FULL STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-13
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Horng Jou Ceramics Co. is only one of the few domestic tile manufacturers in Taiwan having received the “MIT Smile Logo” moniker, a government-administered certification issued for tiles that pass tests for radiation volume, anti-slipping, and release of lead and cadmium, according to the company’s sales representative Steven Chao during the Taipei Building Show on Sunday.

In the heyday of Taiwan’s tile industry around 20 years ago, more than 100 ceramic-product manufacturers on the island generated NT$20-30 billon (US$689.6 million to US$1.03 billion) in annual revenues. Today, with the encroachment of mainland China-made ceramic products, the number of tile manufacturers in Taiwan has shrunk considerably.      [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/13
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Kay Liu

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Pineapple cakes, facial masks and toothpaste are some of the most popular items on the shopping list of foreign visitors to Taiwan, according to retail store chains.

After noticing the buying trends of tourists, the hypermarket chain Carrefour created a special display area for the products that are most popular, said Margery Ho, a public relations manager of the company, which operates 83 stores in Taiwan.

The products include Darlie toothpaste, instant milk tea powder, pineapple cakes, facial masks by My Beauty Diary, Taiwan Beer’s fruit-flavored products, Kinmen Kaoliang liquor, scented sachets, dried mango and fruit-flavored jelly, according to Carrefour.     [FULL  STORY]

Conglomerate:Shin Kong’s sale of a commercial building to Fubon could see the company make a NT$7.8 billion gain as it continues to shed loss-making investments

Taipei Times
Date:   Dec 14, 2015
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), which reported worse-

than-expected losses last month, on Friday said the sale of an office building in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) could improve its bottom line this month.

Shin Kong Financial is the only financial holding company among its domestic peers to report a loss last month, totaling NT$734 million (US$22.27 million), dragged down by its subsidiary Shin Kong Life Insurance Co’s (新光人壽) equity portfolio adjustment.

Last month, Shin Kong Life, the major earnings source of the financial conglomerate, reported a loss of NT$1.7 billion as it continued to dispose of its loss-making stock investments.

On Friday, the life insurer said in a statement that it is poised to book NT$7.8 billion in gains after selling its A8 commercial building to Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) in a NT$27.034 billion deal. The building houses a branch of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store (新光三越百貨) chain.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/12
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Taiwan’s Economics Minister John Deng (鄧振中) will lead a delegation to the 10th World Trade Organization (WTO ) ministerial conference in Nairobi, Kenya, Dec. 15-18.

Deng said the issues on the agenda include whether to continue the Doha round of talks under the WTO or start new discussions since the Doha talks have not reached a conclusion since 2002.

The meeting will also discuss the items to be included on a list of environmental products, he said.

Other issues on the agenda include double checking a concession list by countries taking part in the expanded talks on an information technology agreement, Deng said.     [FULL  STORY]