Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/17
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) Taiwan-listed companies, excluding financial holdings firms, reported an overall 18.43 percent average increase in pre-tax profits for the first half of 2015 thanks to good results in the semiconductor, electronics and plastics sectors, the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp. (TWSE) said Monday.

The companies’ pre-tax profits totaled a combined NT$902.4 billion (US$11.6 billion) in the first six months of 2015, compared with NT$762 billion recorded a year earlier. Their January-June revenue grew by 0.98 percent year-on-year to NT$12.35 trillion, the TWSE said in a statement.

Among the 785 companies listed in Taiwan, 596 reported profits in the first half of this year, which shows continued profitability among locally listed firms, the TWSE said. The 785 Taiwan-listed companies had an average earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.94.

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-17
By: CNA

Taiwan’s Asustek Computer slid by one spot to become the fourth-most-popular tablet

maker in Western Europe during the second quarter as vendor dynamics evolved, according to tech research firm International Data Corp (IDC).

In the April-June period, Asustek shipped 388,000 tablets to Western Europe to take a 5.2% market share, losing its third-place position to China’s Lenovo, which shipped 394,000 tablets during the quarter.

Asustek’s second-quarter tablet shipments in the region contracted strongly by 30.1% from a year earlier as the Taiwanese vendor prepared for the renewal of its product range, IDC said in an Aug. 14 report.

In the second quarter of last year, Asustek took a 7.3% share of the Western European tablet market and Lenovo accounted for a 5.2% share.     [FULL  STORY]

The Economic Times
Date: 16 Aug, 2015
By: Malini Goyal, ET Bureau

Taiwan is ranked among the most innovative countries in the world. According to the

global rankings of IMD and World Economic Forum, it ranks ninth on technological infrastructure and on scientific infrastructure, and 13th on innovation.

How did a tiny country with barely 2 per cent of India’s population and very little natural resource manage to do this? Taiwan’s economic growth story is built around the way it has nurtured an innovative culture among people and its companies by building a robust ecosystem, thanks to its ministry of science and technology. The ministry has set up few critical bodies like science parks, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

With an annual budget of $1.4 billion (in 2014), it supports academic research, promotes industry R&D and also manages the National Science and Technology Development Fund to incubate innovative ideas. From electronics to semiconductors, nanotechnology to biotechnology, energy to genomic medicines, the ministry has rolled out programmes to nurture and build industry around it.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-16
By: Lu Chin-tsu and Staff Reporter

Hong Kong-owned Lishi Group, the biggest Chinese firm operating in Africa, is looking to

hire people from Taiwan to fill around 213 vacancies in their subsidiary operations in Nigeria and the Republic of Congo, including bakers, civil engineers, electricians, plumbers, mechanics and machinery repair technicians, according to our Chinese-language sister paper China Times.

The company is offering annual salaries of over NT$1 million (US$31,000) to tempt Taiwanese workers to try their luck in Africa, due in part to their reputation for hard graft and professionalism.

The company held interviews in Taiwan for posts in Africa on Aug. 10-11, attracting over 50 professionals to apply. The Taiwanese CEO of the company Yang Wen-yu came to conduct the interviews in person.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-16
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said Saturday that India has decided to remove

anti-dumping tariffs the South Asian country imposed a decade ago against certain chemical imports from Taiwan.

The Indian government has decided to revoke the anti-dumping tariffs against Taiwan’s epoxy resin and polyester aldehyde, starting from Aug. 31, the ministry said. The tariff removal will also cover products exported from China and South Korea, the ministry added.

The ministry said that the decision to cancel the anti-dumping financial penalty against Taiwan’s epoxy resin and polyester aldehyde chemical products came after India’s Manali Petrochemicals made a request to the Indian government to do so.

Manali’s request resulted from a recent review of earlier investigations into the particular chemical imports which determined that exporters of the two chemicals from Singapore and the European Union, instead of from Taiwan, China and South Korea, were the ones causing damage to the Indian industry by selling the material at unfairly low prices.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-15
By: CNA

Taiwan’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics revised downward

Friday Taiwan’s 2015 economic growth forecast from its late May projection of 3.28% to 1.56%.

The considerable downward adjustment can partially be attributed to the low GDP growth in the second quarter at 0.64%, far below the previously projected 3.05%.

As international oil prices continued to drop and sluggish economies were seen around the globe in the first half of the year, Taiwan’s exports declined for six consecutive months, according to the directorate.

According to the statistics office forecast, prospects for exports in the second half are not optimistic in view of the shrinkage of foreign demand.     [FULL  STORY]