Business and Finance

FSC chairman: Stock market not to extend trading hours for the moment

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/23
By: Wei Shu, Y.S. Tsai, Y.P. Tien, and Lillian Lin

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) The plan to extend the trading hours of Taiwan’s stock market has been 201507230031t0001temporarily shelved, since a questionnaire result shows most of the institutional investors and individual investors are against closing at 3 p.m. instead of the current 1:30 p.m, a senior official said Wednesday.

Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗), chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), briefed the press on the main points of the questionnaire, which include the transaction tax, a cross-border cooperation of trading platform, and a full opening to day trading.

He said that the questionnaire results demonstrated that the tax burden remained a major factor weakening the interest of many institutional investors to invest in Taiwan’s stock market.     [FULL  STORY]

Tax burden chasing off investors: FSC

ISSUE ‘BLURRED’:Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford said that the economic slowdown is responsible for a slump in the TAIEX and talk about tax blurred the issue

Taipei Times
Date:  Jul 24, 2015
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Major market players, securities brokers and their major clients said that heavy tax burdens, difficulty turning profits and plans to reallocate funds to markets are the top three reasons for decisions to take flight from the local bourse, a survey released yesterday by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed.

As for retail investors, volatility in international markets, increasing misgivings caused by the TAIEX’s continued rise and excessive tax burdens on trading were the main factors holding them back from the market, the survey showed.

It showed that 76 percent of active traders, 94 percent of brokers and their major clients, and 59 percent of retail traders had reduced their positions in the local stock market compared with three years earlier.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan to inject $450 million into 2 state-run banks

The Economic Times
Date: 22 Jul, 2015
By Reuters

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s government has agreed to inject T$14 billion ($450 million) into two of its

Taiwan's government has agreed to inject T$14 billion ($450 million) into two of its biggest state-owned lenders, top officials at the two banks said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at supporting local banks.

Taiwan’s government has agreed to inject T$14 billion ($450 million) into two of its biggest state-owned lenders, top officials at the two banks said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at supporting local banks.

biggest state-owned lenders, top officials at the two banks said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at supporting local banks.

The Finance Ministry is planning to use the National Development Fund to give T$7 billion each to the banks in 2016, said Bank of Taiwan President Hsiau Chang-Ruey and Land Bank of Taiwan Chairman Shiu Kuang-Si.

The finance ministry controls the island’s state-run banks as well as the development fund.

The two banks have been facing business expansion challenges in recent years, as they had submitted profits back to the government.

State-run banks, which control half of Taiwan’s banking assets, have seen their earnings squeezed by growing competition from private and foreign banks.     [FULL  STORY]

Average wages in first 5 months of 2015 up 3.54%

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/22
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) The average wage in Taiwan for the first five months of this year rose 3.54 percent from a year earlier, largely in reflection of year-end and performance bonuses distributed during the period, according to government statistics released Wednesday.

Taiwanese employers tend to issue year-end and performance bonuses before the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in February this year.

In the five-month period, the average monthly wage, including regular salary and non-regular salary such as overtime pay and bonuses, stood at NT$53,746 (US$1,723), up from NT$51,906 recorded over the same period of last year, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.     [FULL  STORY]

Data Systems, Advantech team up on smart factory solutions

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-22
By: CNA

Data Systems Consultings, Taiwan’s largest supplier of enterprise resource planning (ERP)

An Advantech research center in Kunshan, Jiangsu, June 23. (File photo/Lai Hsiang-ju)

An Advantech research center in Kunshan, Jiangsu, June 23. (File photo/Lai Hsiang-ju)

systems, teamed up with industrial computer maker Advantech Tuesday to provide solutions that can improve manufacturing efficiency.

The collaboration will allow the collection of data from controllers, sensors, robots and controlling equipment in factories and the uploading of data to Advantech’s Web browser-based software platform, enabling enterprises to remotely monitor, analyze and improve their manufacturing processes through Data Systems’ ERP system.

The strategic partnership will cater to the “Industry 4.0” initiative being promoted in Germany and other European countries, which aims to achieve production-related advantages by creating a networked, flexible and self-organizing manufacturing process for highly customizable products, said J.R. Chen, vice president of sales and marketing division at Data Systems.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan under pressure on ITA scheme

NO DEAL?Local flat panel makers’ insistence on being included in an expanded tariff elimination pact could derail plans to have it approved by tomorrow, an official said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 23, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Plans to expand the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) tariff elimination program might not come to fruition if Taiwan insists on including flat panels on the list, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) said yesterday.

“Taiwanese information technology products account for 5 to 7 percent of the export value of global information technology products, which makes Taiwan a critical player in the ITA negotiations,” Deng told reporters on the sidelines of a media event.

Last weekend, the US, China, South Korea and other WTO members reached a preliminary agreement in Geneva, Switzerland, to add 201 new IT items to the tariff-elimination list.     [FULL  STORY]

China Airlines to launch flights to Melbourne in October

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-07-21
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) China Airlines, one of Taiwan’s leading international carriers, will launch nonstop flights to Melbourne on a seasonal basis starting in October to capitalize on rising demand for travel to Australia.

The airline will fly between Taipei to Melbourne three times a week beginning on Oct. 25 and offer the service until March 26, 2015. Flights will leave Taiwan on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and return from Melbourne on Wednesday, Saturday and Monday, according to the airline. The three flights a week will continue on to Christchurch, New Zealand, a strategy encouraged by strong demand from Taiwanese tourists interested in combining Australia and New Zealand in one trip during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer months.

In December 2014, CAL flew a new route from Taipei to Sydney and then on to Christchurch on a seasonal basis, and the passenger load factor on the flights averaged about 90 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan signs MOU with U.S. state of Idaho

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/21
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Lauren Hung

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) A Taiwanese trade delegation and the U.S. state of Idaho’s Department of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the United States Monday to expand bilateral industrial collaboration.

Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) Director-General Wu Ming-ji (吳明機) led the trade delegation, which is seeking further commercial cooperation with the U.S.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs estimated that the MOU could generate investment and other values of over NT$55 billion (US$1.76 billion).     [FULL  STORY]

EVA Air buys five new freight aircraft from Boeing

Taipei Times
Date: , Jul 22, 2015
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday signed a NT$50 billion (US$1.6 billion) deal with

EVA Air chairman Chang Kuo-wei, left, and Boeing Commercial Airplanes global sales and marketing senior vice president John Wojick laugh during a press conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: EPA

EVA Air chairman Chang Kuo-wei, left, and Boeing Commercial Airplanes global sales and marketing senior vice president John Wojick laugh during a press conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: EPA

Boeing Co to procure five new freight aircraft.

The Taiwanese carrier is expected to receive the first of five Boeing 777 Freighters in October 2017 and have all five in operation by September 2019, EVA Air chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said.

The 777 Freighter uses about 20 percent less fuel than the older Boeing 747-400 cargo aircraft in the company’s fleet, Chang said.

He said that it is crucial for the company to modernize its fleet, as the cargo sector is beset by dwindling margins and declining transport volume.

“The Boeing 747-400 is no longer the ideal choice, as there is no longer enough demand to fill it to capacity on each flight,” Chang said, adding that the 777 Freighter’s smaller capacity of 85 to 90 tonnes affords much more flexibility.     [FULL  STORY]

MOEA announces opportunities for businesses with key technologies

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/21
By: C. W. Huang and Lillian Lin

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) International firms which own key technologies for power generation, 201507210037t0001electronics and other industries are welcome to set up research centers, factories, or even headquarters in Taiwan, a Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) official said Tuesday.

The official said that the MOEA has identified the industries and technologies that are in great demand in Taiwan, which include offshore wind power, electric vehicles, semi-conductor production equipment, power plant air pollution control equipment, and liquefied natural gas terminals.

Investment in these sectors is estimated to reach NT$1.5 trillion (US$48 billion) over the next five years, the official said.     [FULL  STORY]