Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/03
By: Yang Ming-chu and Scully Hsiao

Tokyo, April 3 (CNA) Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc., is mulling an investment of about 100 billion Japanese yen (US$835.5 million) in electronics maker Sharp Corp., the Sankei Shimbun reported on Friday.

The investment would be made to support the Japanese company as it undergoes a global restructuring in return for a role in the company’s operations and access to the company’s technological know-how, according to the report.

Hon Hai, which is hoping to buy the stake through a third-party allotment of new share, would end up with a roughly 20 percent stake in Sharp, should the deal be made. Sharp currently has a market capitalization of 400 billion yen.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/03
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) A move by Brazil to extend its business visa validity for Taiwanese

nationals is good for bilateral ties and expected to help Taiwanese exporters penetrate the Brazilian market, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Friday.

According to the MOEA, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified its embassies and consulates on March 25 that the country had decided to extend the validity of business visas issued to Taiwanese citizens to three years from the previous 90 days.

The MOEA said the longer visa period will give more flexibility to Taiwanese companies hoping to do business in Brazil and showed Brazil’s determination to improve its investment environment and attract more foreign investors.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-02
By: Staff Reporter

The world’s top smartphone companies on Wednesday brought out outrageous new products

that appear too good to be true — because they are.

South Korea’s Samsung and Taiwan’s Asus and HTC are among the international smartphone and electronics producers to promote wacky — and fictional — new inventions for April Fools’ Day.

Samsung “created” the new Galaxy Blade Edge phone, described as the “ultimate cooking companion,” which comes with all the features of a Galaxy S6 but with an edge so sharp that it can also serve as a chef’s knife.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/02
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Car sales in Taiwan rose 35.9 percent in March from the previous month, largely in reflection of a significant difference in the number of business days in the two months, government statistics indicated Thursday.

About 33,900 cars were sold in Taiwan in March, compared with 24,933 cars in February, when the one-week Lunar New Year holiday resulted in a reduction in the number of business days, the statistics indicated.

While the March sales increased by a monthly 35.9 percent, they registered a drop of about 1.2 percent year-on-year, the data showed.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/01
By: Wei Shu and Ted Chen

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) The Ministry of Finance stated Wednesday that although proposed by

China, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) initiative is envisioned to be an international financial institution based on the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by 21 other nations and that therefore, the matter should not be examined under the limited scope of cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

The ministry said that the sending of a letter of intent on joining the AIIB as a founding member will secure the right for Taiwan to voice its opinions on the stewardship of the proposed bank.

According to the ministry, the AIIB is designed to be a regional intergovernmental financial organization similar to the Asian Development Bank.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/01
By: Yu Kai-hsiang and Ted Chen

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Yang Ju-men (楊儒門), an activist known as the “Rice Bomber,” on

Wednesday was appointed to serve on the board of directors of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co., a company established by Taipei City’s Department of Economic Development.

In the newly established tradition of using unconventional recruiting process advocated by Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the Taipei City government had elected to reserve a board of directors seat for Yang, as opposed to its earlier plan to select all five candidates from the public sector.

A Taipei City government recruiting committee member who recommended Yang said that as a farmer of the younger generation and a long-time proponent for reforms of the marketing of fresh produce, he represents the much needed new blood for Taiwan’s agricultural sector.     [FULL  STORY]