Business and Finance

Companies in Taiwan begin to furlough employees due to impact of Wuhan coronavirus

At least 18 businesses in three major cities across Taiwan have reportedly furloughed employees, affecting hundreds of workers

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Kaohsiung Labor Affairs Bureau (Wikimedia Commons photo)

AIPEI (Taiwan News) — The COVID-19 outbreak is taking a toll on Taiwan’s economy as furloughs have been reported in three major cities in Taiwan.

The Labor Affairs Bureau of the Tainan City government said in a press release on Wednesday (Feb. 19) that five companies in the city have furloughed a total of 468 employees due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The businesses are related to textiles, machinery, as well as several other industries, the bureau added.

Tainan Labor Affairs Bureau head Wang Hsin-chi (王鑫基) said that when the bureau receives a furlough case, the bureau will dispatch labor inspectors to check if the business employs foreign workers. He explained that if foreign and domestic workers are hired to do the same job and only domestic workers are furloughed, a breach of the Employment Service Act has occurred.

Wang said that the decision to furlough must be agreed upon by both management and employees and that the furlough salary must not be lower than the minimum wage of NT$23,800 (about US$780).
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares open lower

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/21/2020
By: Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) Taiwan shares opened down 3.93 points at 11,721.16 Friday on turnover of NT$1.96 billion (US$64.58 million).    [SOURCE]

Export orders fall most in seven years

THE ‘WEAK SEASON’: Electronics orders were down a ‘mild’ 1.3 percent last month, while optoelectronics fell 18.8 percent and might drop further due to virus disruptions

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 21, 2020
By: Natasha Li  /  Staff reporter

Export orders last month dropped by 12.8 percent to US$35.31 billion, the biggest annual decline in seven years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, blaming the decrease to slipping orders for information and communications technology (ICT) products.

Following a short-lived recovery in December last year, export orders for ICT products contracted last month by 17 percent year-on-year to US$9.7 billion due to declining orders of smartphones, laptops and servers.

“We also have to take into account that there were six fewer working days last month [than in January last year] due to the Lunar New Year holiday,” Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) told a news conference in Taipei.

As more than 90 percent of ICT products are produced overseas, mainly in China, the COVID-19 outbreak might further affect production and undercut orders this month, she said. 
[FULL  STORY]

TSMC becomes first Taiwan individual stock added to Global Islamic Indexes

Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing giant expects more business opportunities from Middle East

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/14
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) became the first individual stock in the country to be listed in the Global Islamic Indexes of American finance company Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) on Thursday (Feb. 13).

According to the latest quarterly index review released by MSCI, Taiwanese stocks suffered a slight fall in both the Developed Markets Indexes and the AC Far East ex Japan index. However, TSMC was included for the first time in the Islamic index series, which is designed to measure the performance of developed countries' large and mid CAP (China, Asia, Pacific) segments relevant for Islamic investors.

To be considered for the Global Islamic Indexes, companies cannot earn more than 5 percent of their gross income from business categories prohibited by the Islamic world, including alcoholic beverages, tobacco, pork, adult entertainment, and military weapons. According to Yahoo News, there are currently 787 companies that have been approved in the Islamic Indexes.    [FULL  STORY]

MSCI’s Taiwan weighting cut to lead to fund outflows: FSC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/14/2020
By: Liu Pei-chi, Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) Global index provider MSCI Inc.'s cut of Taiwan's weighting in two of its major indexes will only have a minimal impact on fund flows in Taiwan's stock markets, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

MSCI's weighting reduction will result in foreign institutional investors moving about US$287 million or NT$8.6 billion out of the country, only 0.05 percent of those investors' holdings in Taiwan's markets, the FSC's Securities and Futures Bureau estimated.

The assessment came after MSCI said Thursday Taipei time that it has cut Taiwan's weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is closely watched by foreign institutional investors, by 0.07 percentage points to 11.66 percent after a quarterly index review.

MSCI also lowered Taiwan's weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index by 0.08 percentage points to 13.68 percent, while Taiwan's weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index was left unchanged at 1.42 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Virus disruptions weigh down firms

DESPERATELY SEEKING SUPPLY: With raw materials in jeopardy, firms are looking elsewhere to secure their supply chain, while others mull relocating away from China

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 15, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Persistent production disruptions in China would not only delay 5G deployment, but also take a toll on Taiwanese firms that depend on raw materials from across the Taiwan Strait, economists said yesterday.

Many Taiwanese firms in China are still unable to resume normal operations amid an outbreak of COVID-19, and uncertainty remains high about the timing and scale of regular operations, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) researcher Liu Meng-chun (劉孟俊) said.

The Taipei-based think tank contacted Taiwanese companies in China to better understand the epidemic’s impact.

Some firms have resumed 60 percent of production capacity, but many others only have capacity of between 20 and 40 percent, due to a severe lack of labor, Liu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Tesla wins Taiwan military contract for a fleet of 20 electric vehicles

Electrek
Date: Feb. 13th 2020
By: Fred Lambert

Tesla has won a contract with the Taiwanese military police to provide them with a fleet of 20 electric vehicles. And no, we’re not talking about military Cybertrucks.

A lot of fleet operators are starting to see the benefit of converting to electric vehicles, and especially the Model 3, which offers arguably the best balance of range, efficiency, functionalities, and price.

We have seen several taxi companies and police departments starting to add Tesla Model 3 vehicles to their fleet.

Now even military police fleets are getting on board.

The Taiwan Military Police, or the Republic of China Military Police (ROCMP), has bought two Tesla Model 3 vehicles, according to the official Tesla Owners Club of Taiwan:
[FULL  STORY]

Filipino workers at I-Mei Foods Company in Taiwan ask their government to lift travel ban

Concerns expressed that Philippines' travel restrictions on Taiwan may prevent some from complying with contracts

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/13
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A copy of the letter signed by more than 400 Filipino workers of a Taiwanese company appealing for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to lift the travel ban on Taiwan. (ABS-CBN News photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than 400 Filipino workers of I-Mei Foods Company have petitioned the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to lift the travel ban on Taiwan, reported Filipino media outlet ABS-CBN News on Thursday (Feb. 13).

In the letter, the Filipino workers are asking their government to allow its nationals to come to Taiwan, especially those who have existing contracts, according to the news outlet. They express their concern that the Philippines' travel restrictions on Taiwan may prevent some of them from complying with their contracts, as many are currently home for vacation.

The news outlet cited Jack Cheng, a senior I-Mei adviser, as saying that I-Mei only hires Filipino workers and has no other foreign employees; therefore, the travel ban would have a massive effect on the company. The problem would be felt especially in the area of new hires.

"If Filipinos cannot come to Taiwan, it's going to cause problems not only for I-MEI Foods, but for many other companies here in Taiwan," he was cited as saying.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares open higher

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/14/2020
By: Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) Taiwan shares opened up 14.74 points at 11,806.52 Friday on turnover of NT$1.54 billion (US$51.25 million).    [SOURCE]

Debt-relief plans could increase risks for lenders

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 14, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the government’s debt-relief program might increase asset-quality risks for Taiwanese lenders in the short term, but the burden should be manageable, Fitch Ratings said yesterday.

The debt-relief measures are mainly to be carried out by state-run banks, which would have the government’s support, if necessary, the ratings agency said.

The measures allow for deferred repayments and new lending at preferential rates for borrowers in the affected sectors, mainly tourism and transportation, as well as small businesses and individuals.

Tourism and transportation, some of the hardest-hit sectors, accounted for less than 3 percent of system loans in the nation, Fitch said.    [FULL  STORY]