Council of Agriculture announces 8.2% increase over 2018 in total exports to Singapore for January to September

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/22
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The head of Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) Chen Chi-chung (陳吉

仲) announced good news for Taiwan’s agriculture industry on Tuesday (Oct. 22) with news that exports to Singapore from January to September increased by 8.2 percent over the same period in 2018.

Exports of Taiwanese rice to the Singapore market, in particular, have more than doubled over the last year. According to Chen, Taiwanese agriculture exports to Singapore in 2019 so far amount to US$72.58 million (NT$2.22 billion).

Things look even better for next year according to COA projections, because in June of this year Taiwan was determined to be a country entirely free of foot and mouth disease among its livestock population. After submitting the official quarantine management report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Taiwan looks set to see a major boost in pork exports next year.

According to UDN, the COA chief just returned to Taiwan after a visit to Singapore where he attended the grand opening of a new Eccellente grocery location by HAO Mart which featured a special “Taiwan Agricultural Product” zone. While Chen was in Singapore, the COA also arranged to sign a major purchase order for Taiwanese rice with the Sheng Siong supermarket group (昇菘集團).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/22
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Taiwan's jobless rate for September fell from a month earlier as the effects of an increase in first-time jobseekers during the graduation season receded, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Tuesday.

Data compiled by the DGBAS showed the September jobless rate fell 0.09 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.80 percent. However, after seasonal adjustments, the rate rose 0.01 percentage points from August to 3.74 percent.

Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨), deputy director of the DGBAS census department, told reporters that during the June-August period, the local jobless rate was boosted by an influx of new graduates from high schools, colleges and universities, but September was when those affects in the local job market faded and returned to a more normal pattern.

In September, the number of unemployed fell 11,000 or 2.40 percent to 455,000, while the number of those in work fell 19,000 or 0.16 percent to 11.51 million, Pan said.    [FULL  STORY]

Business Matters
Date: 21st October 2019

Are you looking to expand your business to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Mongolian, and China? Well, the first thing you need to do is learn Chinese.

There are more than a billion people speaking mandarin in these countries, and it is absolutely necessary to know the language if you want your business to flourish. As someone wanting to expand your business, you can’t expect an entire community to know the language you speak. So, the effort has to come from your end.

Help with migration

It is hard to find a place in the world that is left untouched by Chinese immigration. There are millions of Chinese immigrants across the globe. If you want your new customers to try your product or service, enroll in an institution to learn Chinese in London. The idea is to make them understand that you are putting the effort to blend in with their traditions and culture; and to ensure that, your first step should be to learn their language. So, you and selected employees should learn mandarin as soon as you possibly can.

Companies pay a lot of attention to business communication. Unless you are able to satisfy your customer’s queries, you can’t expect to expand your business successfully. In fact, you can’t always have a translator by your side, helping you communicate with Chinese clients. That is why you should learn Chinese in London before thinking of expanding your business.   [FULL  STORY]

Exodus 1s enables use of cryptocurrencies at lower price than predecessor

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/21
By: Sally Jensen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On Monday (Oct. 21), HTC introduced its new blockchain phone Exodus 1s, which supports the use of cryptocurrencies.

The Exodus 1s is a smaller, low-priced version of HTC's built-in hardware wallet Exodus 1. The new smartphone has hit the market at a price of NT$5,990 (US$244), which is about a third of the cost of its predecessor. The Exodus 1 initially retailed at 0.15 bitcoins (NT$37,796), similar to the high-end iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, before being sold in dollars.

The new phone is targeted at people wishing to enter the world of encrypted virtual currencies and utilize blockchain technology but who might be hesitant about buying expensive flagships from the likes of Apple and Samsung. The Exodus 1s will be compatible with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Binance Coin (BNB), and BitCash (BCH).

HTC claims the 1s will transfer financial services to individuals. “We are providing the tools for access to universal basic finance; the tools to have a metaphorical Swiss bank in your pocket,” said Phil Chen, chief decentralized officer at HTC, in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwsn
Date: 2019/10/21
By: Liao Yu-yang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) The value of government-approved foreign direct investment in Taiwan rose

over 9 percent in the first nine months of 2019 from a year earlier, due mainly to effects of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, the Investment Commission said Monday.

In the first nine months of this year, approved FDI in the country was nearly US$7.88 billion, a 9.37 percent year-on-year growth, while the number of approved FDI applications increased 1.5 percent from a year earlier to 2,703, commission data showed.

In September, approved FDI in Taiwan was about US$1.36 billion, a year-on-year growth of 111 percent, mainly because an investment injection of US$450 million in a project for the construction and operation of an offshore wind farm by Yunneng Wind Power Co., Ltd. in Yunlin County was approved by the commission that month.

From January to September, the electronic component sector had the largest approved foreign investment of US$2.67 billion, followed by the financial/insurance sector with US$1.5 billion, the machinery equipment manufacturing sector with US$750 million, the retail and wholesale sector with US$640 million and the electricity and gas supply sector with US$470 million.
[FULL  STORY]

Dozens of MOUs have been signed over the past few months set to strengthen bilateral industrial exchanges

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/12/20
By: Jose Kalathil, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

NEW DELHI (Taiwan News) – The Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC) and the India-Taipei Association (ITA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Promotion of Industry Collaboration, as part of efforts to elevate Taiwan-India industrial cooperation to an even higher level.

The MOU was signed by TECC Representative Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien and ITA Director Sridharan Madhusudhanan in New Delhi in the presence of Deputy Director General of Bureau of Foreign Trade of Taiwan, Dr. Guann-Jyh Lee and Joint Secretary of Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India, Vandana Kumar.

Under the MOU, Taiwan and India will expand the scope of cooperation in not only trade and investment but also in industrial collaboration. The MOU involves cooperation in research and development (R&D), design and engineering, product manufacturing and after sales services.

With that, Taiwan and India will adopt various models for cooperation in order to create synergies and industrial value chains, as well as develop products/services and enhance their added value.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date:2019/10/20
By: Tsai Peng-min, Chung Jung-feng and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Taiwan's two major fuel suppliers on Sunday announced price hikes of NT$0.1 (US$0.003) per liter for gasoline and diesel this week, citing an increase in international crude oil prices.

At CPC Corp., Taiwan gas stations, prices will rise to NT$26.3 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$27.8 per liter for 95 octane unleaded, NT$29.8 per liter for 98 octane unleaded, and NT$24.1 per liter for super diesel, effective midnight Sunday.

The adjustment ended three weeks of falling domestic fuel prices. CPC attributed the hikes to increasing international crude prices caused by several factors, including an Iranian oil tanker being hit by missiles in the Red Sea off Saudi Arabia's coast Friday.

CPC adjusts its fuel prices weekly based on changes in crude oil prices, using a weighted oil price formula composed of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude.    [FULL  STORY]