NEIHU NETWORK: The telecom hopes the trials help companies transit to 5G technology more smoothly, vice president Philip Tseng told reporters

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 05, 2019
By: Kwan Shin-han  /  Staff reporter

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) yesterday said it plans to set up an indoor 5G

trial field next month at Neihu Technology Park (內湖科技園區) for 100 enterprises or research organizations to run three-month free trials, a day after the telecom won the first approval to install a 5G-based Proof of Business network.

The telecom said it plans to offer the trials in collaboration with Ericsson Taiwan (台灣愛立信) at the Neihu Sports Center on a commercial 5G network using the 3.5 gigahertz band.

As part of the trials, the telecom is to supply free 5G SIM cards, routers and an application enablement platform, allowing firms to utilize it to test Internet of Things (IoT) business opportunities from this month to December.

The average download speed of the 5G network is at least 10 times faster than a 4G LTE network, the company said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s central bank, unlike most central banks, doesn’t disclose its position in FX derivatives. It really should. There is good reason to think its undisclosed exposure is quite substantial.    

Council On Foreign Relations
Date: October 3, 2019
By: Brad W. Setser and Guest Blogger for Brad Setser

This is the first post in a series[1] on Taiwan's life insurers and their private & sovereign FX hedging

counterparties. It’s the product of a collaboration with S.T.W[2], a market participant and friend of the blog. Printable versions of entries in this series will be available in pdf format on his site (Concentrated Ambiguity).

Introduction

For the better part of the last 20 years, analyzing the ups and downs of FX interventions and the concomitant rise of global FX reserves has been an integral part of understanding FX and sovereign bond markets. Central banks from countries as diverse as Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Switzerland, Hong Kong, India, and South Korea have each assumed FX exposures north of USD 400bn at the beginning of 2019.

What unites these, and practically every other here unmentioned country, is that the most comprehensive information about their activities in currency markets can be found in a standardized form created by the IMF, the ‘Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity’ (IRFCL). The template was initially developed in 1999 and is a key component of the Special Dissemination Standard (SDDS), to which IMF members subscribe in order to "provide[s] a standard for good practices in the dissemination of economic and financial data”.[3] As of today, 95% of all IMF member countries (including all G20 members), subscribe to the SDDS and accept the responsibility to produce an IRFCL.

The value of the reserve template lies in the provision of detailed 'Foreign currency resources' and 'Foreign currency drains', which includes positions in FX derivative markets, pledging or lending of FX reserves, as well as other contingent exposures—all factors which are not readily revealed by the headline FX reserve series alone. Because of the disclosure of these details, it is usually possible to understand even complicated FX maneuvers conducted by central banks.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation has been developing new food and biotechnology products for multiple markets

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/03
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation (TTL) Chairman Ting Yen-che (丁彥哲) signed a MoU with KT&G Corporation CEO Baek Bok-in on sales and research at the Grand Hotel in Taipei on Sept. 30, according to an Economic Daily News (EDN) report on Thursday (Oct. 3).

Ting said that TTL and KT&G both have experience of transforming from a monopoly to a company and that in addition to tobacco products, each company has developed distinct product lines. He added the signing of the MoU is the first step towards cooperation on sales and research between the two companies.    [FULL  STORY]

US BUSINESS DAY:American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen told participants that the US looks forward to new ways of expanding trade with Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 04, 2019
By: Kwan Shin-han  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s US Business Day, which matches Taiwanese suppliers with US companies, is expected

to increase trade opportunities this year by 10 to 20 percent as more US firms avoid tariffs imposed by Washington on Chinese imports by buying Taiwanese goods, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday.

TAITRA declined to provide a total for the amount of business opportunities the annual event might generate, but it said that positive responses from US companies indicated that the amount could be higher than last year’s NT$168.3 million (US$5.42 million).

The amount is estimated to reach NT$185.13 million to NT$201.96 million, based on Huang’s comment.

The event at the Taipei International Convention Center was attended by dozens of US companies, including server manufacturer Super Micro Computer Inc, retailers Meijer Inc and Staples Inc, organic foods distributor United Natural Foods Inc, and motor and power tool maker WW Grainger Inc, the council said.    [FULL  STORY]

Life can be challenging for Taiwanese doing business in China, according to the Straits Exchange Foundation

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/02
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese businesspeople are struggling to cope with life in China and seeking assistance to return home, according to a report released by the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on Wednesday (Oct. 2).

Since 2016, SEF has dealt with 145 Taiwanese nationals in China who have encountered difficulties returning home. Among them were 76 businesspeople, or 52.4 percent of the total cases.

The report cited 23 cases of individuals serving jail terms in China (15.9 percent), while 13 cases involved homeless Taiwanese. The number of Taiwanese requesting assistance to return home has grown over the years, SEF cautioned at a press conference.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/02
By: Chung Jung-feng and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) FIT Hon Teng Ltd., an electronic component subsidiary of Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., said Wednesday that it has set its sights on the electric car market, taking advantage of its production lines in Vietnam to cut operating costs.

FIT Hon Teng, shares of which are currently traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange, said that on the back of its efforts to develop components for electric car use, the automotive electronics business is expected to serve as a driver to the company's sales growth for the second half of this year.

The Hon Hai subsidiary is engaged in production of a wide range of electronic items such as optoelectronic connectors, antennas, acoustic components, cables and modules for applications in computers, communication equipment, consumer electronics and automobiles.

In addition to its high ambitions in extending its reach to the electric car market, FIT Hon Teng said mobile communication devices, industrial electronics and medical care equipment are expected to serve as additional drivers to the company's sales growth momentum in the second half of the year.
[FULL  STORY]

NICHE MARKETS:As it is to commence operations using smaller planes, StarLux said it would start by flying to cities like Penang and Da Nang to stay competitive

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 03, 2019
By: Kao Shih-ching  /  Staff reporter

StarLux Airlines Co (星宇航空) is to concentrate on operating routes from Taiwan to second-tier cities in

Asia until mid-2021 to avoid head-to-head competition with the nation’s two major airlines in big cities, chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said yesterday.

StarLux is to initially use five Airbus SE A321neo aircraft when it begins services next year, he said.

As the narrow-body aircraft have less capacity and is less efficient compared with the wide-body jets used by other airlines, it would be less competitive if it flies to big cities in Asia, he added.

“We have to consider what kinds of airplanes our competitors use when choosing destinations. We do not want to play hardball with them,” Chang told a news conference in Taipei, where he introduced the uniforms for the airline’s pilots, flight attendants and ground staff.    [FULL  STORY]

Over an eight month period, Taiwan was the second largest employer of Vietnamese migrant workers after Japan opened up its labor market

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/01
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In the first eight months of the year, there were 91,663 overseas Vietnamese workers, with 36,825 (40.17 percent) taking a job in Taiwan, according to a CNA report on Tuesday (Oct. 1).

The CNA report was based on Vietnam government statistics. Of the 91,663 Vietnamese migrant workers, 30,734 were female.

Taiwan is the second largest employer of Vietnamese overseas workers behind Japan, which hired 45,622 Vietnamese during the same eight-month period. Also, in August, Vietnam sent out 11,699 overseas workers, 6,080 of whom went to Japan, with 4,566 going to Taiwan, the report added.

Vietnam’s labor authority plans to send a total of 120,000 migrant workers to foreign countries this year. So far, the figure stands at 76.38 percent of the total.    [FULL  STORY]