Business and Finance

PMI ends four months of contraction

WINDFALL: Local companies benefited from order transfers by clients seeking to circumvent trade rows between the US and China as well as South Korea and Japan

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 02, 2019
By Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month climbed back to neutral territory, ending four straight months of decline, as the development of 5G technology ramped up business for local firms in the supply chain, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.

The critical gauge of the manufacturing industry’s health measured 50 — the dividing line between contraction and expansion — as business improved for companies involved in the production of electronics, chemical products and transportation tools, the Taipei-based think tank’s monthly survey found.

However, the improvement is not broad-based, as suppliers of food and textile products, raw materials, and electrical and machinery equipment have yet to come out of the woods, it said.

“Demand for electronics used by industrial clients gained strength, raising inventory to the normal position,” CIER president Chen Shi-kuan (陳思寬) told a media briefing.    [FULL  STORY]

USITC launches probe into patent infringement targeting Taiwan’s TSMC

US International Trade Commission to investigate Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/29
By:  Central News Agency

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has decided to launch an investigation into

File photo (By Central News Agency)

allegations of patent infringement involving Taiwan-based Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker.

The decision on the investigation came after a complaint filed by GlobalFoundaries Inc. Aug. 26, accusing TSMC and other companies of infringing on 16 of its patents.

In addition to TSMC, other respondents identified by USITC in the case also include Taiwan's integrated circuit designer MediaTek Inc., U.S. IC designers Xilinx Inc. and Qualcomm Inc., search engine giant Google Inc. and American electronics component supplier Avnet Inc., USITC said.

USITC said the complaint alleged that the respondents violated section 337 of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 by importing to and selling in the U.S. market products that infringed upon patents asserted by GlobalFoundries. The complainant has requested that the commission issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist order, USITC added.    [FULL  STORY]

US maintains top spot among nation’s debtors

EXPOSURE: At the end of June, banks had extended US$79.11bn in loans to the US on a direct-risk basis, and US$45.2bn to China, Taiwan’s No. 2 debtor

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 30, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The US remained Taiwan’s largest debtor as of the end of June, with the local banking sector’s exposure to US entities on the rise, despite trade tensions between the US and China, the central bank said.

Outstanding claims by Taiwanese banks from the US totaled US$79.11 billion on a direct-risk basis, up from US$74.21 billion at the end of March, data compiled by the central bank showed.

On an ultimate-risk basis, which calculates a country’s consolidated debts after risk transfers, Taiwanese banks’ exposure to the US stood at US$74.92 billion, up from US$71.61 billion in the first quarter.

The increase largely reflected the foreign-exchange fluctuations during the three-month period, as well as Taiwanese investors’ steady investments in bonds and securitized financial instruments, analysts said.    [FULL  STORY]

U.S. remains largest debtor to Taiwan as of end-June

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/28
By: Wu Chia-jung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) The United States remained the largest debtor to Taiwan as of the end of June, with the local banking sector's exposure to U.S. entities on the rise, despite continued trade tension between the U.S. and China, according to the central bank.

Data compiled by the central bank showed that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks from the U.S. as of the end of June totaled US$79.11 billion on a direct risk basis, up from US$74.21 billion at the end of March.

On an ultimate risk basis, which calculates a country's consolidated debts after risk transfers, Taiwanese banks' exposure to the U.S. stood at US$74.92 billion as of the end of June, up from US$71.61 billion a quarter earlier.

Market analysts said the increase largely reflected an appreciation of currency value fluctuations during the three-month period, and the global trade tensions imposed little impact on the local banking sector's exposure to Washington.    [FULL  STORY]

TAIEX slides on trade concerns

‘NO SURPRISE’:Hua Nan Securities Investment Management chairman David Chu said that the US-China trade dispute would continue to affect markets worldwide

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 29, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA and AFP

Local shares on Friday moved lower as lingering concerns over trade friction between the US and China offset gains posted by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), dealers said.

Although Washington and Beijing are to resume high-level negotiations in the US on Oct. 10, local investors took a wait-and-see attitude and reduced their stock holdings in favor of cash, they said.

The TAIEX on Friday ended down 42.31 points, or 0.39 percent, at 10,829.68, after moving between 10,827.61 and 10,921.17, on turnover of NT$121.61 billion (US$3.92 billion). That was a drop of 0.9 percent from a close of 10,929.69 on Sept. 20.

The market opened up 0.29 percent to surpass 10,900 points on a technical rebound from a session earlier, when the weighted index edged lower, and moved to the day’s high early in the morning, dealers said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan ranked 9th in world in technology

Taiwan ranked 9th in technology, 13th in digital competitiveness

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/27
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(Photo from www.freepik.com)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has been ranked the 9th most technological and 13th most digitally competitive nation by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

The 2019 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR) analyzed 63 countries according to 50 indicators in the three primary categories of knowledge, technology, and future-readiness.

According to the index, Taiwan ranked 9th in the world in technology, an improvement on its ranking of 11th last year. Taiwan has also improved its overall digital competitiveness, going from 17th in 2018 to 13th in 2019.

Among Asia-Pacific economies, Taiwan has maintained its third-place position in technology, trailing only Singapore and Hong Kong. In terms of its overall ranking in regional digital competitiveness, Taiwan rose from fifth place to fourth place this year, trailing only Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan economy sluggish for 8th straight month: survey (update)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/27
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Taiwan's economic conditions remained sluggish for an eighth consecutive month in August amid the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China, the National Development Council (NDC) said Friday.

The country's leading indicators, which predict economic performance over the next three to six months, also moved lower in August, providing further evidence of a cautious outlook for Taiwan's economy because of unfavorable external factors, the NDC said.

The composite index of monitoring indicators for August fell to 20 points from the revised score of 22 in July, representing a "yellow-blue light," according to data compiled by the NDC, Taiwan's top economic planning agency.

The economic leading indicators for August fell 0.05 from a month earlier to 101.67, marking the second consecutive month they fell after the NDC revised the July figure downward.    [FULL  STORY]

Yulon cautious despite new order gains

NEW PROSPECTS: The automaker is hoping that new orders would help mitigate the impact of disappointing sales in the first half, when shipments dropped by 11,000 units

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 28, 2019
By: Kwan Shin-han  /  Staff reporter

Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), which makes automobiles under the Luxgen brand, yesterday said it is to sign a contract with French electric-vehicle designer Pariss Electric next month, and is to begin manufacturing and shipping Muse electric vehicles in the second half of next year.

Yulon declined to elaborate on the scale of orders, but said it is expected to be larger than orders from Italy’s Adiva, for which it has been manufacturing motorcycles since June.

With Europe adopting stricter laws on fossil-fuel vehicles and e-commerce boosting logistics services, demand for electric vehicles is expected to grow, Yulon Motor said.

Orders from other companies would help mitigate the impact of falling sales and profits in the first half of the year, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan AI dialogue system more than 85% accurate

Technology can be used in care for the elderly: III

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/26
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The III has developed a successful AI dialogue system (photo courtesy of III). (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Institute for Information Industry (III, 資策會) has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) dialogue system which is more than 85 percent accurate, reports said Thursday (September 26).

The technology can be used in sectors such as banking and insurance, care for the elderly, and e-trade, the Central News Agency reported.

The system uses Relation-Based Deep Neural Networks (DNN) to analyze data and establish models for conversation, including the understanding of words and phrases, suggestions for replies, and vocabulary characteristic for certain professional areas, III said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares close down 0.02%

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/26
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) Taiwan shares closed down 1.70 points, or 0.02 percent, at 10,871.99 Thursday on turnover of NT$113.38 billion (US$3.65 billion).    [SOURCE]