Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-04
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

The Small & Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs

(MOEA) hosted a press activity Wednesday to introduce the ongoing efforts in which its existing Project for Social Enterprises Action Plan has been successfully carried out in Taipei’s Dadaocheng area in Datong District.

“The government is in continuous pursuit of creating a friendly environment for social enterprises,” Lin Jyh-cheng said, director of SMEA’s Policy Planning Division.

Social enterprises, organizations that seek to be financially successful while creating social and/or environmental impact, have long been prevalent in Europe and the United States. However, the practice of social enterprising has only been introduced to the island seven years ago.

As a historical landmark known for its early 19th-century trading port in downtown Taipei, Dadaocheng was chosen as a carving stone to help social enterprises set foot in the area, where the primary objective of the program was to create domestic employment and environmental consciousness.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: November 4, 2015

The government is sparing no efforts to strengthen Taiwan’s economic fundamentals so as

to upgrade local industries and boost employment, innovation and investment, according to the National Development Council Nov. 3.

A raft of measures is being implemented to ensure regulatory transparency, foster talent and tackle Taiwan’s demographic challenges, NDC Minister Duh Tyzz-jiun said.

The government will continue collaborating with its European partners given their successful experiences in such areas as energy security, medical care implementation and tourism promotion, he added.

The minister made the remarks after receiving the 2016 European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan position papers from the group’s Chairman Bernd Barkey during a luncheon in Taipei City.

In its annual report titled “Decision Time: Taking Courageous Action in Uncertain Times,” the ECCT raised 130 new and unresolved issues spanning better living, the environment, human resources, industry, intellectual property rights and technology.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 05, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus yesterday said it has a positive

view of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), adding that China has made a concession by agreeing to meet Ma in a third country.

KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said there is no chance that Taiwan will be belittled at the meeting, as it is to take place in Singapore, rather than in Taiwan or China.

“Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had hoped to meet with [the Chinese leader] during his term and so did former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). That Ma could now meet with the Chinese president is actually a breakthrough in the cross-strait relationship,” Lai said. “That the meeting is to take place in a third country rules out possible controversies and ensures mutual respect will be upheld.”

“Ma will be setting up a platform, which is similar to the one established by the Koo talks. It could be used by future leaders of the two sides to meet and discuss substantive issues,” he added, referring to the talks between then-Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and then-Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits president Wang Daohan (汪道涵)     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/03
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 3 (CNA) The Ministry of Economic Affairs said Tuesday that the state-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower, 台灣電力公司) has taken measures to help stabilize the power supply.

The ministry was responding to a warning by the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT, 歐洲商會) that if the power supply cannot be guaranteed, foreign companies will not maintain or increase investments in Taiwan.

Taipower’s operating reserve ratio dropped to below 5 percent during the summer due to water shortages, sparking concerns by business leaders about Taiwan’s future power supply.

The ECCT said in its 2016 position papers issued Tuesday that Taiwan has promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to half of 2005 levels but at present, Taiwan is still heavily reliant on carbon-based fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, which account for 90 percent of the total energy supply.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/03
By: Sabine Cheng and Christie Chen

Taipei, Nov. 3 (CNA) Classical music fans in Taipei will be able to watch free live streams of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s concerts in the city on Wednesday and Thursday.

The two concerts by the Amsterdam-based orchestra will take place at the National Concert Hall on the two days, with a live stream of the concerts to be shown just outside the venue in the main plaza of the National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH), the NTCH announced Tuesday.

Led by conductor Gustavo Gimeno, the orchestra will play Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op.68” and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op.74” on Wednesday.

The following day, it will perform Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major, Op. 44” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Symphonic Suite Scheherazade, Op.35,” according to the NTCH.     [FULL  STORY]