The ban on direct air links with China and limited capacity of air freight services at Chiang Kai Shek International Airport could harm the competitiveness of Taiwan's high-tech industry, said members of a joint US-ROC business group yesterday.
At the annual meeting of the ROC-USA and US-ROC Business Councils, vice president of Federal Express Scott Hallford said Taiwan was in danger of squandering the trade benefits linked to its cultural and geographical proximity to China by maintaining restrictions on direct air links.
"The cost advantages of sourcing supply across the strait are obvious," said Hallford. "Clearly restrictions limit the viability of trade and investment, particularly in the high-tech industries that require rapid, overnight or second day delivery of components to the second link in the production chain."
He said that if Taiwan companies couldn't keep abreast of this express delivery trend then they might find "their roles progressively marginalized if US and Japanese multinationals are able increasingly to integrate vertically with mainland suppliers after China's WTO accession." This problem won't be mitigated by the relatively small capacity of air cargo facilities at CKS, said American Chamber of Commerce's executive director Richard Vuylsteke.
"We are very concerned about this issue," said Vuylsteke. "Not only for the viability of Taiwan but also the viability of the American companies that our organizations represent."
Chairman of the Taiwan-based ROC-USA Business Council C.Y. Wang (
Concern surrounding the slow air freight service at CKS has been enflamed by repeated delays in completion of the second terminal which was originally scheduled to be operational by the end of July.
Construction and operation of the terminal was divided into two sections, which were then offered through public tendering to Eva Air (
David Laux, former president of the US-ROC Business Council, made a passionate plea to the Taiwan government to speed up construction of the project, alluding to better efficiency across the strait. The Chinese "could construct the Great Hall of the People in ten months," said Laux.
"Taiwan is much more of a can do society than over there ... may I respectfully suggest that you adopt this as a national priority," he said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
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