The installation of DPP members as chairmen of Taiwan Sugar Corp (Taisugar, 台糖) and Taiwan Salt Industrial Corp (Taisalt, 台鹽) this week may have deeply upset company management, a former chairman of a state-run industry warned yesterday.
"All managerial professionals will be greatly upset since they now realize that they may easily be replaced simply because of their political stance," KMT Legislator Wang Chung-yu (
He said the government has set a bad example by putting its own men in the posts instead of market professionals.
Wang, a former chairman of China Steel Corp (中鋼), with over 20 years experience in the steel industry, made the comments in response to the government's appointments of DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) and former lawmaker Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清), respectively, as chairmen of Taisugar and Taisalt.
The appointments rattled employee and shareholder nerves.
The companies may suffer further if media reports that the two appointments are part of the DPP's plan to pave the way for victory in year-end mayoral elections, as well as the 2004 presidential election, prove to be true.
Wang said he agreed with the reports' speculation, saying that the "resources of the two state-run companies could be used to aid [the DPP's] political agendas."
David Hong (洪德生), the vice president of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, said the fate of the two firms may lie in Wu and Cheng's ability to formulate company policies and oversee company development.
"If they can learn the ropes of the industry soon, their inexperience and lack of industrial background should not pose a difficulty," Hong said.
Either way, both of the new bosses will have their work cut out for them with post-WTO competition, privatization, company transformation and business diversification on the table.
Hong, who also doubles as a member of Taisalt's supervisory board, criticized the appointments for what he said was the hasty and thoughtless manner in which they were carried out.
"[What the government] should have done is look for possible candidates for those positions, instead of filling those positions with its own men," Hong said.
But Hong praised Wu, saying he may be a good choice since he had shown good judgment when he ran a cable television company.
But Cheng's lack of industrial background has raised concerns.
Taisalt's president Wang Chih-hang (王志漢) yesterday said that the new chairman has promised to respect professional opinions and to steer away from political interference in the company's management.
"I've communicated with all employees that professionalism, not [politics], should be the company's main concern," Wang said.
Wang added that the company's short-term goals are privatization and the marketing of three new investment projects in technology and biotechnology-related products, which he said Cheng has vowed to continue.
Entrepreneur-turned-politician Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源), a TSU legislator, said that "industrial expertise and experience should be the top criteria for chairmanship choices."
He gave his endorsement to the government's overnight decision to name Yu Kuang-hwa (余光華), Tai-salt's outgoing chairman, as head of the Taiwan Fertilizer Co (台肥), saying Yu's 12-year success record can now be extended to another profit-seeking state-run company.
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