Vietnam first for investment
Taiwan's investment in the major countries of Southeast Asia in the first half of this year totaled US$185.27 million, with Vietnam attracting US$131.5 million, according to government statistics released yesterday.
The statistics compiled by the Industrial Development and Investment Center of the Ministry of Economic Affairs indicate that Thailand came next with US$18.86 million, followed by Malaysia with US$15.41 million.
In terms of aggregate investment from Taiwan, however, Indonesia leads the list with US$12.88 billion, followed by Thailand with US$10.52 billion and Malaysia with US$9.2 billion.
Taiwan has recently adopted a "go south" policy to encourage enterprises to switch their investments from mainland China to Southeast Asia, but the policy suffered a major setback recently when President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was forced to cancel a plan to visit Indonesia Dec. 15-17 to promote the policy. The incident might prompt Taipei to reconsider its "go south" policy, according to observers.
Opposition afraid of SOEs' debts
Several opposition legislators expressed worry yesterday about the debts of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), saying that the collective debts of the enterprises is as high as NT$17.3 trillion (US$494.28 billion), or more than 82 percent of their total assets.
Independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜) said that because of their poor financial states, the enterprises would be on the verge of collapse if they were not being bolstered by the government.
She suggested the government consider setting up a fund to write off the companies' debts.
Other legislators including Wang Chung-yu (王鍾渝), Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and Pong Chien-kuo (龐建國), said that of the 34 state-owned enterprises, the long-term debts of eight exceed the paid-in capital. Even Taiwan
Power Co's (台電) long-term debt is twice its paid-in capital. Kaohsiung Ammonium Sulfate Corp's (高雄硫酸錏) debt accounts for 82.63 percent of its paid-in capital.
Flat-panel shipments fall
Shipments of flat-panel displays for computer monitors and televisions by companies such as Samsung Electronics Co fell 8 percent in the third quarter because PC makers had excess inventory, a market researcher said.
The drop in shipments, which totaled 16.2 million units, was the steepest of the three quarter-on-quarter declines recorded in the last three years, said researcher DisplaySearch.
Compared with the third quarter last year, shipments rose 40 percent.
The weak demand for monitors and excess manufacturing capacity at makers of flat panels resulted in a price decline of 5 percent on average, compared with a 13 percent increase in the second quarter.
For the fourth quarter, prices may fall an additional 19 percent, which should stimulate demand and result in shipments increasing 12 percent, DisplaySearch predicted. Prices may stabilize in the first quarter.
NT dollar weakens
The NT dollar weakened after Standard & Poor's cut the nation's debt rating by one level, citing the government's "slow pace'' in carrying out banking and fiscal reforms.
The S&P rating cut "means the New Taiwan dollar may not be able to strengthen in coming days," said Tom Chou, a currency trader at the Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫).
The local currency fell NT$0.063 against its US counterpart to close at NT$34.848. Turnover was US$450.5 million, compared with the previous day's US$397 million.
The currency may fall to NT$34.90 by the end of the year, Chou said.
Agencies
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
It is challenging to build infrastructure in much of Europe. Constrained budgets and polarized politics tend to undermine long-term projects, forcing officials to react to emergencies rather than plan for the future. Not in Austria. Today, the country is to officially open its Koralmbahn tunnel, the 5.9 billion euro (US$6.9 billion) centerpiece of a groundbreaking new railway that will eventually run from Poland’s Baltic coast to the Adriatic Sea, transforming travel within Austria and positioning the Alpine nation at the forefront of logistics in Europe. “It is Austria’s biggest socio-economic experiment in over a century,” said Eric Kirschner, an economist at Graz-based Joanneum
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at
RSS