Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (
Speaking at a year-end news conference, Lin said key measures will include setting up an advisory committee, led by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥), to help provide solutions to foreign investors' difficulties, and a plan to lure NT$724.58 billion (US$20.7 billion) in investments.
In the area of boosting industrial development and research and development projects, advocating a creative culture will be the centerpiece in a government effort to build the country into a creative hub for global enterprises, while greater heed will also be paid to traditional and service businesses as well as to the promotion of e-enterprises and technology upgrading, according to Lin.
To forge a favorable climate for creation and innovation, the economic ministry will provide greater access for foreign talent and companies, including those from China, to be based in Taiwan, he added.
In the area of attracting investment, Lin said his ministry plans to sponsor a high-profile investment seminar in October to woo foreign and domestic investments. The ministry will also set up a task force to remove investment barriers and help foreign investors.
Additionally, the ministry will provide loans of up to NT$1 million for jobless elderly and middle-aged workers to set up their own businesses, while a package worth billions will also be implemented to offer preferential loans for small and traditional businesses.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained