Business leaders yesterday expressed hope that Vice Premier Lin Hsin-i (
"Lin told us that he submitted his resignation to the president yesterday [Wednesday], but we hope the president will try to retain him," said Theodore Huang (
Huang said that Lin Hsin-i has done a good job in restructuring state-owned enterprises, some of which have begun to turn a profit, and steering the nation's economic development through an economic downturn.
He added that it will be difficult for President Chen Shui-bian (
He also expressed concern about cross-strait relations during Chen's second term.
Huang said despite the fact that China refuses to acknowledge Chen as a national leader, the business community expects cross-strait relations to improve so there won't be any trade barriers.
"Cross-strait economic cooperation shouldn't be sacrificed for any political confrontation," he said.
Nevertheless, Huang threw his support behind Chen, who he said was not a fundamentalist, but a political figure with the wisdom and capability to resolve cross-strait disagreements as well as domestic political confrontations.
During the breakfast meeting, the business association raised several concerns about the nation's economic and financial condition.
According to Huang, the group urged the government to stabilize the recent price fluctuations in commodities and raw materials while handling the possibility of inflationary pressures.
Prices of rice, bread and toilet paper have recently increased between 10 percent and 20 percent while utility prices and train fares may also rise, Huang said.
In response, Lin Yi-fu said that the government has no plan to raise utility prices. Lin Chuan said that the government will adjust import tariffs in an effort to reduce price fluctuation.
Huang also urged the government to accelerate its efforts to reach free-trade agreements with the US, Japan and Singapore since, he said, the economic benefits of joining the WTO have not fully emerged.
Taiwan is trying to push for similar pacts with other countries after the nation signed its first-ever free trade agreement with Panama last August.
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],”
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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