Print

Mail

wiki links

Business Briefs　

Number of SMEs rises
The number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grew significantly last year from the previous year as the world economy improved, according to a report to be released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The report said that as of the end of last year, there were 1.15 million SMEs in the nation, a 3.77 percent increase from a year ago. The number constituted 97.83 percent of all registered companies. These companies hired 7.43 million of employees, which was 77.56 percent of the nation's labor force, according to the report.
During the same period, SMEs reported NT$8.71 trillion in revenues, up by 16.17 percent from a year ago, and composed of 31.47 percent of total company revenues in the nation, the report said.
The ministry said SMEs are facing competition from China, as well as market liberalization after Taiwan joined the WTO, so the government is drafting various measures ranging from financial support, information technology application and others to advance these businesses.

Foreign reserves increase
The nation's foreign-currency reserves, the third-biggest in the world, rose in August for the 38th month to a record US$231.6 billion, the central bank said in a statement.
The figure was up from the US$230.4 billion at the end of July and up US$24.98 billion from the end of last year, the bank said.
The increase mainly reflects returns from foreign exchange reserve management, it said.

Workforce threatened
The head of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) warned yesterday of the various crises threatening Taiwan's human resources.
While there is a shortage of highly skilled workers and a constant drain of semi-skilled workers, menial workers are facing unemployment because of the inflow of foreign workers, according to CEPD Chairman Hu Sheng-cheng (胡勝正).
Hu made the remarks during a seminar on foreign worker policy hosted by the Academia Sinica's Institute of Economics.
A study conducted by the institute shows that importing foreign workers will lower enterprises' desire to invest in research and development and thus hamper the enhancement of their technology.
To solve the problem, the study proposes that the government levy a salary tax on enterprises hiring foreign workers and use the fund to subsidize these enterprises' research and development programs.

Lehman bets on yen, NT dollar
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said investors should keep positions betting on a rise in the yen and the New Taiwan dollar on expectations they will be less affected than other currencies by a slowdown in the global economy.
The Japanese and Taiwanese governments have policies aimed at preventing their currencies from becoming too strong, which restrained their appreciation as global growth accelerated, Lehman said. Now these currencies are less likely than others to weaken "from the ensuing manufacturing slowdown," Lehman foreign exchange analysts wrote.
"Asian currencies are undervalued, and the mounting concerns about rising oil prices and a slowdown in China have made many of them even cheaper in recent months," Jim McCormick, Lehman's head of global currency research in London, wrote in the firm's currency-strategy report.

NT dollar stays strong
The New Taiwan dollar remained strong against its US counterpart, edging up NT$0.013 to close at NT$33.907 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$515 million.

This story has been viewed 1703 times.