Former minister of the interior Yu Cheng-hsien (
Yu is currently a national policy adviser. Prior to heading up the interior ministry, Yu served as Kaohsiung County commissioner and as a legislator.
"I will maintain Taisugar's good foundation and seek further improvement on the current basis," Yu said at his inauguration ceremony.
Yu took over the chairmanship from Lin Neng-pai (林能白), who was transferred from the chairmanship of state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電) to Taisugar in July last year.
Lin is not the only chairman to have held the post for only a short period of time. Lin's predecessor was current head of Financial Supervisory Commission Kong Jaw-sheng (
As an academic specializing in management, Lin was considered a key figure to reconstruct Taipower and turn it into a cash cow for the government.
But Lin decided to leave Taisugar after finding it difficult to reform the 60-year-old company, and pressure to manage Taisugar's massive land holdings of about 54,657 hectares.
Despite having served in the post for a mere six months, Lin was praised by Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (
Taisugar had been expected to lose NT$800 million (US$25.7 million) last year, but ended up reporting a pre-tax profit of NT$5.77 billion.
Although the profit came from sales of its land holdings, Ho said Lin has significantly reduced losses at the company's main business, from NT$2.03 billion in 2003 to NT$600 million last year.
As for Yu, the first challenge he needs to overcome is the liberalization of the sugar market. The ministry now allows all companies to freely import sugar, causing Taisugar to lose its monopoly in the business.
Yu said Taisugar will still manufacture sugar for the benefit of farmers, while continuing to expand its health-care and beauty products, which have gradually become popular among consumers, as well as making use of its property holdings to help develop high-tech and other crucial industries.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six