Business Briefs

TAIEX down on outbreak news
Share prices closed 0.69 percent lower yesterday, continuing weaker amid growing concerns about bird flu after news of further outbreaks in China. Dealers said the tone remained negative, with another weak performance on Wall Street overnight hurting sentiment further as the key technology and financial stocks led the way down.
The TAIEX lost 39.54 points at 5,661.18, on turnover of NT$65.66 billion (US$1.95 billion) United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) closed limit-down NT$1.30 at NT$17.35 after the company announced dismal earnings on Wednesday that added to concerns about the outlook for the wafer foundry.
Regulations to be reviewed
In response to the foreign business community's criticism of excessive government regulations, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Vice Chairman Thomas Yeh (葉明峰) said on Wednesday that the government is willing to review its policy.
But he urged the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) to point out and elaborate on what they called excessive government regulations on which agencies have over-regulated to the extent that they have affected the country's economic development. ECCT said in its annual position paper that excessive government regulations have hindered Taiwan's economic development and undermined the country's competitiveness, regionally and globally.
Citing the latest survey made recently by the Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI), Yeh said Taiwan is the world's fifth-best in terms of overall investment climate among the 50 countries surveyed.
The BERI report ranks Taiwan in the 1A category, which Yeh said means that investment and currency exchange risks in Taiwan are low and that the country is a good place in which to invest.
Withholding tax may be imposed
Taiwan may impose withholding tax on individuals trading government and corporate bonds, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing the finance committee of the nation's legislature. ?The proposal, planned to be effective from January next year, needs further approval by the whole parliament, it said.
The withholding tax rate could range from 6 percent to 20 percent, the paper said, citing Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全).
Individuals who trade bonds currently enjoy a tax exemption of NT$270,000 (US$8,010) for interest income, the paper said, citing an unidentified market trader.
LCD TVs to exceed S Korea's
Taiwan is forecast to exceed South Korea in the output volume of LCD TVs for the first time this year, with an estimated annual output of 5.61 million units compared to Korea's 4.12 million units, according to the new tallies released by the Institute for Information Industry (III).
Taiwan's third-quarter production volume jumped by 282 percent over the year-earlier level, although the average Q3 unit price grew by only 0.6 percent over the Q2 average as a result of falling prices of flat displays globally, III statistics show.
In terms of production value, Q3 level reached US$790 million, a 242 percent expansion year on year and a 47 percent rise over Q2, thanks to a marked increase in the output of large flat displays, the same tallies show. Q3 shipments of 32-inch flat displays grew several-fold compared to the levels of the previous two quarters.
NT dollar continues decline
The New Taiwan dollar turned weak against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.006 to close at NT$33.666 on the Taipei foreign exchange.
Turnover was US$736 million, down from US$829 million the previous day.