The nation's economy remains strong, and the Taiwanese people should be confident about their country, Premier Frank Hsieh (
"The figures say it all. All the statistics indicate growth in Taiwan's business activities, and foreign investments have shown no signs of flagging either," Hsieh said in his opening speech at the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
He said that although a deluge of negative reporting has seriously damaged Taiwan's image in the run-up to the Dec. 3 local elections, foreign investments have not been interrupted.
"Foreign investors don't watch Taiwan's TV talk shows or read our newspapers, since they don't understand [the language]," he said.
"As a result, the negative media coverage of Taiwanese politics did not make them change their mind [about investing in Taiwan,] which is a good thing. Nonetheless, they actually made the right decision," Hsieh said.
He added that since people abroad generally pay no attention to local newspaper coverage or TV talk shows, they have a better perspective on what's really happening in the country.
According to Hsieh, the unemployment rate for last month dropped to a five-year low of 4.07 percent, while 29.89 percent of the nation's stocks, valued at NT$4.3 trillion (US$1288.4 billion), are owned by foreign investors.
"This is a sign that foreign investors are still confident about the economy," Hsieh said.
In addition, the number of foreign visitors has shown no signs of declining, and the premier said he believed even more foreign tourists will visit in the future.
"We just welcomed the millionth Japanese tourist [this year] a few days ago. I believe that was only the beginning," he said.
Poland is betting on a flood of investments and technology transfers from Taiwanese companies to reengineer its US$1 trillion economy. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday that Poland will no longer be “just an assembly hub” as it pursues further investments from the likes of Foxconn Technology Group (富士康). The firm, whose full name is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), last month agreed to build electric vehicles (EVs) in the European Union nation and now could be a partner in a semiconductor venture, he said. The government’s aim is to boost manufacturing and the country’s high-tech chops in an era
Taiwan remained the sixth-largest net creditor nation in the world last year, despite a fall of more than 10 percent in its net international investment position (NIIP) over the year, the central bank said yesterday. The NIIP is the difference between a country’s external financial assets and its external financial liabilities. Taiwan’s external financial assets hit US$3.27 trillion at the end of last year, up US$275.75 billion or 9.2 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in its annual NIIP report. The growth largely reflected an increase in holdings of overseas marketable securities by residents in Taiwan, as well as a
RESTRICTION BREACH: ASML said that it denies ‘unfounded rumors regarding non-compliance with export controls concerning China,’ and enforces controls strictly US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in a series of recent meetings outlined concerns to Dutch chip-equipment giant ASML Holding NV’s senior leaders that one of its top-of-the-line machines might have made its way into China, in violation of US-led export restrictions. In the meetings, Lutnick expressed concern to ASML executives over the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, people familiar with the talks said. EUV systems are used by firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to manufacture processors for the likes of Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc. ASML has never been allowed to ship them to China because of curbs
BAD FAITH LITIGATION? The two companies, owned by a California-based private equity firm, could be seeking licensing fees or a settlement payout with the suit Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) Director-General Liao Cheng-wei (廖承威) said yesterday he suspected that two firms suing contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) for patent infringement are “patent trolls.” A patent troll refers to a company that buys patents not for manufacturing products, but to sue other companies for compensation, accusing them of using its patents. Patent trolls, formally called Non-Practicing Entities or Patent Assertion Entities, were responsible for more than 50 percent of lawsuits in the US last year, costing targeted businesses tens of billions of US dollars a year, according to the US-based LegalCharity Web site. Asked whether
RSS