Following in the wake of Steve Chen's (
Shih Yen-shiang (
"The promotions of Shih and Hsieh were decided after discussions between Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Hsieh, 56, earned a master's degree in economics from National Chengchi University, passed the Ministry of Economic Affairs' foreign representatives' exam in 1977 and has rich experience in foreign trade gleaned from his previous appointments in South Africa, North America and Australia.
Before serving as a vice chairman at the Council for Economic Planning and Development in February 2002, Hsieh was secretary-general of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, director of the ministry's Department of International Cooperation, and director of the division of the Bureau of Foreign Trade that handles exchanges with the WTO, APEC, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and other international business organizations.
Meanwhile, Preston Chen (陳武雄), chairman of the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, 全國工業總會) which represents some 70,000 Taiwanese manufacturers, yesterday paid a visit to the ministry and urged the government to help attract overseas-based Taiwanese businessmen to return home while simultaneously easing restrictions on China-bound investment.
Accompanied by several CNFI representatives, Preston Chen submitted a number of proposals to the new minister for his consideration.
When Lika Megreladze was a child, life in her native western Georgian region of Guria revolved around tea. Her mother worked for decades as a scientist at the Soviet Union’s Institute of Tea and Subtropical Crops in the village of Anaseuli, Georgia, perfecting cultivation methods for a Georgian tea industry that supplied the bulk of the vast communist state’s brews. “When I was a child, this was only my mum’s workplace. Only later I realized that it was something big,” she said. Now, the institute lies abandoned. Yellowed papers are strewn around its decaying corridors, and a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin
UNCERTAINTIES: Exports surged 34.1% and private investment grew 7.03% to outpace expectations in the first half, although US tariffs could stall momentum The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast to 3.05 percent this year on a robust first-half performance, but warned that US tariff threats and external uncertainty could stall momentum in the second half of the year. “The first half proved exceptionally strong, allowing room for optimism,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “But the growth momentum may slow moving forward due to US tariffs.” The tariff threat poses definite downside risks, although the scale of the impact remains unclear given the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s policies, Lien said. Despite the headwinds, Taiwan is likely
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market value closed above US$1 trillion for the first time in Taipei last week, with a raised sales forecast driven by robust artificial intelligence (AI) demand. TSMC saw its Taiwanese shares climb to a record high on Friday, a near 50 percent rise from an April low. That has made it the first Asian stock worth more than US$1 trillion, since PetroChina Co (中國石油天然氣) briefly reached the milestone in 2007. As investors turned calm after their aggressive buying on Friday, amid optimism over the chipmaker’s business outlook, TSMC lost 0.43 percent to close at NT$1,150