Taiwan is the world's 24th freest economy among 130 nations, one spot up from last year, according to a report released on Thursday by the Fraser Institute, an independent public policy organization in Canada.
The Economic Freedom of the World: 2006 Annual Report ranked nations on economic freedom by five major areas -- size of government, legal structure and security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to exchange with foreigners and regulation of credit, labor and business -- using data collected in 2004.
On a scale of one to 10, Taiwan improved slightly from the last report with a composite score of 7.3. Its score on "access to sound money" remained the same at 9.7 points, Taiwan's highest score in any category. Taiwan's weakest item was regulation of credit, labor and business, in which Taiwan scored just 6.0, up from 5.9 in the last report.
The nation was rated 6.2 in size of government, the same level as in the last report, while legal structure and security of property rights fell to 6.4 from 6.5, and freedom to exchange with foreigners declined to 8.0 from 8.3.
The highest ranking Taiwan had was No. 16 in 1990, and the lowest was No. 30 in 2001, according to the report.
Hong Kong got the highest score of 8.7 and once again ranks as the world's freest economy. Singapore came in second with 8.5 points, and Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and the US tied for third with scores of 8.2.
Rankings of other major Asian economies included No. 19 for Japan, No. 35 for South Korea and No. 95 for China.
While Taiwan has moderate economic freedom, the nation trailed behind major Asian competitors in the ease of doing business.
According to a recent report released by the World Bank and the International Finance Corp, Taiwan ranked No. 47 in ease of doing business, down from 43rd last year.
The report, "Doing Business 2007: How to Reform," investigates the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it in 175 countries.
The ease of starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes and other categories were researched.
Singapore was the country where doing business was the easiest last year and this year, followed by New Zealand, the US, Canada and Hong Kong.
Taiwan lagged behind many Asian competitors in the category. Japan ranked No. 11, Thailand was No. 18, South Korea came at No. 23, Malaysia secured the 25th spot, and Mongolia was ranked No. 45, according to the report.
The report also found the top five economic reformers are Georgia, Romania, Mexico, China and Peru, which have the significant improvement in the period.
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