Corning hires massage workers
Corning Display Technologies Taiwan Co has hired two massage therapists to work at its plant in Tainan County on a regular basis to help its employees relax, a county official said yesterday.
The unusual hire was part of the Tainan County Government’s efforts to encourage local companies to provide job opportunities to the visually impaired, said Yu Pao-hsien (余保憲), head of the county’s Department of Labor Affairs.
The two massage therapists are blind. It is common in Taiwan to have blind people employed in this profession.
The company is the first local company to respond to the county government’s appeal, Yu said.
The blind workers, who are from a local blind welfare association, will offer 10-minute massages to the company’s employees at the plant in the Southern Taiwan Science Park by appointment every Wednesday, Yu said.
Government sells 5-year notes
The government sold NT$30 billion (US$987 million) in five-year notes at a yield of 2.52 percent, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.
The auction attracted bids for 2.69 times the amount of debt on offer, compared with a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.48 times at the previous auction of similar-dated debt on April 15, the statement said. The yield at the previous sale was 2.245 percent.
Stocks fall over pollution
Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), the nation’s biggest producer, fell to its lowest in 11 months in Taipei trading after a radio report said the company faces protests at a factory because of pollution concerns.
Shares fell 6.5 percent to NT$36.95, the lowest since Aug. 17 last year.
The Taipei-based company had the third biggest decline on the exchange yesterday.
Residents of Suao Township (蘇澳) in Ilan County will stage protests if the government fails to stop Taiwan Cement from using waste solvents from semiconductors companies as fuel for its kilns by the end of this month, a report from the Broadcasting Corp of China said.
Waste solvents, which are transported from chip companies in Hsinchu and Tainan industrial parks, pollute the air, the report said.
Festival to promote tourism
The 2008 Yujing Township Mango Festival will begin tomorrow at Yujing Elementary School in Tainan County, with three days of fun to promote local tourism that will highlight the southern township’s reputation as “the hometown of mangoes.”
Officials from the township administration said the main focus of the festival was a garden party, where freshly picked Irwin mangoes would be on display for auction and free tasting.
In conjunction with the auctions, the organizers will hold an exhibition on the local mango industry, a flower show, an exhibition of various other agricultural products and a range of fun activities, including a Mango Cup softball tournament, a singing contest, a painting contest, a table tennis tourney and various dance performances.
Last year, Taiwan exported 15,000 tonnes of fresh mangoes to Singapore and Hong Kong, with Japan and South Korea each buying about half that amount.
NT dollar gains on greenback
The NT dollar gained against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, edging up NT$0.008 to close at NT$30.382.
A total of US$917 million changed hands during the day’s trading.
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Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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