A plan for an export-boosting project initiated by the administration late last year has already begun to bear fruit, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said yesterday.
With the efforts of the Purchases and Sample Exhibitions Plan — sponsored by the semi-official TAITRA to solicit export orders for Taiwanese manufacturers — at least four major buyers from around the world have placed orders or engaged in serious talks with local exporters, TAITRA secretary-general Chao Yung-chuan (趙永全) said.
The plan is part of a three-year, NT$8.53 billion (US$251 million) project called the New Zheng He Project, launched by the Ministry of Economic Affairs late last year, aimed at reversing the trend toward negative growth for Taiwan’s export trade this year.
NUTS AND BOLTS
Wolseley UK, the world’s No. 1 distributor of heating and plumbing products and a leading supplier of building products to the professional market, has recently placed orders worth US$8 million with Taiwanese suppliers for nuts and bolts as well as other products, including bathroom fittings and lighting components, Chao said.
“Wolseley is expected to place new orders worth US$10 million with Taiwan shortly,” Chao said.
Wolseley, whose global procurement topped US$27.5 billion in 2007, is expected to make purchases in Taiwan this year to the tune of US$40 million.
Meanwhile, Chao said two procurement representatives from Poland’s TIM SA were scheduled to visit Taiwan from tomorrow until Thursday for talks on procuring electronics and electrical engineering products.
Nearly 100 local companies have signed up to take part in the talks.
TIM’s annual business turnover averaged US$200 million over the past several years and the company has a staff of more than 400.
It will be the first time that TIM has approached Taiwan for supplies, Chao said, adding that deals with the company would serve as a litmus test for Taiwan’s potential in cracking the vast Eastern European market.
Meanwhile, Specialty Bolt, the largest nuts and bolts dealer in New England, is scheduled to host a sample display workshop at TAITRA’s office in Kaohsiung tomorrow.
So far, more than 50 companies in the area have registered to take part in the workshop, said Wu Chun-ze (吳俊澤), head of TAITRA’s Kaohsiung office.
OEM
Specialty Bolt, an supplier of hardware products to OEM plants in the US, Canada and Mexico, purchases about US$18 million of products from around the world every year.
TAITRA officials said representatives of Mexico’s Grupo Tutsa, a leading nuts and bolts dealer, have been visiting central and southern Taiwan since last Monday for procurement talks with local suppliers.
Wu said that since their visit began, the representatives have canceled a plan to visit Hangzhou, China.
Under the New Zheng He Project, the government will assist Taiwanese suppliers and manufacturers to produce more goods for export, with the aim of topping NT$500 billion in exports this year, thereby reversing poor performance in the export sector because of the global economic downturn.
The ambitious export-bolstering project will also direct Taiwanese exporters and manufacturers to emerging markets beyond China, including India, Russia, Brazil, the Middle East and countries in Southeast Asia.
MING EXPLORER
Zheng He (鄭和) was an official who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
He led a fleet of Chinese vessels to Southeast Asia, from where they are believed to have departed to reach the east coast of Africa.
He was instrumental in building China into a maritime superpower between the 14th and 17th centuries.
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in artificial-intelligence (AI) chips, yesterday said that small-volume production of 3-nanometer (nm) chips for a key customer is on track to start by the end of this year, dismissing speculation about delays in producing advanced chips. As Alchip is transitioning from 7-nanometer and 5-nanometer process technology to 3 nanometers, investors and shareholders have been closely monitoring whether the company is navigating through such transition smoothly. “We are proceeding well in [building] this generation [of chips]. It appears to me that no revision will be required. We have achieved success in designing
RSS