Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said yesterday the government would step up efforts to ensure an economic pact with China is inked next month, despite the fact that less than 50 percent of the public support the proposed cross-strait trade deal.
Shih said the World Expo in Shanghai would not affect the timeframe for the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
He also confirmed that financial services would be on the agenda for the third round of ECFA talks, which are scheduled to be held in Beijing in the middle of this month.
The minister made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at the legislature.
He reiterated that the government would “continue its endeavor to convince the public that Taiwan should sign an ECFA with China,” amid growing concern that a majority of the public oppose signing the agreement.
Shih guaranteed that Taiwan would sign free-trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries “several years” after inking an ECFA with China, but refused to confirm that Singapore would be the first.
“It can be expected that Taiwan will sign FTAs with other countries following the signing of an ECFA with China, because detente across the Taiwan Strait will help the nation engage in FTA negotiations with other economies,” Shih said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), however, asked why it would take “several years” for Taiwan to sign FTAs with other countries, asking for a more concrete timeframe.
Shih said the government was seeking to engage in FTA talks with other countries, but that it also needed to communicate with the agricultural and industrial sectors about the impact of FTAs.
“I cannot tell you specifically when Taiwan will sign FTAs with other nations [following the signing of an ECFA] for the time being, but the government will try its best on this front and let the public know as soon as possible,” Shih said.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is