Taipei’s ranking remained unchanged at 19th in terms of competiveness among international financial centers over the past six months, lagging consistently behind Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian peers, a survey by a London-based company showed yesterday.
The latest Global Financial Centers Index, compiled by Z/Yen Group and commissioned by the City of London Corp, of 75 financial centers’ business environments, quality of staff, market access and infrastructure, ranked Taipei in 19th place, the same as in September last year.
Hong Kong was unchanged at third place after London and New York, and was trailed closely by Singapore and Shanghai.
Hong Kong is 10 points behind New York and 16 points behind London, the survey said. The three centers control a large proportion of financial transactions — approximately 70 percent of equity trading — and are likely to remain financial powerhouses for the foreseeable future, the survey said.
“We continue to believe that the relationships between London, New York and Hong Kong are mutually supportive,” the semi-annual survey said, after analyzing 33,751 financial center assessments from 1,970 business services professionals.
While many industry professionals see a great deal of competition, policymakers appear to recognize that working together on regulatory reform is likely to enhance the competitiveness of these centers, the survey said.
Asia continues to exhibit enhanced competitiveness with eight centers in the top 20, against six in North America and five in Europe, according to the survey.
Tokyo tied with Shanghai for fifth place while Shenzhen, Seoul and Beijing ranked in 15th, 16th and 17th place respectively, the survey indicated.
“Asia continues to be where respondents expect to observe the most significant improvements in performance and where respondents’ organizations are most likely to open offices over the next few years,” the survey said.
Seoul reported the biggest rating improvement both in the region and worldwide, moving up eight notches from 24th place six months earlier, after gaining 25 points.
“It would appear that the promotion of the city as a financial center is starting to pay off,” the survey said.
In general, Asian centers are well supported by Asian respondents. Outside Asia, North American respondents are more positive than average about Hong Kong and Shanghai, but less positive about Beijing. The number of assessments given to Asian centers by European-based respondents was low, suggesting Asian centers are not as well known or regarded.
Taxation, transparency and predictability of regulation, a level playing field and regulatory simplification top the list of changes that would best improve a financial center’s competitiveness.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along