If Taiwan wants to reinforce its global competitiveness, it needs to make knowledge more transferable, increase business efficiency, eliminate government interference in business and foster national brands, International Institute for Management Development president Dominique Turpin said yesterday at a forum.
Turpin said that although Taiwan’s ranking in the Switzerland-based business school’s world competitiveness survey improved to No. 7 last year from No. 23 in 2009, the nation can still strengthen its entrepreneurship, increase transparency in government and corporate management, and develop unique brands to enhance its competitiveness.
In a forum organized by the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC, 工商協進會), Turpin said that the many large firms in Taiwan’s world-renowned information technology sector should cooperate more with research centers and small to medium-sized enterprises to make knowledge more transferable.
In the regional market, the country needs to expand its exports from the high-tech sector and diversify its economy. This would attract more foreign investment to Taiwan and further develop its financial system to fully benefit from its geographical proximity to Hong Kong and China, Turpin said.
He said that this geographical advantage could be hugely beneficial if the nation eased immigration laws to attract more foreign professionals and give it the potential to become Asia’s “knowledge hub.”
Anthony Lo (羅祥安), chief executive officer of local bicycle maker Giant Global Group (巨大集團), said the government needs to establish a vision.
“What Taiwanese enterprises want to see is the government striving to help businesses build unique brands that can provide innovative products and services,” Lo said on the sidelines of the forum.
Lo said Taiwan needs to integrate into regional markets as soon as possible so local firms can enjoy the trading privileges that other nation’s companies do, such as tariff exemptions.
“The markets are changing so fast that the rules have been reset, and if we don’t catch up, it is going to be harder for us to hold our own in the global market,” he added.
STEPPING UP: The firm has also asked employees to work in split shifts from this week and to halt all but essential overseas business travel from next month Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has implemented a remote work policy for employees not on production lines in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said yesterday. This is the first time in the Hsinchu-based company’s history that it has launched a large-scale remote work policy, joining global technology companies, such as Apple Inc and Google, that encourage employees to work from home. The chipmaker has also asked employees to work in split shifts from this week, it said. As the number of virus infections continues to climb worldwide, TSMC has urged employees to halt unnecessary
A two-hour drive south of Amsterdam in Veldhoven, workers decked out head-to-toe in protective gear toil in vast assembly halls. Before entering the inner sanctuary of the facilities, they meticulously layer on masks, gloves and special socks. A single speck of dust or a hair can have devastating effects on production. The result of all this painstaking process is an environment that is 10,000 times more purified than outside. As COVID-19 grips the world, it might just be the safest place to work right now. The teams belong to ASML Holding NV, which holds a de facto monopoly on the industry of
DBS Bank Ltd yesterday hacked its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 0.9 percent, down from its estimate of 2.3 percent two months earlier, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing financial market volatility. The bank’s latest forecast was even lower than London-based IHS Markit Ltd’s estimate of 1 percent, while other research institutes’ projections range from 1.6 percent to 2.6 percent. Taiwan’s economic momentum is being negatively affected by the pandemic, DBS said. The rapid spread of the disease from Asia to Europe and the US has dampened the bank’s previous expectation of a “V-shaped” global rebound in the
DOWNSIDE RISKS: Firms have a ‘very low’ chance of boosting investment returns in the next two years, making it hard for them to improve their capitalization, an analyst said Taiwanese life insurers wanting to improve their capital structure face strong headwinds this year, given prolonged low interest rates and economic impacts derived from trade protectionism and the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) said on Friday. The local life insurance sector also still has high asset risks and such risks are susceptible to market volatility, the local arm of Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings said. Since last year, major financial holding companies — including CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) — have announced plans to raise fresh capital to
RSS