ECONOMY
Nation ranks second
Taiwan will post the second-highest economic growth rate in Asia over the next two years because of a rebound in exports, a Hong Kong-based brokerage group predicted on Monday. The nation is expected to enjoy relatively strong economic growth of 5.7 percent next year and 4.2 percent in 2015, while keeping inflation at an estimated 2 percent next year and 1.6 percent two years from now, said Eric Fishwick, head of economic research at financial services group CLSA Ltd. The bullish forecast is based on the global economy finally showing steady signs of recovery after the 2008 to 2009 financial crisis, he said at a press briefing on the opening day of the CLSA Investors’ Forum. Singapore was predicted to lead Asia in growth rates over the next two years.
MANUFACTURING
PC-maker invests in China
Contract personal computer maker Inventec Corp (英業達) yesterday said its board had approved a plan to invest US$50 million in setting up a regional operation center in China. The plans are in order to better manage its Chinese subsidiaries. Inventec also makes smartphones for the privately owned Chinese company Xiaomi Corp (小米). The investment will be made via an overseas subidiary, Inventec said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Inventec has invested a total of US$327 million in China.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure