ECONOMY
Nation’s net assets rise
International investments saw a net asset position of US$1.0539 trillion as of the end of last year, making the nation the fourth-largest net creditor after Japan, Germany and China, the central bank said in a report yesterday. A nation’s international investment position is the balance sheet of the stock of residents’ financial assets and liabilities to the rest of the world. The report indicated that total external assets last year grew by US$65.25 billion, or 4.2 percent, from a year earlier, while total external liabilities decreased US$52.05 billion, or 8.2 percent, from a year earlier. Overall, last year’s international investments were up US$117.3 billion, or 12.5 percent, from a year earlier, the report said, attributing the increase to overseas debt securities by insurance firms.
TAXATION
Ministry unveils Japan deal
The Ministry of Finance yesterday said a tax agreement with Japan, which aims to help avoid double taxation and benefit companies from both sides, took effect on Monday. The ministry said the deal is the first comprehensive tax pact Taipei has signed with a Northeast Asian nation. So far, it has signed tax agreements with 32 nations, the ministry said. Japan is the nation’s third-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade between the two sides totaling about US$58 billion last year.
CHIP DESIGNERS
MediaTek denies sale intent
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it has no intention to sell a stake to Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd (清華紫光), rejecting speculation that the handset chip designer is pressing for a merger-and-acquisition deal with the Chinese semiconductor firm. To allow access to the Chinese market, MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) urged the government to conditionally relax its ban on Chinese firms’ equities investments in local chip designers. The Ministry of Economic Affairs said the government is reviewing the investment policy over concerns about technology development, local employment and national security, but there is no timeframe for any policy easing.
ELECTRONICS
Qisda eyes wider margins
Electronics maker Qisda Corp (佳世達) yesterday said it aims to improve profit margin this year and plans to increase sales of “smart factory” solutions and medical applications by up to NT$6 billion (US$184.95 million) in the next three to five years. Qisda president Peter Chen (陳其宏) told shareholders that the company also expects to recover investment costs on its “smart factory” solutions business in two to three years. Qisda reported annual sales of NT$133.1 billion last year, slightly lower than the previous year’s NT$133.6 billion. Net profit was NT$2.17 billion last year, or NT$1.1 per share, compared with NT$2.97 billion, or NT$1.51 per share, in 2014.
BANKING
Far Eastern eyes digital
Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀) yesterday said it aims to move further toward digital banking in a bid to accelerate corporate transformation. At the lender’s annual general meeting in Taipei, acting president Thomas Chou (周添財) said efforts on digital banking and more plans for customers to use online and mobile banking will begin to bear fruit in the third or fourth quarter this year. Chou said the bank welcomes the government’s “new southbound policy,” but at the moment it has no plans to set up branch offices in Southeast Asian markets, nor is it setting its sights on any target for merger or acquisition activities.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last