The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Taipei yesterday called on the government to draft measures to boost domestic demand in the medium term, as the nation’s aging population constrains private consumption.
The trend could deepen and become a problem by 2025 when the population starts to show negative growth, the chamber said in its annual report released yesterday.
“Taiwan’s private consumption runs the risk of contraction over the medium to long term. Authorities should work out measures to reverse it,” the report said.
Private consumption, which accounts for 60 percent of GDP, has played an important part in driving economic growth in the past decade, the report said.
About 70 percent of the trade group, which consists of 460 registered firms, are selling goods and services to the local market and 47 percent cited the sluggish domestic market as their top concern.
Sharp price competition and difficulty attracting new customers ranked second and third, the report said.
However, 75 percent of Japanese firms based in Taiwan reported profits last year, second only to South Korea in the Asian and Oceania regions, the report said.
“The government could take measures to make Taiwan more business friendly and a better investment destination,” the report said.
The chamber welcomed the government’s plans to promote new industries and offered to share its know-how and experience in “renewable” energy, biotechnology, “smart” technologies and the Internet of Things.
NUCLEAR POWER
However, the report also said that Taiwan could run into power shortages in an attempt to phase out nuclear power plants, which currently supply 14 percent of the nation’s electricity.
The government should also accelerate urban renewal projects, as it could help address housing affordability for young people and ensure building safety with many of Taiwan’s buildings are more 30 years old, the report said.
Japanese firms have years of experience dealing with an aging population and alternative energy development, the report said, calling on the Taiwanese government to remove legal barriers so related technology and services can be imported.
Taiwan can address low wages for young people by promoting business-to-business and business-to-consumer commerce, the report said, adding that business-to-business transactions account for a small share of GDP in Taiwan, suggesting ample room for growth.
Compared with other sectors, it is relatively easy to export business-to-business commerce in financial, creative and biotechnology industries and they generate greater added value, the report said.
The government can provide tax credits and other incentives to encourage business-to-business ventures at home and abroad, the report said, adding that the chamber would serve as a key reference for bilateral trade talks in Taipei next month.
Taiwan’s National Development Council yesterday said it would respond to the Japanese trade group’s requests after reading through the report in detail.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence (AI), smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned. Completed early this year and undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines, according to two people with knowledge of the project. EUV machines sit at the heart of a technological Cold
TAIWAN VALUE CHAIN: Foxtron is to fully own Luxgen following the transaction and it plans to launch a new electric model, the Foxtron Bria, in Taiwan next year Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday said that its board of directors approved the disposal of its electric vehicle (EV) unit, Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), to Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進) for NT$787.6 million (US$24.98 million). Foxtron, a half-half joint venture between Yulon affiliate Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co (華創車電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), expects to wrap up the deal in the first quarter of next year. Foxtron would fully own Luxgen following the transaction, including five car distributing companies, outlets and all employees. The deal is subject to the approval of the Fair Trade Commission, Foxtron said. “Foxtron will be
INFLATION CONSIDERATION: The BOJ governor said that it would ‘keep making appropriate decisions’ and would adjust depending on the economy and prices The Bank of Japan (BOJ) yesterday raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest in 30 years and said more increases are in the pipeline if conditions allow, in a sign of growing conviction that it can attain the stable inflation target it has pursued for more than a decade. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda’s policy board increased the rate by 0.2 percentage points to 0.75 percent, in a unanimous decision, the bank said in a statement. The central bank cited the rising likelihood of its economic outlook being realized. The rate change was expected by all 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The
RSS