South Korea yesterday revised down its growth outlook for next year, citing increased uncertainties in the US and a sagging recovery in domestic consumption.
The Finance Ministry said Asia’s fourth-largest economy will likely expand 2.6 percent next year, down from its earlier forecast of 3.0 percent. It also downgraded its projected growth for this year to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent.
The pace of interest rate increases in the US is one cause for concern, while US president-elect Donald Trump’s still-to-be-decided trade policies are another, the ministry said.
Photo: AP
Those uncertainties in the US, a major trading partner for South Korea, could hurt domestic consumption and export growth next year.
The country has also been embroiled in political turmoil, as a scandal over alleged collusion and abuse of power resulted in the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye and investigations involving many of the nation’s biggest companies.
The political uncertainty and a presidential election likely to be held next year have made companies reluctant to make investments.
South Korea faces many other challenges, including a high youth unemployment rate, record-high household debts, and corporate restructuring in shipping and shipyard industries that have shed tens of thousands of jobs.
The nation likely will add fewer jobs next year than this year.
Furthermore, South Korea is struggling to increase its stubbornly low birth rate to slow the rapid aging of its population: Its population of 15-64 year-olds will start to fall next year.
The government plans a 20 trillion won (US$16.5 billion) stimulus package to counter slowing growth. It also has pledged to increase public sector hiring, pressure state companies to spend more and to give newlyweds tax benefits to encourage more marriages.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”