Taiwanese corporations are confident about the global economic picture, as 40 percent are expecting the economy to improve in the next 12 months, up from 16 percent from a year earlier, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) showed yesterday.
The improvement in sentiment bodes well for the nation’s export-focused economy, giving firms the comfort and motivation to raise capital spending, a local branch of the international accounting and consulting firm said.
US LEADS POLL
Chief executive officers are most optimistic about the growth outlook in the US with 68 percent, followed by China with 67 percent, Japan with 30 percent and Germany with 23 percent, according to the survey of listed firms between November last year and January.
“The recovery in sentiment is positive, but there seems to be a division between policymakers and corporate leaders over the importance of different markets,” PwC Taiwan chairman Dexter Chang (張明輝) told a news conference in Taipei.
Confidence levels decline to single-percentage digits for ASEAN markets with Vietnam at 9 percent, India at 7 percent and Thailand at 6 percent, even though the government has encouraged forays into those economies to cut dependence on China, the survey showed.
Chief executive officers identify innovation, technology and talent as main growth drivers and keys to staying competitive, the survey found.
The government must not limit its efforts to create a favorable investment while trying to lead innovation so firms can grow and thrive freely, PwC Taiwan deputy chairman Steven Go (吳德豐) said.
Chief executives increasingly have to develop a harmonious relationships between workers and robots, win public trust during the growing migration to a digital business model and join forces with peers amid the continued trend of globalization, said Go, who led the survey.
ISOLATION IS ‘ENEMY’
“Isolation will prove the biggest enemy to innovation,” Go said, commenting on US President Donald Trump’s threat to raise trade barriers.
Organic growth will replace mergers and acquisitions as the major source of growth, followed by strategic alliances, joint ventures and cost controls, the survey said.
Chief executives cited economic uncertainty, tax hikes and foreign currency volatility as greatest risks to business growth this year, Go said.
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
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Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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