MACROECONOMICS
ADB raises Taiwan forecast
Increased spending by consumers and a revival in exports led the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to revise its forecast for growth in Taiwan for this year to 2 percent, an increase of 0.2 percentage points, and to 2.2 percent next year. That forecast is close to the 2.05 percent estimate in May by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. In its latest Asian Development Outlook report issued on Thursday, the bank said inflation in Taiwan is forecast to fall from 1.3 percent to 1.1 percent for this year, due to lower domestic food prices and gas costs.
TRANSPORTATION
TRSC inks MOU
Taiwan Rolling Stock Co Ltd (TRSC, 台灣車輛) the nation’s first railroad car manufacturer, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with an Indonesian company to jointly build 400 stainless-steel electric multiple units. The trains will be built to meet orders from Africa, said TRSC chairman Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), who recently visited Indonesia to discuss the deal with state-owned PT Industri Kereta Api Indonesia. TRSC is to give a price quote for the trains within a week, Tsai said. If the two firms can agree on price, they will sign a contract, he said.
INSURANCE
Fubon buys Shenzhen stake
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) has reportedly secured more than a 30 percent stake in a Shenzhen-based investment management subsidiary of Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported on Saturday. The paper said the Shenzhen firm is likely to set up an insurance agency to sell Fubon’s insurance products or other insurers’ polices in China via Tencent’s online platforms.
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