Most US companies operating in Taiwan are optimistic about the nation’s economy and their profit outlooks this year, but voiced grave concerns about energy sufficiency and strict labor rules, a survey released yesterday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) found.
The annual poll of 198 member companies showed that 81 percent are optimistic about revenue growth this year, up from 56.1 percent last year, while 79 percent are upbeat about their three-year outlook.
“The views in this survey are important, because they come from business leaders with broad international experience and valuable expertise in sectors crucial to Taiwan’s continued success,” AmCham chairman Albert Chang (章錦華) told a news conference.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The trade group of 1,000 members from more than 500 companies plans to create an industry council with the government to help increase foreign investment in Taiwan.
This year, it is to help attract 10 multinational corporations to make Taiwan their operation base in Asia, Chang said, adding that AmCham is working on the details and might provide more details at its annual Hsieh Nien Fan (謝年飯) banquet on March 21.
Ranking US diplomatic officials are also to join the event intended by the trade group to thank Taiwanese government officials for their cooperation with the foreign business community, he said.
US firms have expressed a keen interest in the Internet of Things (IoT), biotechnology and energy businesses, encouraged by the government’s efforts to shore up the “5+2” innovative industries, Chang said.
“Executives feel a sense of urgency for innovation as the world grows more competitive. We hope to begin discussing concrete ways soon,” he said.
However, the chamber raised doubts over the feasibility of Taiwan’s aim to become nuclear free by 2025.
Power supply sufficiency, voltage stability and electricity costs are all vital concerns, with 84.46 percent of respondents worried whether electricity supply can meet demand, the survey found.
AmCham is to push for further revisions to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), as its members feel that current regulations are not flexible enough to meet the needs of a knowledge-based economy, said Seraphim Ma (馬靜如), a senior partner at global law firm Baker McKenzie.
“We welcome the recent revisions, but an overwhelming majority of respondents support further revisions to exempt professional and managerial talent from the rigidities of existing regulations,” Ma said.
About half of the respondents said that labor issues are likely to be a key factor in their decisions on future business expansion in Taiwan.
Member companies were also critical of US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying Washington’s foreign policy and trade-related initiatives have put them at a competitive disadvantage in the Asia-Pacific region.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six