INVESTMENT
FDI hits record first quarter
The total value of approved investment projects by Taiwanese expatriates and foreign investors grew 105.43 percent year-on-year to US$2.25 billion in the first quarter, the highest January-to-March figures in 10 years, the Investment Commission said on Friday last week. Commission spokesperson Yang Shu-ling (楊淑玲) said the approved foreign direct investments (FDI) include Itochu Corp buying shares in Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓) for US$665 million, German-based Allianz SE increasing its investment in Allianz Taiwan Life Insurance Co (安聯人壽) to US$600 million and wind farm investments.
TRADE
Firms to save with tariff deal
Nicaragua’s removal of tariffs on three types of industrial products from Taiwan — paper or paperboard labels of all kinds, rubber or plastic footwear, and metal furniture — went into effect yesterday, which could save Taiwanese businesses a grand total of US$57,218 per year, an estimate by the Customs Administration found. The expansion of benefits under a decade-old bilateral free-trade agreement was implemented in Taiwan and Nicaragua earlier this year, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said on Friday last week.
ELECTRONICS
P20 Pro lands in Taiwan
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) on Thursday last week launched the P20 Pro in Taiwan. It is the world’s first smartphone to have three cameras and is touted as a game changer in mobile photography. Xunwei Technologies Co (訊崴), Huawei’s exclusive distributor in Taiwan, said that the P20 Pro accumulated preorders totaling about 100 million yuan (US$15.88 million) just 10 seconds after its Web site went live in China.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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