Demonstrating his concern for the nation's high-tech sector, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday told the country's largest industrial association that he opposed recent talk of taxing the industry's employees.
The government should not impose a tax on the stock dividend income of high-tech company employees, Chen said yesterday.
Chen was responding to policy recommendations from the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturing Association (TEEMA, 台灣區電機電子工業同業公會), an industrial association that claims to account for more than 50 percent of the total value of Taiwan's industrial production.
Several heavyweight association board directors representing Taiwan's high-tech companies made the visit to the president, including Rock Hsu (許勝雄), chairman of Kinpo Electronics Inc (金寶電子); Kao Yu-jen (高育仁) chairman of Twinhead Computers; (倫飛電腦) and Wu Ming-chiou (吳敏求), president of Macronix International Co Ltd (旺宏電子).
"The president said that the government will not impose taxes on profit-sharing schemes for employees in high-tech companies, as was earlier proposed by the new administration," Wu said.
Wu also touched upon Chen's response to the concerns of high-tech entrepreneurs.
"He pointed out that it is not a set government policy to impose national security taxes on Taiwanese businessmen in China, as was earlier proposed by one government official," Wu said.
Another key concern for high-tech industries has been the recent passage by the legislature of a law reducing the workweek from the current 48 hours per week to 84 hours every fortnight. According to TEEMA estimates, the adjustment will cost local companies an extra NT$170 billion annually.
In addition, TEEMA members also requested the government's assistance in dealing with what they cited as a severe labor shortage in the high-tech sector.
TEEMA estimated the sector, as a whole, had a labor shortfall of 57,000 people.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS