GENDER EQUALITY
ATWEN focuses on women
Taiwan and Australia on Thursday launched a network to connect female entrepreneurs in the two countries as part of an effort to create more business opportunities for women and boost bilateral ties. Tuan Ching-mei (段菁梅), project director of the Australia-Taiwan Women Entrepreneur Network (ATWEN), said the initiative is aimed at helping women do business in Asia, starting with Taiwan. The project, supported by the Australian government’s Asian Business Engagement program, provides mentoring and internship opportunities to allow young women from both nations to share their experiences, Tuan said. Australian Office in Taipei Director Cathy Raper, also one of ATWEN’s patrons, said she hopes the project would help empower women across international boundaries.
ECONOMY
Wages to rise by 4%: poll
Wages in Taiwan might increase this year by an average of 4 percent, as many corporations are upbeat about their profits and the nation’s economy, a job bank said yesterday, citing its latest survey. A poll by 1111 Job Bank indicated that 71.78 percent of corporations operating in Taiwan are willing to raise their employees’ salaries, and that the hike might average 4.07 percent. Among the companies that are considering a pay hike, 48.53 percent said the increase might range from 3 percent to 5 percent, 39.05 percent estimated a 2 percent raise and 7.69 percent were mulling a 6 percent to 10 percent hike, according to the survey. Businesses in the trade, distribution and services sectors were among those most willing to raise salaries, the poll showed. The poll was conducted between Jan. 30 and March 1, and collected a total of 511 valid samples.
OBITUARIES
Ex-Hualon head found dead
Wong Da-ming (翁大銘), the controversial former chairman of the Hualon Group, was found dead in his Taipei home yesterday at noon. He was 64. The cause of death would have to be investigated, police said. Initial indications suggested that the tycoon died in his home’s sauna. Wong was a big player in the stock market in the 1990s and was convicted during the decade for insider trading and manipulation of stock prices. He was also a legislator from 1993 to 1996. Wong was sentenced to two years in prison by the Supreme Court in 2010 for violating the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) in trades made in 1994. He was given parole in 2011 after serving more than a year in prison.
AGRICULTURE
Mission to Bali celebrated
An agricultural technical mission sent by Taiwan to the Indonesian island of Bali has helped farmers there grow vegetables and improve their standard of living, earning the farmers’ appreciation, mission leader Wu Chiung-feng (吳炯鋒) said. He said the mission has helped farmers in Bali grow asparagus year round under the International Cooperation and Development Fund’s “one village one product” program. Through the program, Balinese farmers have sold US$523,850 worth of vegetables, with US$306,024 in sales of asparagus alone, helping to improve their lives, Wu said. Ketut Suriani, a member of the asparagus cooperative in Pelaga village, expressed her gratitude for Taiwan’s assistance, saying that her asparagus harvest has improved her economic situation.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
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